Elgin Pest Control
Open weekdays 8:30AM-5:30PM
519-637-3988
Your Pest Control Solution
BED BUGS
These pests are flat, reddish-brown, oval insects up to 4 to 5 mm long or the size of an apple seed. Swollen and reddish after a blood meal.
Bed bugs only feed on blood and under the right conditions, can survive up to a year without a meal.
Bed Bugs are usually more active at night when the host is asleep due to the heavy concentration of carbon dioxide you breath out while sleeping.
Bed bugs are found in cracks and crevices, including mattress seams, sheets, furniture, behind baseboards, electrical outlet plates and picture frames.
On average female adult bed bugs will lay 1-5 eggs per day. They can be laid on almost any surface but are typically found in cracks or rough surfaces, especially around your mattress seams. They hatch within about a week. Over her lifetime, a female bed bug can lay up to 500 eggs.
Signs of a Bed Bug Infestation:
Seeing the bugs or eggs. Adult bed bugs are about the shape and size of an apple seed.
Case skins that were shed.
Black to brown stains (dots) on sheets and mattresses.
Bites may also indicate bed bug activity, but further evidence will need to be found to determine if the bites are actually from bed bugs.
Treating Bed Bugs:
On the first visit, an inspection will be done. The inspection will include beds, furniture, and other various target areas.
Upon completion of the inspection and if a positive bed bug infestation is confirmed, a treatment plan will be established and a quote given. Prep sheets advising how to prepare your home prior to treatment will be given and once the prep work is completed, treatment can commence.
A variety of treatment methods will be used to target bed bugs and more than one treatment may be required.
Bed bugs can be difficult to eradicate so a follow up visit is essential to help ensure the effectiveness of treatment. Additionally, the monitoring visit will help determine if a maintenance program is needed to control the infestation.
How do Bed Bugs Spread?
Bed Bugs are hitch-hikers. They can travel from one home to another by many means:
Used furniture (mattresses, box springs, bed frames, couches, chairs etc..)
Visitors to your home can bring them in
Your visits to hotels, offices, hospitals, or any other building
The use of different modes of transportation such as planes, trains, buses and taxi's
From room to room under baseboards
* It's a good habit to check your luggage, purses, laptop cases etc...when returning from travel and visiting.
