How Do You Know You Have Bed Bugs?

Given the weather we enjoy in Florida, it should come as no surprise that other species are attracted here as well. Not only is Florida among the warmest states in America, but the humidity and the high population level create the ideal conditions for pest problems to emerge. While there are many forms of pest control in Florida to deal with each species, bed bugs are easily among the most common.

Bed bugs in Florida are a problem that impacts, on average, one-fifth of the statewide population. Given that female bed bugs can create multiple eggs per day – some estimate as many as seven eggs in one day – it is no surprise that bed bugs can rapidly create significant infestations very quickly. This is why a few bed bugs can soon turn into an unmanageable infestation in days! With so many pests to potentially suffer from, though, how do you know you have bed bugs?

To help you identify bed bugs in Florida, we recommend you look for the following signs. Spotting any of these is a good indicator that you have bed bugs on your property.

Bed bugs enter our homes and businesses by either entering through a gap in the building from another property or “hitching a ride” on a person or shipment. They could be brought in from a piece of furniture that you buy or hide in your luggage and emerge after you unpack. While having bed bugs in Florida is never a nice experience, the “good” news is they tend to make themselves easily known.

First, bed bugs have very distinctive visuals. They have flat, ovular bodies and come in very distinctive brown or reddish-brown colors. This makes them easy to spot compared to other species available; even the smaller nymphs, which look almost translucent in color, are easy to identify. As they grow in size, they go from around ¼ ” to 4-5mm. They flatten out as they feed and ingest their meal.

Bed bugs also leave behind their molted skins as they grow in maturity and size. Molting is why we often find bed bug skins lying around places like our baseboards and bedding. As they grow larger, they need to shed their exoskeleton to make room for their additional growth. Large infestations of bed bugs in Florida can cause thousands of molted skins to lie around the place.

To the untrained eye, this can look like even more bed bugs. Look around the seams of your mattresses, baseboards, headboards, and any junctions between walls and ceilings. These are the most common places to find bed bug molted skins.

While the above two signs are the most obvious indicators, as you can physically see your bed bugs in Florida, other signs should be taken into account as well. For example, you should be looking for:

• Dark brown spots appear on your bedding. These are bed bug fecal matters left behind as they excrete their blood meals after feeding. These can be found anywhere where the bed bugs are present: bedding, wooden frames, headboards, baseboards, etc.
• Deep red spots appear on your bedding. This is blood left over from the feeding process and is as clear an indicator that you have a bed bug problem as you are likely to find. These can sometimes look almost reddish-brown as the blood has dried overnight
• Hatched eggs or eggs yet to hatch; these are often found in the same places as we noted above for molted skins. If you notice any of these signs, it is a clear indicator you have bed bugs in Florida
• Look out, too, for a sweet smell that sticks to the air and clings to the furniture in the room. Some say it has an overly sweet smell, almost akin to ripe raspberries. The smell should be hard to mask with air-freshening tools

Any of the above signs, or any combination of these signs, is a clear indicator that you are suffering from bed bugs in Florida.

If you worry that you have bed bugs, then it is important to look in the right places. For example, despite their name, bed bugs do not always hang around on beds alone. They linger on any form of furniture or upholstery where they can otherwise remain undisturbed until a host settles down.

Generally, you should inspect any mattresses, bed frames, and furniture. Bed bugs tend to look for more porous materials, so they are unlikely to be found in areas that are made from metal or plastic. However, even metal bed frames – so long as there is a mattress – can be a host for bed bugs. If you find any signs of bed bugs like those listed above, be sure to look at all your beds.

Adult bed bugs, though small, can be easily spotted with the human eye. Shine a light on the bedding at nighttime, as this is when these nocturnal parasites come out to feed. Their flat-shaped, ovular bodies make them an easier pest problem to identify than many other more similar-looking pests.

Having a bed bug problem is never nice, but it can be resolved with a professional treatment plan. If you want to make sure your bed bugs stay away, though, you need a solution that lasts. Some forms of bed bug treatment can produce short-term results.

Due to their lack of property-wide impact or their ability to kill off the wider infestation, though, bed bug numbers can soon return in menacing volume.

Three main forms of treatment exist today. The most common is chemical treatment. While once seen as the best option for bed bug extermination, chemicals lack the same impact they once did. A combination of bed bugs becoming more resistant to the chemicals used and the fact chemicals are only sprayed on a certain area makes it impractical for larger infestations.

Chemicals, too, cannot pierce eggshells. This means any bed bugs that are still to emerge from their shells will survive, meaning the problem starts anew.

Electric heat treatment is another common choice, though it lacks the power needed to eradicate bed bugs in large numbers. Electric heat takes too long to reach the temperatures needed to kill bed bugs—anything over 130F, which most electric heat systems fail to reach. This means that the bed bugs can get out of the property before the required temperature is reached.

The most efficient form of bed bug treatment is heat treatment, like our Heat Assault solution. This quickly reaches temperatures of 140F if required, which can be more than enough to kill even the sturdiest of bed bugs in Florida. Since this system reaches the needed temperatures rapidly, bed bugs have nowhere near enough time to realize the danger they face, and thus, full-scale wipeout takes place. This allows for property-wide treatment in one single visit as opposed to many return trips.

If you have a bed bug problem in Florida, you want a heat treatment specialist who can apply the solution as needed. At BBE, we provide our bed bug heat treatment across Florida for any bed bug problem. Whether the infestation has just started or the numbers reach the hundreds or even thousands, we can provide a solution that is guaranteed to work. Contact us to discuss our heat treatment for bed bugs in Florida and see how we can provide you with long-term peace of mind!