HOW DOES COVID-19 AFFECT BED BUGS

CAN COVID-19 CHANGE BED BUG BEHAVIOUR?

Bed bugs have been around since the time dinosaurs walked the earth. I doubt very much that Covid is going to be their demise. Prior to the global pandemic, Canadians traveled in great numbers all around the world and, before Covid came into our lives, the thought that getting bed bugs would be our worst nightmare. Covid 19 has changed our behaviours and bed bugs will adapt. They too will shelter in place as it is not quite so easy for them to travel now that you are not travelling. They will however continue to bite whoever is closest or most delicious and go off to lay their eggs.

HOW BED BUGS SPREAD?

Bed Bugs love just about everyone in any place. It is true that they prefer places with lots of stuff so they can hide but Cleanliness is not a deciding factor for who they will sleep with. They are quite happy in a basement apartment or a mansion on the hill. Hotels and motels afford them the excellent opportunity of fresh blood and the chance to travel home with you. Public transportation and Uber are also a prime method of movement for the humble bed bug.

People often to compare bed bugs to fleas or ticks, picturing them as jumping bugs that leap onto you in a single bound. The fact is that bed bugs can’t jump or fly, and aren’t really that fast. Bed bugs are more like lice  and, like lice, they do not carry any harmful diseases.

Humans are like a bed bugs personal chauffeur as we whisk them off to all kinds of exotic destinations. They merely have to find a way to attach themselves or hide in one of our bags or clothing, secreting themselves away, like a stowaway.

Travelling with the assistance of humans is one method of movement, but bed bugs will also go out and seek their own new home if they live in apartments or condominium complexes. They will crawl through the wall outlets into the walls and travel up and down the wires to their next home. Often there will be tell-tale black spots leading up to the electrical outlet. This migration on the bed bug’s part usually only takes place when there is a significant infestation. The bed bugs are getting crowded and need to move out to greener pastures.

WILL COVID-19 WILL CHANGE TRAVEL?

It is still early days (although these past four months have felt like a lifetime) for the pandemic. Restrictions are being loosened, but there is plenty of talk of a second wave. The 1918 pandemic had three waves with the second wave being the deadliest. Our travel patterns are not going to change too much over the next 12 months with most of us doing staycations.

Most of us have put our travel plans on hold. I usually take my family on a big trip during the last week of summer. This year, we are doing three small camping trips to provincial campgrounds close to home. There is very little chance of getting bed bugs when you bring your own camping gear. Things are slowly opening up but airline travel will not be the same anytime soon with social distancing regulations in place. The airline industry has grounded half their fleet as passenger numbers drop through the floor. At this stage in the game, Disney and other theme parks are just opening up, however many travelers are choosing to drive rather than fly. Of course, we can’t even cross the border, so don’t plan that once-in-a-lifetime trip just yet.

Since airports, hotels, and the planes themselves are such common travel methods for bed bugs, this change may drastically reduce the rate of transmission for bed bug infestations. Bed bugs are still alive and well, they too are doing a staycation.

BED BUGS ARE SURVIVORS

Ultimately, bed bugs are survivors and will roam the earth long after you and me unless scientists come up with some chemical or method of killing the bed bug and the eggs. The sprays that pest control companies use today were developed in the 1970s. That almost 50 years ago! Bed Bugs have been building up a resistance to these compounds and can actually sense where the spray is an avoid coming in contact with it. To make matters even worse, the over-the-counter sprays you get at your local hardware store contain no ingredients that are truly effective in killing bed bugs. They practically use the same formulation for fleas as they do for bed bugs. Hence, they are a total waste of your money and effort.

Today, our homes are heated and (if you are lucky in this heatwave) air conditioned, so bed bugs are enjoying our heightened standard of living and will survive year-round.

With all that being said, what is the best way to kill bed bugs? The one method that bed bugs have been unable to develop a defense for is heat. They have not been able to adapt to withstand temperatures higher than 45C. Fortunately, bed bug treatments can be done effectively by a professional or in a do-it-yourself fashion.

What to ask your bed bug heat specialist

Should you choose a professional, your heating specialist will come to your home with the equipment and you will need to vacate your home during the treatment. You will also need to prepare the entire house for the heat treatment in advance of their arrival. This means removing anything that is going to melt, like make up, medication, candles, deodorant and food like chocolate. You will also need to remove your house plants and pets. You will need to prepare every room by flipping up the mattresses, pulling the furniture away from the walls and opening closet doors and dresser drawers.

Here is a list of things to ask when you are getting quotes.

1. What type of equipment do they use? Do they have a big truck and run giant hoses that pump hot air into your house or do they use portable electrical units?
2. How many hours do they treat your house?
3. How long does it take to get up to the thermal death temperature for bed bugs, which is 45C?
4. What is the maximum temperature that their equipment achieves?
5. How long do they heat your house after they have reached the 45C. Although bed bugs die in under 15 minutes at 45C, that is in a test tube. You don’t live in a test tube, so you need to make sure that the places that the bed bugs are hiding exceed the thermal death temperature for a lot longer than 15 minutes.
6. What is their success rate?
7. Do you have to heat the whole house if only one or two rooms is affected?
8. What is their guarantee?
9. Do they offer references?
10. Finally, how much does it cost? In my experience, prices start at $1 per square foot with a minimum of $1,500. The bigger your house, the bigger the bill.

Do-It-Yourself Heat Treatment

Many of us simply cannot afford to hire a professional to heat treat the entire house. Additionally, in my experience, it is not necessary to heat the entire house unless you have a serious problem that involves multiple rooms, including the living room. Most often, bed bugs are isolated in one or two rooms for a long time. If they do move, it is usually to the sofa where they can feast on you and catch the latest series on Netflix.

You can save yourself thousands of dollars by doing it yourself when you rent a professional heater from Bed Bugs Dead Bugs with prices starting at $150.

Our heaters are designed to do one room at a time. You will not need to leave the house and you only need to treat the rooms where you have seen bed bugs. If the bed bugs have snuggled into your Snuggly on the sofa, we offer the Bed Bug Blaster Bag where you can put your sofa inside the bag and blast it to 60C, killing the adults and their eggs in one fell swoop.

We are always happy to answer any of your questions.

Save your Money! Save your Mattress! Save your Sanity!