Bed Bug FAQ

• Bed bugs are not just in beds. Their flat bodies allow them to hide in cracks and crevices around your rooms and in furniture joints. They hide in chair cushions, sofas, behind electrical outlets, behind picture frames, in the seams of mattresses and along baseboards.
• They can live up to 18 months without food and are most active during the summer. Not all humans react to bed bug bites but many report getting bites in lines, sometimes in rows of three, and mostly on their legs, feet, hands and arms.

• Bed bugs are mistakenly associated with filth, but bed bugs can be wherever humans live, from luxury hotels to homeless shelters. They can travel between rooms in apartment complexes and hotels.
• Bed bugs climb in/onto your luggage, clothes, or pets to travel. They can “hitchhike” to your home if you are not careful.
• Bed bugs can be brought into a home by picking up used furniture or used clothing.

Some look like mosquito or flea bites. Some people don’t react at all. Other people get big itchy bumps that take two or more weeks to heal. Bites can show up within hours or two weeks later. Although bed bugs can live for over a year without feeding, they typically seek blood every five to ten days.

Small, flat, brown insects, the size of an apple seed. They have three body segments and six legs.

• To prevent bed bug infestations check your luggage and clothing. Avoid purchasing used furniture or used appliances because this is where they can live. 
• Keep luggage and personal belongings closed and off the floor, beds, or surfaces easily accessed and infested by bed bugs.
• Fast reporting of the suspected presence of bed bugs is necessary so that their presence can be confirmed to prevent their spreading. If you think you may have a bed bug infestation, contact a pest control professional. Do-it-yourself measures are not recommended.
• Licensed PMPs (Pest Management Professionals) know which techniques and products should be used — and where to use them. PMPs know how to be selective and effective — fewer insecticides used and best results. Any insecticide used should be labeled for the pest and location where it is being used.

• Hire an experienced professional.
• Get rid of clutter may help to reduce the number of hiding places.
• Don't sleep in another room, at a friend's house, or on the couch. You could transfer the bugs and spread the infestation.
• Don't immediately move your mattress through your home. That could spread them around.
• Don't spray pesticides or try to treat the problem yourself.
• Tightly sealed mattress covers can be used to starve out bed bugs living in a mattress if they are securely sealed and left in place for over a year.
• Vacuum molding, windows and floors every day. Vacuum sides and seams of mattresses, box springs, and furniture. Empty the vacuum or the bag immediately and dispose it of outside in a sealed container or bag