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Bed Bug Detection and Control

The common bed bug is a parasite which lives on the outside of the body of the host. Bed bugs feed only on the blood of humans and other warm-blooded hosts. Although they have a cryptic behavior and can conceal themselves in tight cracks and crevices, bed bugs are often found in bed parts, such as mattresses and box springs, hence the common name.

Bed bugs are elusive creatures, so it is imperative to seek professional pest control to address an infestation.

Habits
Bed bugs like to travel and are good hitchhikers. They will hide in suitcases, boxes and shoes to be near a food supply. They are elusive, nocturnal creatures. They can hide behind baseboards and in cracks, crevices, and folded areas of beds, bedding and adjacent furniture, especially mattresses and box springs. Bed bugs can also hide in electrical switchplates, picture frames, wallpaper and nearly anywhere inside a home, car, bus, or other shelter. Bed bugs usually come out at night for a blood meal. However, they are opportunistic insects and can take a blood meal during the day, especially in heavily-infested areas. Bed bugs usually require 5-10 minutes to engorge with blood. After feeding, they move to secluded places and hide for 5-10 days. During this time, they do not feed but instead digest their meal, mate, and lay eggs.

Habitat
Bed bugs like to hide in small cracks and crevices close to a human environment. They can be found behind baseboards, wallpaper, upholstery, and in furniture crevices. Beg bugs are also known to survive in temporary or alternative habitats, such as backpacks and under the seats in cars, buses and trains.

Prevention
Vacuum suitcases after returning from a vacation. Check your bedsheets for tell-tale blood spots. Consider bringing a large plastic trashbag to keep your suitcase in during hotel stays. Carry a small flashlight to assist you with quick visual inspections. Never bring second-hand furniture, especially mattresses and box springs, into a home without thoroughly examining for signs of a bed bug infestation. You might consider having a pest control professional inspect the furniture as it is difficult to detect an infestation if you are untrained. Regularly inspect areas where pets sleep for signs of bed bugs.

Canine inspection services available.

The key to success in bed bug control is early detection. A pest management professional with a properly-trained bed bug dog can achieve a detection rate of up to 90% compared to 40% without a trained dog. A properly-trained dog can detect bed bugs faster and more accurately than any other method - saving time and money for large facilities and homes - leading to lower remediation costs. For buildings like hotels, apartments, dormitories, nursing homes, office buildings, theatres, hospitals, and schools, savings in cost can be substantial.

Trust and reliability. Dogs have been used for years by military and law enforcement agencies to detect explosives, narcotics, weapons and other threats to public safety. Dogs are now widely used in the private sector to detect mold, bed bugs, termites and other pests that present hazards to the health and well being of humans. Gage is trained to detect the slightest trace amounts of bed bug odor that would normally go undetected by a human inspector and will work for play and love, not for profits or food.

Saves time and money. Gage will generate quicker and more accurate results. Gage's sense of smell is extremely sensitive. It's the most effective inspection tool that can detect and pinpoint sources of bed bugs which leads to lower bed bug treatment costs for property owners, and commercial establishments.

Effective problem solvers. For commercial establishments such as department stores, restaurants, hotels, school dormitories and hospitals, Gage can quickly and more accurately inspect which gives both parties the feedback they need to quickly and effectively resolve issues. Realtors and attorneys can be assured of prompt certification process for real estate transactions, particularly on multiple family dwellings. Landlords and property managers can determine that their premises are bed bug free both prior to new tenants occupying the premises and after tenants have vacated. Infested units can be identified and treated and units that are bed bug free can be left undisturbed. The search for a bed bug can be similar to trying to find a moving needle in a haystack. A newly hatched bed bug is 1mm in size (the size of the tip of a ball point pen) and translucent. The eggs are also 1mm in size and have a pearly translucent appearance. A non-engorged bed bug is as thin as a fingernail. Their small size enables them to hide deep in cracks and crevices, on any item. Bed bug fecal droppings are equivalent in size to an ink dot. Traditional bed bug detection methods can be very time consuming and labor intensive.

Peace of Mind. Research and statistics support that a correctly trained dog has a 90% accuracy rate to seek bed bugs. If the dog doesn't find bed bugs, you can know with greater certainty that your home or business establishment is bed bug free.

We Offer a Preventative Maintenance Plan. Since the bed bug epidemic has increased, the need for ongoing inspections has become apparent. For this reason, the cost of having inspections done on a regular basis cost much less money than the amount of money being spent on treating the actual problem that can spread through an entire location. For any type of environment, we can provide ongoing, cost-efficient inspections that will always keep you in the know, and insure that you are not taken by surprise. The alternative (the threat of lawsuits and bad publicity) is unacceptable for your business.

We Offer Post-Treatment Inspections. If you've had bed bug service, having a bed bug dog confirm your treatment results is a sensible idea, considering how much time and effort you may have put into preparing your residence for service. It's always a good idea to verify the absence of bed bugs before you re-introduce your belongings to the residence, and our bed bug dog inspection will give you the peace of mind you need.

What is the price of an inspection? Eastern Pest prices for canine visits are based on the area searched and the time necessary to complete inspections. A customer is paying for the dog and handler's skills in identifying the problem. The accuracy of a well-trained dog like Gage is far higher than other methods of detecting bed bugs. Our canine inspection customer receives the benefit of receiving information making them more knowledgeable of bed bugs. It is because Gage works and is tested so frequently in so many different environments with great success, that CIS stands by the integrity of our service. Traditional bed bug detection methods can be very time consuming and labor intensive. Gage can generate quicker and more accurate results saving you time and money.

How does the inspection work? The handler will make the dog thoroughly inspect the suspected areas and the rooms. During each job the handler will keep the dog moving, inspecting different locations and making continual progress throughout a customer site. When Gage alerts (a specific action specific to each individual dog's training) he receives his favorite toy for positive reinforcement from his handler. Other career canines (e.g., drug sniffing, arson, bomb, termite, and search and rescue dogs) are also rewarded after a successful find. All handlers are certified, skilled, and practiced in recognizing body language cues specific to their dog, which accompany a legitimate positive alert. We ask clients to reserve questions for the handler about his findings until the inspection is completed. Please note that Gage may require rest, water, or "bathroom" breaks during a particularly long inspection of an environment like a large corporate office or hotel. The area or areas where Gage "alerts" will be documented for further inspection by the handler who will focus on the physical evidence of bed bugs in order to develop a successful proactive strategy, with the intent to completely eradicate the bed bugs.

Why such a resurgence of bed bugs in the U.S.? In the 1940s and '50s, the pesticide DDT was liberally used in homes to fight insect infestation. With the ban on DDT in the '70s because of its negative impact on our environment, pest control methods changed from elimination of DDT to repellent and baits. These changes make it easy for bed bugs to avoid most pest control methods. Laboratory tests in the U.S., Europe and Africa show today's bed bugs can survive pesticide levels a thousand times greater than the lethal dose of a decade or so ago. "There is a phenomenal level of resistance. Moreover, resistance to chemicals designed to kill the bugs can become a permanent part of their genetic inheritance. Researchers at the University of Kentucky showed that bed bugs, sampled at a half-dozen U.S. locations, remain relatively immune to DDT generations after the chemical was banned for general household use." (Wall Street Journal 1/20/11 Why Bed Bugs Won't Die)

Are bed bugs just in beds? No, they are not just in beds. Bed bugs come out at night and hide in the presence of light. Their size and shape make it easy for them to hide in such places as in the folds and creases of bed linens, in seams and tufts of mattresses and box springs, in pleats of curtains, beneath loose areas of wallpaper, in corners of desks and dressers, on couches, chairs, in laundry, between carpets and baseboards, behind electrical outlets, on computers, picture frames and clocks. In other words they can live almost anywhere! Bed bugs are efficient hitchhikers and are usually transported home on luggage, clothing, and briefcases. Buying secondhand furniture is another way bed bugs can enter your home. The cleanliness of the dwelling has little to do with the level of bed bug infestation. Bed bugs will thrive in any location where there are warm-blooded hosts.

I keep my home very clean. Is anybody at risk? Infestations of common bed bugs (cimex lectularius) are not directly related to sanitation levels. The cleanest living area can have a very large infestation, and improving sanitation alone will not eliminate an established bed bug population. Cluttered conditions can offer the bugs a lot of excellent harborages very near their human blood meal hosts. Bed bugs are most likely to be introduced upon returning from travel or when you have overnight guests who bring them into your home. They can also hitch a ride into your home on items purchased second-hand, or furniture and bedding that is delivered to your home. Immediately after any of these events have taken place would be the ideal time to inspect for live bed bugs. Anyone is at risk of having an infestation if bed bugs are brought into their home.

What are the symptoms and health risks of being bitten by bed bugs? A small, hard, swollen, white welt may develop at the site of each bite. This can be accompanied by severe itching, blisters and/or hives that can last for several days. An offensive, musty odor from their scent glands may be detected when infestations are severe. A great deal of discomfort often with the loss of sleep may occur. The commonly affected areas of the body are the arms, neck, hands and legs. Allergic reactions include the development of what looks like large wheels, often 1 cm. that are accompanied by itching and inflammation and in time change into red spots. Mild to severe allergic reactions may occur. Scratching may cause welts to become infected and lead to secondary infections. Stress, anxiety and insomnia are common responses to having, or even thinking bed bugs are in your home.
Bed bugs have been implicated in the transmission of a wide variety of infectious agents, although this possibility is uncertain. It has been suggested that they might play a role in the spread of Hepatitis B, however, additional research is being done to determine the potential for bed bugs to transmit disease and their impact on public health.

Why are bed bugs an issue for hotels, visitors, and homeowners? Bed bugs leave itchy, bloody and sometimes painful welts on human skin that can trigger allergic reactions. Adult bed bugs can live for a year without eating, making them especially hard to control. Once inside a hotel or home, bed bugs spread rapidly from room to room - through pipes, in vacuum cleaners, on clothing and luggage. In a hotel, bed bugs can even spread to neighboring rooms, since guests may end up moving to another room or they crawl under the connecting doors. Bed bugs are known as hitchhikers and spread from one home or workplace to another. Hotels are not the only locations where one can be exposed. It is possible to encounter bed bugs in schools, dorms, public transportation, retail stores, laundromats, movie theaters and other public spaces. Bed bugs can find their way into luggage, computers or clothes, and they can spread by moving within a building. Bed bugs are also spread when people take used furniture, clothing or other items into their homes.

What are the feeding and living habits of bed bugs? Bed bugs are attracted to carbon dioxide and body heat, not to odors. Humans are a preferred host. Bed bugs feed mainly at night for about 5-10 min. at each feeding, and then crawl to a secluded area (under bedding, carpeting, furniture, cracks and crevices, luggage, inside picture frames, behind electrical outlets) where they will digest their blood meal for several days. A single bed bug can inflict multiple bite sites when feeding. Bed bugs first inject a salivary gland substance that numbs the area so their host (you) cannot detect. Their mouthpart punctures your skin to siphon up a blood meal. Bed bugs can travel 20-100 feet for a blood meal. So, even though you do not see them, they are coming from significant distances in a room to reach you.

Bed bugs can lay 10 eggs per day and up to 400 eggs in her lifetime. Bed bugs hatch out of their eggs in 10 days. Bed bugs can live a year or more without a blood meal. Bed bugs are very difficult to treat, and effective treatment requires a pest control professional.

You do not have to throw out your expensive mattresses, box springs and pillows if you have bed bugs.