One of the most common misunderstandings about bed bugs is that they are only a problem for certain businesses. Many business owners believe that bed bugs only infest businesses that have beds. It makes sense. The word bed is in their name. Unfortunately, these pests are not limited to hotels, motels, and resorts; they are known to infest many businesses that don’t have beds. Join us as we look at how bed bugs spread, why they don’t need beds, tips that could save you from dealing with a bed bug infestation in your business, and how commercial pest control in Texas proactively keeps bed bugs away.
Warning: Bed Bug Infestations Can Happen To Anyone
The most important fact to know about bed bugs is that they can get into any business. No business is excluded. To understand why this is the case, the first thing you need to know is how bed bugs spread. How do you get bed bugs? There are three ways.
Customers can carry bed bugs into your business. They can bring them from home or pick them up on the way to your businesses.
Employees can carry bed bugs into your business. Your employees are a double threat. They can get an infestation at home and bring bed bugs in to work with them, and they can get bed bugs from being at work and bring them home. When your employees bring bed bugs home, they can bring them back to work with them after you’ve taken steps to correct an infestation.
You can bring bed bugs in. When a bed bug infestation occurs in your home, you may bring these insects to work. You can also introduce bed bugs into your business by purchasing used items such as mattresses, box springs, bed frames, couches, chairs, and items that have voids inside them.
Once bed bugs find their way into your business, won’t they just die off? Don’t bed bugs need to hide in beds and wait for humans to go to sleep? Here are a few things you should know about bed bugs.
While bed bugs detect elevated levels of carbon dioxide—which occurs when people are sleeping—and come out to feed at night, they can feed on fully awake humans during the day. All a bed bug needs is the cover of darkness. A bed bug can climb out of hiding and slip up a pant leg or bite your exposed back when you sit on a couch.
Bed bugs can thrive in businesses that have beds, but beds are not a requirement. Bed bugs can hide in many places other than beds. They’re known to hide in couches, desks, cabinets, alarm clocks, and computers. All a bed bug needs is a dark void or a tight space.
In some cases, bed bugs hide in carriables such as duffel bags, pocketbooks, briefcases, luggage, etc. When this is the only location bed bugs are hiding, it can make it harder to track the source of an infestation.
Bed bugs don’t need an object to hide inside. They can hide behind baseboards and crown molding, inside electrical outlets, and within structural voids.
There is little you can do to stop bed bugs from hitching a ride into your businesses and tracking an infestation can be a challenge. You need to know how to find bed bugs during the day and how to treat bed bugs when you find them.
Would You Know How To Spot A Bed Bug Infestation?
The secret to limiting the impact bed bugs can have on your business is knowing how to check for bed bugs during business hours and how to use natural pest control for bed bugs. In many cases, you can stop infestations on your own. But, even when you aren’t able to stop an infestation, early detection and assistance from a bed bug control professional can prevent these insects from harming your reputation.
Bed Bug Inspections: There are many ways you can uncover bed bug activity. Look for these signs on sheets, pillowcases, bed covers, curtains, upholstery, and surfaces, or search for them in cracks, gaps, and recesses. Use a flashlight and a probing tool where necessary.
Bed bugs leave their black feces in many places. On fabrics, you may see black spotting or small stains. On surfaces, you may see specks.
Bed bug shed their skins several times. These tiny white or tan skins are found in all the places bed bugs explore.
Bed bugs lay tiny white eggs. You may find a batch of these eggs or individual eggs.
Bed bugs have an odor. The more bugs you have, the stronger the odor. Some describe it as resembling the unpleasant aroma of a locker room towel.
Along with these warning signs, you may actually see bed bugs. They range in size from 1/24 to 1/6 of an inch in length. They may be pale, tan, or rusty brown, depending on the age. Bed bugs have six legs and an apple seed shape.
Natural Bed Bug Control: When you perform inspections, keep a HEPA vacuum nearby. A vacuum like this can suck bed bugs up and keep them from getting back out after you’ve collected them. When bed bugs are isolated to one spot, this might be all that is needed to arrest an infestation. If you find an item with bed bugs inside, you have two natural options.
Put dryer-safe items through a 30-minute dryer cycle to exterminate bed bugs in all stages of development.
Put small items that are not dryer-safe into a sealed bag and place the bag in a freezer for four days. Cold can also be used to exterminate bed bugs.
If you and your staff are vigilant, you can stop problems before they begin. But more control is needed. Let’s take a look at a few more ways you can prevent bed bugs.
Bed Bug Prevention Tips That Could Save You A Lot Of Aggravation
Your routine inspections and quick bed bug control are the foundation of bed bug prevention. Along with these, you should take steps to prevent bed bugs from being introduced into your business.
Take personal steps to prevent bed bugs at home, such as performing inspections when you go on vacation, protecting laundry items in a sealed bag, and washing all your laundry items when you get home.
Consider posting signage about how employees can keep bed bugs from coming to work with them. Let your employees know what bed bugs look like and where they hide. Also, share with them tips on how to prevent bed bugs.
Have a bed bug action plan. Your plan should include who to call when bed bugs appear, what to say to customers to alleviate their fears, and what procedures your employees can take to isolate these insects when possible. A bed bug action plan can prevent unnecessary bad reviews.
When bed bugs appear, you have options to address these pests on your own, but keep in mind the benefits of having a professional deal with them. It is always best to contact a professional any time you see a bed bug.
Turn To The Professionals As Soon As You See A Bed Bug
Now that you know where bed bugs hide and what you can do when you find them, why is it important to contact a professional? Even if you suck bed bugs up and remove them, or use heat and cold to exterminate bed bugs inside infested items, you have no way of knowing if there are bugs in other places. You could wait until you see more problems, but that will allow bed bugs to harm your business. While most people in Texas are tough, and few folks are scared of bed bugs, it won’t stop them from leaving a bad review on social media. There is something incredibly disturbing about insects that come out in groups at night and feed multiple times. Your customers don’t need to wake up with dozens of red, itchy bumps to leave a bad review. All it takes is one bed bug to cause some folks to pull out their smartphones and express their unhappiness in a review. When they do, those reviews can lower your rating score and drive potential customers away from your business. So, even though bed bugs aren’t a serious concern to human health, they are a threat to the health of your business.
Are you in Texas and in need of local pest control for bed bugs? If so, reach out to Bullseye K9 Detection. We specialize in bed bug detection and control and are able to assist you in setting up an ongoing plan to guard against all of the many problems bed bugs can create for you. Every business should have a bed bug plan. You don’t have to have beds to have a bed bug problem. Let our team guide you in setting up a plan that is just the right size for your needs and budget.
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