How Pest Control Professionals Monitor Bed Bug Activity After Homes Are Treated For Infestations

Given the tiny size of bed bugs, one would think that the insect pests cannot cover much ground, but bed bugs are actually fast crawlers, and they need to be in order to avoid being noticed by humans. Nothing can ruin a vacation as quickly as a bed bug infested hotel room, and everyone should give the rooms they visit a quick bed bug inspection before unpacking luggage and relaxing. This goes for every hotel from your average Motel Six to the most luxurious five star hotels.

According to Michael Potter, an entomologist at the University of Kentucky, before settling into a hotel room, luggage should be placed on the standard metal luggage rack, and the top and bottom seams of the mattress should be inspected for bed bugs. Bed bugs are unable to vertically climb smooth surfaces, making metal luggage racks one of the few safe spots in a hotel room to keep luggage. When inspecting mattresses for bed bugs, it is important to know that adults and nymphs do not look the same. Adult bed bugs are about the same size and color as an apple seed, while the smaller nymphs are yellowish in color or completely white.

In many cases, those who stay in bed bug-infested hotel rooms bring the insect pests home with them, which usually results in stubborn infestations. Luckily, several recently developed pest control treatments can effectively eradicate bed bugs from homes, and pest controllers often resort to a practical and hassle-free method that allows bed bug activity to be monitored in homes following infestation treatments.

Heating homes to 122 degrees will kill-off bed bug pests. In order to heat homes, multiple heaters are brought indoors, and pest control professionals point heat-guns in certain areas where bed bugs are likely to be hiding. After a heat treatment, pest control professionals place special cups beneath the legs of a bedframe, forcing bed bugs to scale the outside of the cup in order to access a mattress. However, once bed bugs reach the top of the cup, they fall inside the cup where the smooth interior surface prevents the pests from escaping. This allows pest control professionals to assess how extensive infestations are within homes, and this method also allows homes to be monitored for bed bug activity before and after a treatment has been performed.

Have you ever encountered bed bugs within a hotel room?