Category Archives: Bed Bugs Minnesota

By nature, bed bugs are stow-a-ways. They enter homes or apartments by hiding out in the cracks and crevices of luggage, furniture, clothing, pillows, boxes and other objects when they are moved between apartments, homes and hotels. Bed bugs hide during the day and typically feed at night. Since bed bugs feed on blood, their presence has little to do with the cleanliness of the home, although clutter can provide hiding spaces for bed bugs and make them difficult to treat. Bed bugs can survive for months without feeding, so they may be present in vacant, clean homes when new tenants unpack. Once bed bugs are established, they rapidly reproduce and spread from room to room.

Bed bugs can be very difficult to control, even for trained professionals. Many insecticides are not effective at killing the eggs, so a repeat treatment is often necessary to kill the juveniles after they hatch. Even worse, some populations of bed bugs have developed resistance to common insecticides, making some sprays ineffective. Alternative methods include heat and steam treatments, structural fumigations and cold treatments.

The National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) received hundreds of calls last year from all over the country about bed bugs. If you have questions about this, or any pesticide-related topic, please call NPIC at 1-800-858-7378 (7:30am-3:30pm PST), or email at npic@ace.orst.edu.

Last updated November 19, 2013

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Understanding and Controlling Bed Bugs

Download a print version of this document: Detection and Control of Bed Bugs in Lodging Establishments (PDF: 126KB/2 pages)

Introduction | What Are Bed Bugs | What happens to people who are bitten by bed bugs? | If I cant keep bed bugs out of my hotel, what can I do? | How should I respond, if a guest complains about bed bugs? | How can I control an Infestation? | More information

Introduction: Bed bugs were almost entirely eliminated in the United States more than forty years ago by mass treatments with older types of insecticides such as DDT. Over the past decade, bed bug infestations have increased throughout the U.S. and become more widespread. Rural and urban homes, retail stores, office buildings, nursing homes, motels and hotels in Minnesota have been affected by the pests.

The problem of a bed bug infestation in a motel or hotel is somewhat unique. When bed bugs invade a lodging establishment, the most important services the business offers a clean, safe bed and a good nights sleep are threatened. It is important therefore to consider both prevention and response tactics and strategies to deal with this problem. Regular inspections can prevent the spread of an infestation. Sensible controls and rapid response can contain infestations and reduce the impact on guests and the reputation of a business.

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Bed bugs are small insects that feed on human blood. They are flat, oval, reddish-brown and wingless. The adult is about 1/4 of an inch long and looks somewhat like a wood tick.

After the bed bug has taken a blood meal, its color will change from brown to purplish-red and the body of the bed bug becomes larger and more cigar-shaped. Young bed bugs (or nymphs) are much smaller - about 1/16 inch long when they first hatch. Nymphs are nearly colorless, and become bright red after feeding.

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Bed bugs are not known to carry disease but the bites can be annoying. The bites are usually painless. It may take days for people to notice the small, flat or raised bumps on their skin that result from bed bug bites. Some people do not react at all. In others, bed bug bites may cause redness, swelling, and itching. A small number of people have a serious, immediate allergic reaction to bed bug bites requiring medical care.

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Detection and Control of Bed Bugs in Lodging Establishments ...

Bed bugs feed on human blood, can hide in the smallest crack or crevice and can live over a year with no food. They are VERY hard to get rid of. They have not been shown to spread disease; but, their health effects include reaction to bites, loss of sleep, anxiety and depression. Myths| Fact Sheets (Toronto Public Health)- 13 Languages| Bed Bug Basics (pdf)- English | Hmong | Karen | Somali| Spanish| Bed Bug Prevention and Control - English | Karen | Spanish

What They Look LikeAn adult bed bug is the size of an apple seed (3/8) and thin as a credit card. They are brown to reddish brown, have six legs and no wings. Life Cycle| Identifying Bed Bugs

Bed Bug HabitsBed bugs feed on human blood. Your breath and body heat are basically an eat here sign to bed bugs. If they can, they will feed every 3-7 days. They come out at night to feed for 5-20 minutes and hide the rest of the time. Adult bed bugs may live over a year with no food. Bed bugs are NOT a filth pest. That is a myth. Bed bugs do not care if your home is clean or dirty, they only want your blood. Signs of Bed Bugs | Where They Hide | How They Spread

AvoidingBed Bugs The best way to deal with bed bugs is to not get them in the first place. You can avoid bed bugs if you knowtheir appearance andhabits. Preventing Bed Bugs| Preventing and Getting Rid of Bed Bugs Safely - English| Spanish| Chinese Michigan Manual for the Prevention and Control of Bed Bugs(pdf)

I want to...Get a Bug Identified | Dispose of Infested Mattress/Furniture| Resolve a Landlord Dispute

Getting Rid of Bed BugsThe best choice to get rid of bed bugs is to hire a pest control company.There is little to no chance you will get rid of all the bed bugs in your home without hiring pest control. If you do not have the money to hire pest control, there are steps you can take to cut the number of bugs in your home. Hiring a Pest Control Company| Bed Bug Insecticide Guide (pdf) | Controlling Bed Bugs Yourself

I am aRenter | Landlord | Home Visitor | Traveler | School | Health Care Professional

The MN Bed Bug Hotline - 612.624.2200University of MN - Let's Beat the BedBug | MN Bed Bug Fact Sheet (pdf)

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Bed Bugs - Ramsey County PH

Extension > Garden > Insects > Traveler Q & A: Preventing bed bugs from hitchhiking to your home

Stephen Kells and Jeff Hahn, University of Minnesota Extension Reviewed 2006

Different stages of bed bugs (1/16 inch to 1/4 inch in size) and fecal spots

Bed bugs on a backpack

This factsheet provides some specific steps that you can use to prevent hitchhiking bed bugs from infesting your home. There is nothing magic about the way these pests initiate an infestation. They are simply parasites that look to resting persons or animals for a meal and, once obtaining this meal, they travel back to a place of hiding.

The thing that makes bed bugs so challenging for detection and control is they have excellent abilities to squeeze into cracks and crevices and will often go unnoticed by the casual observer.

The majority of bugs will cluster around areas where people will rest, but a few of them will move off to hide in more remote areas. They shun light and if they are disturbed or if they suddenly feel exposed, they will attempt to move to quieter (and more remote) areas. It is this cryptic behavior that creates the challenge to dis-infesting articles that have been in areas of bed bug activity and cause the impression that they have special abilities that we cannot contend with.

The following are questions that are commonly asked by travelers and the recommendations you can use to prevent transport of bed bugs from an infested site.

Bed bugs are oval, flattened, brown, and wingless insects approximately 1/4" to 3/8" long (5-9 mm). They are similar in appearance to a wood tick. After the bug has taken a blood meal, its color will change from brown to purplish-red. Also after feeding, it is larger and more cigar-shaped making it appear like a different insect. Young bed bugs are much smaller (1/16 or 1.6 mm when they first hatch) and nearly colorless except after feeding, but resemble the adult in general shape. You may also find cast skins, which are empty shells of bugs as they grow from one stage to the next. After a blood meal, bed bugs deposit fecal spots (composed of digested blood) in areas adjacent to the feeding site or back at their hiding places.

You can only confirm that bed bugs are present by carefully inspecting each item. Pay attention to cracks, crevices, seams, and folds of material. Remember that bed bugs can be 1/16" to 1/4" and young, unfed bugs may be mostly translucent (see pictures). If you find bugs, then you have to be careful in containing the infestation. If you do not find bugs, but still suspect there may be an infestation, the steps mentioned below will provide peace-of-mind and ensure that you do not bring an infestation home.

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Travel Q&A: Bed Bug Prevention – University of Minnesota ...

Guidelines for Dealing with Bed Bugs in a School Setting (.pdf)

Actual bed bug infestations in schools are uncommon, more often a few bed bugs will hitchhike from an infested home on a students possessions. On the occasion that an infestation starts, it will be because bed bugs have found a site where people rest or sit for a time. A common example of this is with the younger grades, or pre-school, where rest time or nap time still occurs.

It is important to remain vigilant for bed bugs in the school. Treating a bed bug infestation is very difficult and costly. The sooner an infestation is detected the easier it will be to control the infestation. Also, there are steps that can be taken to prevent future infestations.

The most common way for bed bugs to enter a school is through hitchhiking from an infested site. Usually this will be from a student, staff or teachers home which has a bed bug infestation. While teachers and staff can be more easily addressed dealing with students or parents can be challenging, especially if the family cannot afford proper control measures or their landlord refuses to properly treat their home.

Students dealing with a bed bug infestation in their home may show signs of bites. Different people react differently to bed bug bites, some people do not react at all and others have severe allergic reactions. Depending on the students immune response to bed bug bites and the severity of the infestation there may be a few or many welts on the face, torso and limbs. Bed Bugs tend to bit on skin that is exposed during sleep or rest. The visible marks and itchiness may make the student very uncomfortable. Students may also display anxiousness and/or sleepiness due to interrupted sleep as a result of bed bugs biting them.

Bed bugs are not associated with uncleanliness or socioeconomic status, but this insect has a substantial social stigma.

Steps that can be taken if a students home is known to have a bed bug infestation:

Guidelines for Dealing with Bed Bugs in a School Setting (.pdf)

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