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It is exciting to live in the cultural and entertainment capital of Alabama. We have the beautiful Alabama theater with its fantastic red and gold Mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ, the Birmingham Museum of Art, and the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.
There are many places to visit and things to do in Birmingham, but there can be a downside to riding buses and cabs or taking in a classic movie: bed bugs. While bed bugs are the last thing on the minds of most people when visiting sites, riding on public transportation, or traveling, they can quickly become a problem upon returning home.
If you suspect bed bugs are in your home, you need bed bug control in Birmingham from Havard Pest Control. We have served customers in Birmingham for over 70 years. Our company has over 100 certified employees serving clients in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Because of our commitment to excellent customer service, honesty, and quality, our customers have rewarded us with near-perfect ratings on Google and Facebook. We are proud to be one of only 3% of pest control companies nationwide that have earned the QualityPro Certification from the Foundation for Professional Pest Management.
You probably found this article because you suspect bed bugs are inside your house. Please read to learn how to end your bed bug problem and prevent future ones.
Bed Bugs 101: Biology, Behaviors, Attractants
Bed bugs are insects in the Cimicidae family. Like all insects, they have six legs, two antennae, and a three-part segmented body consisting of a head, thorax, and abdomen. Adult bed bugs have a 1/4-inch, crinkly-looking mahogany body that is flat and broad oval when unfed; after a blood meal, they turn reddish-brown, swollen, and elongated.
Unlike mammals, insects have their skeleton on the outside of the body. Known as an exoskeleton, they must shed (molt) their exterior shell when progressing from one growth stage to another. Bed bugs move through five growth stages, known as instars, before reaching adulthood. A bed bug will advance to the next instar five days after a blood meal, and it will remain at that instar for five to eight days, provided it can secure another blood meal within 24 hours of molting. Under optimal conditions (70℉- 90℉), a bed bug will become an adult 37 days after hatching and live for 99 to 300 days.
Bed bugs must eat a blood meal to progress through each instar and to reproduce. When male and female bed bugs consume a blood meal upon reaching adulthood, they mate, and the fertilized females will produce one to five eggs for the next ten days. A blood meal is required for fertilized females to reproduce. The 5/64-inch eggs are pearl-white and are not visible to the naked eye; after five days, they develop a black spot. Over its lifetime, a female bed bug can produce over 500 eggs, and under optimal conditions, 97% of the eggs will hatch. Sixty percent of the eggs will hatch within six days, and 90% will hatch within nine days.
Once they sense a host's presence through carbon dioxide, body heat, and odor, bed bugs hide inside cracks and crevices in the room near the host, preferably a human. If you suspect Birmingham bed bugs are in your Birmingham house, search in these locations:
- Nightstands
- Curtain folds
- Behind picture frames and headboards
- Inside electrical outlets
- Underneath wallpaper seams
- Upholstered furniture
- Mattress seams
- Box springs
- Wood flooring cracks
- Crevices between baseboards, walls, and flooring
When investigating these locations, search for bed bug signs like reddish-brown fecal stains, eggs, eggshells, molt skins, and live bed bugs. A musty odor will be present in rooms with a heavy concentration of bed bugs.
Between midnight and 5 a.m., a bed bug will leave its hideaway, climb onto the host, and feed for five to ten minutes. When a bed bug climbs onto a host and anchors itself using the tiny claws on its feet, it probes the skin to find capillary-rich areas. Next, it inserts a mouthpart, known as a proboscis, into the skin; it injects saliva containing an anticoagulant to promote blood and an anesthetic to keep the host unaware that it is feeding. After the bed bug is full of blood, it retreats to a crack or crevice and remains there for three to seven days until it needs another blood meal.
Unlike other pests, food crumbs, open garbage containers, or decaying plant or animal matter do not entice bed bugs. Instead, these insects rely exclusively on blood for nutrients and moisture. Although bed bugs need blood for survival, they can live for 70 days at room temperature without a meal.
Havard Pest Control provides bed bug control services in Birmingham to remove these pests from your home. Our highly-trained inspectors know where to look for the signs of a bed bug problem.
Are Bed Bugs Dangerous?
Although other blood-drawing insects spread disease-causing organisms to their hosts (e.g., mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas), bed bugs are not known to spread disease. However, that does not mean they are danger-free pests.
Bed bugs can be psychologically damaging. Initially, a host may dismiss a few bites as being from a mosquito or spider, but when more begin to appear, the realization that there may be a bed bug infestation can be devastating. Anxiety and depression can develop due to the fear of receiving more bites each night. Furthermore, those living with a bed bug infestation may experience sleep difficulties that can lead to irritability and the inability to concentrate.
Although bed bugs do not spread disease, their bites can result in infections. When a bed bug bites and injects saliva, the host's body registers it as an allergen and dispatches histamines, which cause the host to itch. Excessive scratching can break open the slightly swollen red areas and expose them to contaminants.
To avoid sleepless nights, anxiety, and possible wound infections, secure the best bed bug pest control near you from Havard Pest Control.
Comprehensive Guide To Bed Bug Prevention
Pests and rodents enter a Birmingham home during dry spells or adverse weather conditions to search for food, water, or shelter. Open garbage containers, unwashed dishes, leaking plumbing fixtures, damp crawl spaces, and exposed foods are attractants for most pests and rodents. However, these things have no appeal for bed bugs, nor do they enter homes from the surrounding yard.
Bed bugs are hitchhikers that use people and things for transportation and public venues as transfer hubs. Although hotels and motels are infamous for bed bugs, these tiny creatures may move from one host to another on public subways, buses, cabs, and in theatres, restaurants, and other public gathering locations.
You are probably reading this article because you suspect you have a bed bug infestation. You need Havard Pest Control to stop the current problem, but once we eliminate the current population in your Birmingham home, they can hitchhike into your home in the future if you are not careful. Therefore, we recommend these bed bug control techniques for your home:
- Sweep the house regularly, empty contents into a sealable bag, and dispose of them in a closed outdoor garbage container.
- Suction out cracks and crevices in the home.
- Wash bed linens frequently.
- Store worn clothing in a closed hamper.
- Store seldom-used clothing in sealed garment bags.
- Encase the mattress with a bed bug-proof cover.
- Review clothing before entering your house after riding public transportation.
- Transfer clothing from luggage to the washer and dryer immediately upon returning from a hotel or motel.
- Vacuum luggage after returning from a trip before bringing it into the house.
- Inspect used furniture for bed bugs before bringing it into the home.
- Reject used furniture from a previously bed bug-infested home.
Implementing these tips will drastically reduce the chances of a future reinfestation after bed bug removal from Havard Pest Control.
How Professional Bed Bug Treatment Works And Why It's Effective
When you see signs of bed bugs, partner with Havard Pest Control because these creatures are among the most difficult to eliminate. According to a survey of pest control professionals by the National Pest Management Association, over three-quarters said bed bugs were the most troublesome pest to remove from a home. So, if bed bugs give the pros difficulty, you know they are challenging to remove.
Our bed bug removal process begins with an inspection of your Birmingham home. If our inspector finds evidence of an infestation, we will give you a preparation sheet. Once we set a treatment date and your home is ready, we will treat the entire house. Although an infestation may seem confined to one area, bed bugs can travel throughout a home, so we want to ensure we eliminate all the bugs. While we target the areas where bed bugs hide, we also treat the entire flooring area to kill any bugs in the carpeting.
Once we complete our treatment, we install bed bug monitors. Our initial treatment usually resolves the problem, but if the monitors indicate additional post-treatment activity, we will do what it takes to ensure the bed bugs are gone.
Contact us today to learn about our bed bug control services and to schedule a free inspection (some exclusions may apply).
