Why do bed bugs keep coming back?
Fighting pests like bed bugs can seem like a battle in your New Jersey home. While you may win a victory, it doesn’t mean you’ve won the war. When you think you’ve eradicated the problem and can rest easy, they’re back with a vengeance. If you want to sleep tight and not fear the bed bugs will bite, you may need to call for professional help. Like some other tenacious insects, bed bugs are not so easy to remove from your home.
It’s frustrating when you think they’re gone only to find that they’re biting and leaving a trail of disaster again. These resilient bugs can be a nightmare, and it doesn’t mean you’re a dirty family if you get them. These pests invade hotels, apartment complexes, and anywhere people congregate. The key is getting rid of them as swiftly as possible since they multiply quickly.
Just when you take a breather and think you’ve got rid of the bed bug infestation, it seems they have reincarnated from the dead. The real problem is that you didn’t get rid of them. You may have eliminated quite a few of them, which is why you see a reduction in the number of bites. However, don’t forget that you have eggs waiting to hatch.
You’ve used bleach around your home, placed special protectors over your mattresses, and even rented a steam cleaner for your furniture and carpeting. Now how can these pesky bugs survive all your efforts? Scientists have found that the bed bug has a survival instinct parallel to humans. They’re smart and tough and can even go up to 30 days without eating.
Though they won’t be able to reproduce during this time without a meal, they can still thrive in your home. So part of why you’re having such an issue is their will to live is strong.
The Rapidly Reproducing Bed Bug
The female bed bug is quite the lady who can lay up to 500 eggs in her short time here on earth. That’s a lot of babies, and one would typically congratulate anyone who could accomplish such a feat if she didn’t live in your home.
The female only lives an average of 9-12 months, so she’s swamped producing as much offspring as possible before she takes her last breath. If she’s eating well, she can lay eggs daily. Scientists have discovered that one meal will give her the ability to lay 5-10 eggs, so each nibble she takes of you or your family members helps to further her life’s mission.
Unlike some insect eggs that take months to hatch, bed bugs are eager to come from their shell. They can hatch in 7-10 days, depending on the temperature. If you pick up a straggling bed bug from the grocery store or a friend’s house, you can have an infestation of hundreds within a couple of weeks.
While you may feel embarrassed and ashamed of having such an issue, we assure you it’s more common than you think. Your New Jersey abode is the perfect place for the female to conduct her mission. You provide regular meals and a nice place to sleep and lay eggs.
She’s not going to be so eager to leave, but even if you get rid of the females, the eggs she’s strung around your home are waiting and about to be round two in your battle. It’s easy to see how an infestation can get out of hand and why people pass them back and forth.
Getting Rid of Bed Bugs
All kinds of solutions on the market promise to get rid of your problem. The bone of contention with these DIY methods is that most don’t get all the life stages. It’s relatively easy to kill all the living insects, but what about all those waiting to hatch?
The eggs are where your real problem lies. If just one female lays up to ten eggs daily, you will have 140 new bugs in two weeks. What if you have two females?
The number can increase to 280. In reality, you likely have way more females than 2-3 in your home, so what was once a few hundred can become thousands in the blink of an eye. You need to understand the heat point when it comes to the bed bug.
Another issue with store-bought chemicals is that you don’t have the knowledge or expertise to apply them correctly. Additionally, using these chemicals in the beds where you, your children, or pets sleep can be pretty dangerous. Remember, these are not the lowly house ants you’re dealing with, as these insects can cause a great deal of damage to your bedding and furniture and carry disease.
You don’t want to mess around with sprays that may or may not kill off some of them. Using these types of pesticides may be why you think you’ve got rid of the problem, only to see them return a short time later.
Thermal Death
Heat treatments are another way that bed bugs can be effectively eradicated. These treatments will kill not only the bugs but the eggs too, which is something many sprays can’t do. Many pest control specialists will increase the heat in your home till it reaches around 120 degrees.
The goal is to keep the temperature inside your home at this level for a few hours, killing off the bugs and their eggs. While it’s incredibly effective in eradicating an infestation, it’s not always the best method. It depends on where you live and how close your neighbors are to you on whether or not this is a viable option.
If you live in an apartment complex, it may not be possible to use thermal death, as it can cause the temperatures inside the apartments next to you to reach dangerous levels. One of the reasons why bed bugs are so resistant to treatment is their size. While spraying away at the mattress and all around, they hide in a small crack in the floor or wall.
The average bed bug is only 5 mm across, so they can elude the treatment by simply going into hiding. The heat treatment means that the entire area, including those little nooks and crannies, gets treated. Unlike the do-it-yourself approach that can’t penetrate all those tiny spaces, thermal treatments get everything within the area above 120 degrees.
So, while this method has been touted as the only authentic way to eradicate bed bugs, it’s simply not true. With the help of a well-trained technician, you can get rid of them without going to all the extent thermal treatments require. Sure, thermal death doesn’t use chemicals, pesticides, or insecticides, so it’s safer for your lungs and overall health, but it’s not always an option.
Why Do Bed Bugs Keep Returning?
One of the most common reasons bed bugs keep returning to your home is that the treatment wasn’t done correctly. You can’t just hire someone who puts a sign on a utility pole offering to fix your problems for a small fee. There are plenty of scammers in New Jersey, so you want to ensure that you get a qualified company with a record of success.
Another issue is that some people want to focus on where they see the most trouble or the infested location. However, this is one small part of the problem. If you chemically treat this area, they will simply move to another if you don’t get them. While it’s a great place to start, it’s certainly not the only consideration.
You won’t save time or money by just treating the places you’ve seen these bugs, as there are plenty of spots, they’re hiding that you don’t see. Even if you use the best treatment on the market, there are still situations where they can return. Some people working in hospitals, hotels, nursing homes, and other areas with high activity risk bring them home.
A single bug can hop a ride in your pant leg, shoe, or purse. You won’t know they’re there, but the whole nightmare begins once they get inside your home. If you work in a high-risk career, you must take proper precautions. Things like putting your clothes outside when you get home and spraying your legs with alcohol spray have been beneficial.
Preventing an Infestation
Many of our customers ask how we can keep this from happening again. While there’s no foolproof method that will ensure 100 percent that they won’t come back, there are some things you can do to be proactive. You must be vigilant and put in some effort to fight such a persistent bug, but here are some things you can do to prevent a re-infestation.
- Put bed bug protectors over your box springs and mattresses.
- Vacuum daily. Ensure you get all the cracks and inconspicuous areas under your couch cushions.
- When washing your bedding, use the hottest water possible. Always run the bedding through a drying cycle to help kill any stragglers.
- Invest in a steam cleaner that allows you to steam cracks in the walls and floors, as this will kill eggs.
- Don’t just treat your beds, but make sure you also treat the furniture near the beds.
You should always be extra careful when traveling, especially if staying in a busy hotel. Hotels have regular contracts with pest control as the bed bugs in these establishments are a significant problem. Here are some things you can do when traveling in New Jersey or abroad to ensure you don’t bring bugs home with you.
- Before you unpack and lay down on the beds, you must examine the room. It helps to buy a black light flashlight that will help you see any activity. It can indicate blood splatter and point out issues you never thought about in the beds. Fair warning: it might be eye-opening when you turn on the light, as it will also show body fluids.
- Lift the corners of the sheets and around the edge of the bed to look for activity. You want to shine the black light in these areas too. You won’t need a black light to see blood splatters if there’s an infestation.
- Check the dresser drawers and nightstands for bugs. Make sure to look all around the lamps, cracks in the walls, and anywhere a bug can hide. They may conceal themselves while you check in, but they will come out to feed once you hop in the bed.
- Keep your things off the floor. Luggage should be kept on a luggage rack or dresser and not on the ground. This makes it too easy for bugs to crawl inside.
- Some people are bold and will ask the staff about ongoing bed bug problems. While they may not be forthcoming, they can tell you if the room you’re staying in has been marked for past issues. You do have the right to request another room.
Seeking Help from a New Jersey Professional
It’s not always easy to identify a bed bug problem until it’s out of control. If you even suspect an issue with bugs in your home, call a pest control professional immediately. We know all the places they like to hide, and we can quickly identify an issue that requires treatment.
We know how to identify bites from these bugs and understand the risks associated with allowing this issue to continue. Call us at the first sign of trouble in your New Jersey home, as it increases the chances of complete eradication. The longer you let the problem drag on, the more challenging it is to treat.
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