The bed has always been a sacrosanct area in the house. From tired sighs and pained tears to joyful memories and happy laughter, your bedroom is where you can unmask yourself and become truly vulnerable.
It would be a shame if your rest times were plagued with troublesome bed bugs that make you itch in this sanctuary. In this article, we’ll explore what bed bugs are, what causes them and how to get rid of them.
What Are Bed Bugs?
Bed bugs have been around for the longest time–specifically dating back to ancient Egypt. Still, they were brought over to the U.S. due to colonists, and they thrived for several decades until the 1950s when the developed world invented new pest control products. Bed bugs are fond of humans and tend to congregate around areas that are densely populated by people. Usually, they can infest places during more frequent travels, changes in pest control practices, or they are just resistant to pesticides.
It’s important to know why bed bugs would suddenly infest a room to know how you can handle their presence, as they are resilient creatures capable of surviving up to a year without sustenance. They adeptly latch onto people’s belongings, seeking cozy beds, clothes, or furniture to inhabit and reproduce.
The Different Causes for Bed Bugs
Environmental Factors
A. Clutter and Overcrowding
Bed bugs thrive in environments with ample hiding spots and easy access to hosts for feeding. Clutter provides numerous hiding places for bed bugs to hide in during the day, making it more difficult to detect and eradicate them. Overcrowded living spaces, like apartments with multiple occupants or dormitories with shared rooms, increase the likelihood of bed bug infestations as they provide a higher concentration of potential hosts to feed on.
Clutter and overcrowding make it challenging to thoroughly clean and inspect living areas, allowing bed bugs to multiply undetected.
B. Warm and Humid Conditions
Warm and humid conditions create an ideal habitat for bed bugs to thrive and reproduce. These pests prefer temperatures between 70°F and 80°F (21°C to 27°C) and humidity levels of 70% to 80%. Bed bugs can develop rapidly from egg to adult in such environments, leading to faster population growth.
Furthermore, high humidity helps bed bugs remain hydrated, reducing their dependence on regular blood meals and increasing their chances of survival when hosts are unavailable.
C. Presence of Hiding Spots
Hiding spots are crucial for bed bugs to evade detection and ensure their survival. Bed bugs are nocturnal insects that spend most of their time hidden away in cracks, crevices, and other secluded areas near their hosts. Common hiding spots include seams, headboards, bed frames, furniture joints, and baseboards. These pests are adept at squeezing into tight spaces, making locating and eliminating them challenging.
The abundance of hiding spots not only shelters bed bugs but also facilitates their dispersal throughout a structure, making it harder to eradicate an infestation once it has become established.
Travel and Migration
A. Movement of Infested Items
The movement of infested items significantly contributes to the spread of bed bugs. These pests are expert hitchhikers and can easily latch onto belongings such as clothing, bedding, luggage, and furniture.
When infested items are transported from one location to another, whether during a move, a vacation, or simply borrowing items from friends or family, bed bugs can hitch a ride, spreading their infestation to new environments. This inadvertent transportation of bed bugs facilitates their dispersal across cities, countries, and even continents, contributing to the global spread of infestations.
B. Spread Through Luggage and Furniture
Bed bugs often spread through luggage and furniture, particularly in settings where people travel frequently, such as hotels, motels, and hostels. When travellers stay in accommodations with bed bug infestations, these pests can crawl into luggage, backpacks, and other personal belongings.
Travellers can unknowingly introduce bed bugs to their living spaces, allowing the infestation to take hold. Similarly, secondhand furniture, especially from sources that haven’t been properly inspected or sanitized, can harbour bed bugs and serve as vehicles for their spread when brought into new homes.
C. Infestation in Public Spaces
Bed bugs can also infest public spaces, including transportation vehicles, movie theatres, offices, libraries, and retail establishments. These environments present ample opportunities for bed bugs to come into contact with humans and their belongings.
Infestations in public spaces may originate from infested individuals unknowingly carrying bed bugs on their person or from their own items. Once they’re established in public settings, bed bugs can easily transfer to unsuspecting individuals and their belongings, perpetuating the cycle of infestations.
In conclusion, travel and migration play a significant role in the spread of bed bugs. Whether through the movement of infested items, the spread via luggage and furniture, or infestations in public spaces, the mobility of humans and their belongings facilitate the spread of these pests. Awareness of the risks associated with travel-related bed bug transmission is essential for implementing preventive measures and minimizing the spread of infestations.
Human Behaviour
A. Lack of Awareness
One of the contributing factors to the proliferation of bed bugs is the lack of awareness among the general population. Several people are unaware of the signs of a bed bug infestation or how easily these pests can be introduced into their homes. Without the right knowledge, individuals may fail to recognize the early indicators of a bed bug problem, such as small, reddish-brown stains on the bedding or itchy bites on their skin.
Consequently, infestations can go unnoticed and untreated, allowing bed bugs to multiply and spread throughout living spaces.
B. Inadequate Sanitation Practices
If the sanitation practice is inadequate, bed bug infestations can be more possible. Clutter, dirt, and debris provide hiding spots for bed bugs to thrive and reproduce. If you’re unable to regularly clean and declutter living areas can make it easier for bed bugs to evade detection. In addition, improper storage of belongings like leaving clothes on the floor or neglecting to regularly clean the bedding, can make it easier for bed bugs to find new homes.
Without proper sanitation, people can create conditions that facilitate the persistence of bed bug infestations.
C. High Turnover in Residential Areas
When an apartment building or rental property has a high turnover rate, this can result in the spread of bed bugs. With rapid turnover means the possibility of overlooking or rushing the proper precautionary measures to avoid pests.
There’s also the possibility that people relocating from infested areas may unknowingly carry bed bugs in their belongings, thus spreading the infestation to new locations.
Economic Factors
A. Increased Global Travel
For travel junkies, it’s bad news that international travel can be one of the reasons for a sudden bed bug infestation. While travelling across the globe, it could be possible that foreign bed bugs can find their way into luggage, clothing, and personal belongings as they are adept hitchhikers and can easily infest any accommodation facility.
Close proximity to strangers on flights can also give bed bugs ample opportunity to spread from one person to another.
B. Resistance to Pesticides
Ever since pesticides have been created, bed bugs have developed a remarkable resistance to many commonly used insecticides. This resistance is attributed to the overuse and misuse of insecticides and their genetic adaptability. As a result, traditional insecticides can be ineffective in controlling infestations.
This persistence has led to new and integrated pest management methods such as heat treatments, vacuuming, and steam cleaning to achieve long-term control.
C. Challenges in Eradication
Economic restraints often prevent residents from seeking timely treatments, allowing infestations to worsen over time. On average, a bed bug extermination service would cost around $3,250.
For low-income earning households, this is a hefty price and can lead them to ineffective DIY methods, or they would simply endure the presence of bed bugs. This perpetuates the cycle of infestations and contributes to an increase of bed bugs in communities with limited resources.
All in all, there are diverse causes of bed bugs. Though they can come from anywhere, they’re not impossible to exterminate. One just has to remember to practice daily cleaning or hire professional bed bug exterminators if the infestation gets too big.
