Category Archives: Bed Bugs Maine

Date Posted: April 26, 2016 Category: Bed Bugs, Maine Pest Control, Pest Control

If you think it is too cold for bed bugs to live in South Portland, Maine, then you don't know bed bugs very well. These are pests that dwell almost entirely inside. And, being an "inside" bug, they can be found in all 50 states, including Alaska. In fact, these apple-seed-sized insects are increasing on a worldwide level. Experts believe it is because of an increase in world travel and that these are a hitchhiking bug. It may also have a lot to do with the fact that these pests breed like crazy. A bulletin from the Department of Health and Social Services of Alaska warns that "once at home in a new spot, they double in population every 16 days."

What can Mainers do to protect themselves from bed bugs?

Be aware of what these pests look like. Wherever you are, it is important to know a bed bug when you see it. By recognizing these pests, you can take measures to prevent them from coming home with you.

Be aware of what bed bug bites look like. They can seem like mosquito bites, but there are two notable differences. Bed bug bites often have a rash around them, and they will usually appear in a line or cluster.

Be aware of what bed bug infestations smell like. If you are lying in a bed, sitting in a chair, or lounging on a couch that has a faint odor of dirty, wet towel, you might want to do a quick inspection.

Be aware that bed bugs don't just live in hotels and motels. They have been found infesting public transportation and public venues. You need to be aware of bed bugs in buses, trains, airplanes, taxi cabs and other forms of transit, as well as movie theaters, libraries, and other places people sit.

Be aware that these bugs can come into your home on other people. If your kids have recently had a slumber party or you have had a relative stay the night, be sure to wash and dry all bedding and sheets on the hottest temperature. Heat will kill bed bugs in all stages of development. It is also a good idea to use a flashlight to do an inspection of guest areas, for added protection.

Be aware that bed bugs can be in the cleanest place and on the cleanest people. They aren't drawn to filth. They are drawn to blood; which is why they can be found infesting 5-star luxury hotels and cruise ships.

When an infestation occurs, be aware that Big Blue Bug Solutions is now in South Portland, Maine and that we service much of Southern Maine. When these blood eating pests strike, Big Blue Bug Solutions has the bed bug control solution for you.

Tags: bed bugs | facts about bed bugs | bed bug control in me |

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Bed Bugs In South Portland Maine? - Big Blue Bug

Bed bugs got their name by hiding close to where their food source (i.e. you or another unlucky fellow) is sleeping or resting. This means that youre most likely to find bed bugs on or near your bed or other furniture that you frequently come in contact with, such as a couch or recliner. If you think unwanted guests might be crashing on your sofa, you should begin inspecting and treating the furniture item immediately. Treating furniture for bed bugs involves a combination of chemical and non-chemical solutions, as well as passive traps to help prevent bed bugs from being able to hide in the item again. These are proven, professional-strength treatment methods, and are all part of our 4-step do-it-yourself solution.

You can inspect for bed bugs in your couch using a flashlight, a pair of nitrile gloves, a magnifying glass, and a credit card for hard to reach areas.

Signs of bed bug activitycan include:

Begin your inspection by removing the layers of cushioning from your couch, inspecting every item you remove. Since bed bugs are good at squeezing into small spaces, its important that you leave no areas unchecked or untreated. Trace every seam, edge, and zipper from end to end using your credit card and flashlight. There are tons of cracks and crevices under the bottom of your couch; to reach those potential hiding places, you should remove the dust cover, which is mainly there for aesthetics anyway.

If you found any signs of bed bugs, youll want to start treating your couch right away. Begin treating your couch by using a vacuum to pickup as many bed bugs, bed bug feces, and eggs as possible along the cracks and crevices of your sofa.

Vacuuming for bed bugs is a great way to quickly reduce the bed bug population before steaming and applying your residual chemicals. While you could use your own vacuum, its recommended to use a HEPA filtered PCO vacuum that features plugs and a shake-free bag to prevent bed bugs from escaping the vacuums body. After youve finished vacuuming your sofa, you can move on to the next step in the treatment process which is steaming the cracks and crevices of your couch. Steaming is the most effective and environmentally friendly way of killing bed bugs and their eggs on contact. All steamers that we carry are capable of producing steam temperatures over 180 Fahrenheit, enough to kill bed bugs and their eggs on contact.

Bed Bug Tip: To take full advantage of pin-point nozzles, take a microfibre cloth and wrap it around the head of the accessory using rubber bands to secure it. Using the cloth breaks up the pressure coming out of the steamer and builds up the temperature at the tip of the accessory. Be sure to read the steamers user manual for safe usage and follow the recommended cool-off methods, to properly relieve the pressure from the container before opening. You can steam your sofa by following all cracks and crevices using your steamers pin-point nozzle attachment. You want to treat around the armrest, below the cushions, and along every seam, to ensure you treat as many potential hiding places as possible. If your steamer features a steam adjustment dial, turn the pressure down for flat surfaces and up to penetrate into cracks and folds. When finished, give your couch a few hours to fully dry before applying your residual chemicals. You can also use a fan in the treated area to circulate the air and speed up the drying process.

After you steam clean your sofa, its important to treat your couch with an effective residual. JT Eaton Kills Bed Bugs Plus is a non-staining residual insecticide offering up to 12 weeks of protection against the toughest of bed bugs and their eggs.

Before using Jt Eaton Plus, we recommend wearing a long sleeve shirt and using a pair of chemical resistant gloves to prevent skin contact with the chemicals found inside. Remember that you should always refer to the products label and msds for safe and effective usage. Begin by attaching the included straw applicator and spraying every seam, flap, crack, or crevice found on your sofa. Be sure to apply JT Eaton Plus to the zippers and seams of the cushions as well to ensure no area is left untreated.

After you treat your sofa with a residual, you can prevent bed bugs from reaching you on your couch by using ClimbUp Insect Interceptors. The Interceptors work by using you as a lure to bring out bed bugs from their hiding spaces and towards the Interceptor. Bed bugs climb up the edge of the interceptor and fall into a pitfall trap, which features a thin coat of talcum powder to prevent bed bugs from climbing back out. To install ClimbUp Insect Interceptors on your couch, simply lift up the leg post and place an interceptor underneath. With the ClimbUps in place you can stop bed bugs from being able to reach you, while also monitoring their population over time.

To increase the chances of attracting bed bugs to your installed monitors, you can convert them to active monitors with the inclusion of SenSci Activ lures. SenSci Activ is a new, easy-to-use bed bug lure that slowly releases an odor that can attract bed bugs for around 2-3 months.

Once these steps have been taken, you can rest assured that your treated furniture is now bed bug free, and that defenses are in place to keep bed bugs out of those cushions for good. You can now use your vacuum, steamer, sprays and traps to begin treating other parts of your home that bed bugs are likely to be hiding in.

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How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs on Couches and Furniture

A couple of weeks ago, we discussed how salt can be used to kill bed bugs. The conclusion we ended up with was pretty simple: it cant. Despite being recommended fairly often as a natural alternative to conventional bed bug treatments, there is no scientific evidence that salt can kill bed bugs.

Salt is just one of many household items that are suggested online as a cheap and easy way to treat bed bugs. We get calls all the time from people asking about essential oils, borax, vinegar, and other items that they suspect might be useful in a bed bug treatment. One of the items that comes up fairly often is baking soda. With that in mind, lets explore the idea: can baking soda kill bed bugs?

There are a couple of reasons that people suggest baking soda as a way to kill bed bugs. Sodium bicarbonate, commonly known as baking soda or baking powder, is a fine white powder that is commonly usedthroughout the home. Baking soda is used in cooking, disinfecting, cleaning, personal hygiene, and even some practical medicine.

Probably the most common argument for baking soda as a bed bug killer is its natural absorbing ability, which is what allows baking soda to suck up musty smells from refrigerators and old books. Since bed bugs rely on the waxy layer of their shell to stay hydrated, the theory is that baking soda can absorb those surface fluids and cause the bugs to dehydrate. This is similar to how diatomaceous earth is used against bed bugs.

Another theory is that baking soda is simply so abrasive that it can cut open bed bug shells, primarily on their relatively softer underbellies. Once open wounds are created, any bed bug would be highly susceptible to internal bleeding, infection, or dehydration.

Finally, some believe thatbaking soda will work on bed bugs in a similar way to how it is believed to work on roaches. There is a lot of discussion online that when cockroaches consume baking powder, a chemical reaction causes rapid gas buildup, causing their internal organs to burst.

(Since I mentionedthree distinct theories, Ill have to address each one separately.)

The first theory we discussed was that baking soda would absorb the fluid from a bed bugs waxy shell when it comes in contact with the bug. The problem with this idea is that baking soda doesnt absorb fluids much, if at all. Baking soda actually breaks down in bodies of water very easily, so its ability to absorb thick, viscous fluids like the wax on a bed bugs shell is questionable. The absorption properties of baking soda are limited to odors and certain acidic chemicals.

The second theory mentioned above is that baking soda will cut into bed bug shells and cause damage beneath the skin, like piercing or slicing them with a blade. Comparisons are often made with diatomaceous earth, which is similarly abrasive and is capable of cutting into a bed bugs shell as well. The discussion of abrasive powder cutting into a bed bug is a bit exaggerated diatomaceous earth cuts into a bed bugs shell, yes, but not by very much. It mostly just sticks itself in far enough to stay on the bed bug while it moves around. No fine powder will pierce a bed bug enough to cause it any real injury.

The final theory well discuss, and possibly the most absurd,is that bed bugs would ingest baking soda and suffer organ failure the same way that roaches are supposed to. However, there are two big issues with this theory. First, bed bugs dont eat dry items in their environment like roaches do. They dont even have mouths capable of opening enough to ingest solid crystals like baking soda. Second, I cant seem to find any scientific studies or other evidence that baking soda causes a chemical reaction in roaches to begin with. This may just be a myth compounded from oneinaccurate target to the next.

The outcome for this hypothesis is looking pretty grim. There are no professional tests or other scientific evidence to indicate that baking soda can kill bed bugs. None of the theories we discussed pan out in any positive way. Its pretty safe to assume that you shouldnt be using baking soda in your bed bug treatments.

Weve said this before, and well say it again: there is no silver bullet for bed bugs. Even if baking soda had some effect on bed bugs, it still wouldnt be an effective treatment solution all by itself. Bed bugs are notoriously difficult to treat they can hide almost anywhere in your room, they reproduce quickly, and its tough to tell where they came from or how many of them are nearby. This makes it necessary to use a combination of products and treatment methods in a holistic process, like our proven 4-step solution.

This whole desire to use household items to treat bed bugs is a pain point for us at Bed Bug Supply. Its not that we dont want you to save money by using low-cost items, or by using stuff you already have around the house. The problem is that we never hear about these treatments working. People spend valuable time and money trying to cut corners, and they end up calling us with their tails between their legs. If they had skipped the baking soda or eucalyptus oil treatment, they could have called us weeks earlier and started a proper treatment that much sooner.

When you have bed bugs, time is a huge factor in dealing with the problem. The longer you wait to start an effective treatment process, the more time the bugs have to feed, reproduce, spread, and drive you crazy. A small infestation can turn into a big one in just a couple of weeks. This means that wasting time with inefficient treatments like baking soda, salt, or whatever else is recommended without proof is a lot more harmful than you might think. If you want to get rid of bed bugs, do yourself a favor: leave the baking soda in the cupboard and give us a call instead.

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FAQ: Can Baking Soda Kill Bed Bugs?

Bed bugs in South Portland Maine have become an epidemic menace. These tiny, blood sucking insects reproduce constantly, often remaining dormant for months at a time. Bed bug eggs also go dormant, surviving even the most lethal chemical. They simply wait for the ideal conditions in which to hatch.

But, there is a way to totally kill bed bugs in South Portland Maine. That method is heat. With heat, a qualified exterminator can kill bed bugs that live in your mattresses, baseboards, drapes, and carpets. The heat will also kill bed bug eggs, which prevents the infestation from recurring. If hiding places, such as luggage, are exposed to heat too, all of those bugs and eggs will die.

There are few exterminators in the country that have the equipment to get rid of bed bugs using heat. Main Bed Bugs and Pest Control, however, has the equipment. They heat bed bugs, thereby killing every adult, nymph, and egg. The heat will kill off the original infestation. To make things even better, this method uses absolutely no chemicals!

With chemicals, the best you can do is control bed bugs. They will repopulate once the chemical is worn off. If you want to completely get rid of bed bugs, Maine Bed Bugs and Pest Control has the equipment to use heat. They have studied every method of killing bed bugs, and discovered that chemicals lose their potency, over time. Once the chemicals are gone, eggs hatch, and the bed bug infestation recurs. Their patented heat treatment kills both the eggs and the bugs with no chemicals, at all. And, even better, you dont have to endure that nasty chemical odor, or clean up any residue

For information about how to kill bed bugs in South Portland ME and the surrounding areas:

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Bed Bugs South Portland ME | Maine Bed Bugs and Pest ...

BBSD, short forbed bug stress disorder, has affected as manyas 1 in 5 Americans. Symptoms include anxiety, sleep loss, chronic vacuuming and laundering to prevent reinfestation, and checking every bump or rash to see if its another bed bug bite.If youre a BBSD victim that has been treating a bed bug infestation, you wake up every day hoping youll never see another bed bug again.

Unfortunately, theres no magic plasma sign that lights up when the last bed bug leaves your home. While youre sure youve taken the right steps, and you may have gone a few days or weeks without being bitten, there doesnt seem to be a surefire way to know when you can declare your home bed bug free. How canyou know for sure that your treatment worked, and that bed bugs are gone from your home for good?

You cant holdany hopes of being bed bug free if your treatment is not up to par. As weve discussed numerous times on this blog, spraying around your room a bit and hoping for the best is going to lead to nothing but disappointment and money wasted.

The right bed bug treatment is thorough, methodical, and precise. You cannot skip steps or cut corners. You have to follow the right steps with the right products in the right order. By being as thorough as possible, you ensure that there are no gaps in your treatment that bed bugs can escape through.

While every step of a bed bug treatment is critical, isolating your bed is especially vital. Bed bugs need to feed in order to grow and reproduce. Cutting off their means of reaching you and feeding on you stops their reproduction in its tracks. Once the bed bugs are unable to multiply, eliminating the infestation is a simple matter of mopping up the remaining survivors.

As you progress through a bed bug treatment, you need a way to measure your progress and see if bed bugs are still active in the area that youre treating. The best way to accomplish this is by monitoring the population directly to try and gauge how it changes over time.

If youre treating for bed bugs in a room where you and/or someone else sleeps, the best way to monitor for bed bugs is with a passive monitor and trap, like ClimbUp Interceptors. When an interceptoris placed under each leg of the bed, they will trap bed bugs that try to enter or exit the bed. Inspect these traps regularly to see if bed bugs are still active in the room. Ideally, the number of bed bugs being captured will decline over time, eventually reaching a consistentzero.

If youve been treating an unoccupied room, like a living room or a vacated bedroom, monitoring the bed bug population becomes a bit more complicated. ClimbUp Interceptors wont do you much good in this situation, since there isnt a human body acting as a lure to draw the bed bugs to the interceptors. Instead, youll want to use an active monitor, like the NightWatch or SenSci Activ. These have a lure of their own, so they can attract bed bugs without anyonepresent.

There is a lot of misinformation on the web about how often bed bugs feed, how long they can live, and how long you should wait before declaring an infestation to be over. To really deconstruct the infestation timeline, were going to look at the bed bug lifespan and reproductive rates and come up with a reliable time range:

Most bed bugs live for four to six months, though some can live for over a year without food by hibernating.Pregnant females lay three to five eggs per day, totaling up to 500 in her short lifetime. Those eggs hatch within two weeks, and the newborn nymphs will be hungry for a blood meal right away.

Since eggs will hatch about two weeks apart, thats a good time period to space apart treatment applications. Remember that almost no bed bug treatment is 100% successful on the first attempt youll need to at least repeat the contact and residual spray applications to finish off the infestation. Wait two weeks after the first treatment to reapply the sprays, then repeat that in another two weeks. These follow-up treatments will hit any newly hatched bed bugs as well as adults that you may have missed before.

Once those follow-up treatments are done, youll know fairly quickly how effective your treatment was. Bed bugs want to eat every 5 to 10 days, so any hungry survivors should start appearing in your traps around two weeks after your last follow-up treatment. If the trapsgo about 6 to 8 weeks without any signs of bed bugs, you can probably call yourself bed bug free. Thats the time to come up with away to celebrate a bed bug job well done!

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FAQ: How Do I Know When Bed Bugs are Gone?