Category Archives: Bed Bugs North Carolina

Early detection of these small unwanted guests is critical to avoiding major problems

Bed bugs have made a comeback in the U.S. in the last decade, being transported across the country with travelers belongings without being noticed, has allowed these pests to make their way into all types of properties: transportation vehicles and hubs, hotels, colleges and universities, movie theaters and libraries, retail stores, and even offices. Nowhere is safe.

However, hotels remain a primary concern in the fight against bed bugs.

One common misconception is that the presence of bed bugs represents a lack of cleanliness but that is not the case. Bed bugs can live anywhere there is a food source, and since they feed on blood, hotels make a perfect spot for them to take up residence.

Once introduced to a hotel, bed bugs can easily infest mattresses, sofas, bed frames, and under carpet. They can also travel easily from room to room and are quick to reproduce. They hide in cracks and crevices, including behind headboards, during the day and come out at night to feed on unsuspecting guests.

Early detection through regular inspection is the best way to catch a bed bug problem before it blooms into a full-blown infestation. Although quick turn-around treatments are now available, such as low-impact heat treatments that kill all life stages of bed bugs, they still take rooms out of service and impact your bottom line.

Daily inspections for bed bugs should be performed by the housekeeping staff as they clean rooms and change linens. Rentokil Steritech, or your pest control company, can conduct training sessions with your housekeeping and maintenance staff to teach them how to identify these pests, as well as the potential signs of a bed bug problem.

You should also work with Rentokil Steritech, or your pest control company, to schedule routine bed bug inspections to catch issues that your staff may not during their daily inspections. Routine inspections can be conducted by your pest control professional with specially trained canines who alert to the presence of bed bugs, or manually with a visual inspection.

If you suspect a bed bug problem, call Rentokil Steritech to have someone perform an inspection immediately. Make note of the room number and the specific location of the pest.

The infographic below illustrates five easy steps for your staff to perform a bed bug inspection. Devoting a few extra minutes to this practice will help you to identify any issues quickly and to continue providing your guest with an optimal experience.

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How to inspect your hotel room for bed bugs | Rentokil ...

By on Tuesday, May 24, 2016

As North Carolinians kick off the summer travel season, the North Carolina Pest Management Association (NCPMA) today reminded travelers to be vigilant in the prevention of bed bugs.

Bed bugs can be found anywhere including hotels, rental properties and summer camps and can easily be transferred from vacation properties into your home. Preventing bed bugs in your home takes only a few simple steps, said Clint Miller, NCPMA board member. Before you put your bags down in your vacation property, take a few minutes to inspect the place for bed bugs. Those few minutes can prevent future infestations and can save a lot of money and stress.

Bed bugs are small insects that hide in small cracks and crevices close to a human environment. They are often found in mattresses and upholstered furniture as well as behind baseboards, wallpaper and in furniture crevices. They can easily spread from room to room within a single building.

To prevent bed bugs, use the following tips from NCPMA:

Inspect

Prepare

Call

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Summer Travel Season Without Bed Bugs | North Carolina ...

The insects, making a comeback around the globe, cannot fly and are really not interested in hanging out on your body--but they do occasionally bite during the day

HUNGRY HITCHHIKERS: Bedbugs typically avoid hiding in human clothes because it of the proximity to bodily heat. Instead they will travel on backpacks, luggage, even shoes. Louis N. Sorkin, B.C.E., Entsult Associates, Inc.

SCREWED: Contrary to popular belief, bedbugs can climb and cling to slick surfaces such as metal and glass. In homes they can sometimes be found hidden around recessed screws or along metal railings. Louis N. Sorkin, B.C.E., Entsult Associates, Inc.

ITCH AND MOAN: Humans have a range of reactions to bedbug bites. About 50 percent of people don't react at all, estimates Coby Schal, an entomologist at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. In some cases, when two people are sleeping in an infested bed, one may wake up covered in itchy welts whereas the other shows no symptoms. Above, a bright, swollen area where a bedbug colony has fed on a susceptible person. Louis N. Sorkin, B.C.E., Entsult Associates, Inc.

IN EVERY CORNER: Bedbugs do not live exclusively in mattresses, as their name would imply. Instead, they can be found on any surface in a home, even in electrical sockets or tucked behind plastic molding along a wall (pictured). Louis N. Sorkin, B.C.E., Entsult Associates, Inc.

UNDER THE SHEETS: Bedbugs are primarily active at night, and sense humans by the heat and carbon dioxide we emit. The insects therefore like to hide close to their meals, climbing into the sheets with them. Jung Kim and Rick Santangelo

TELLTALE LUNCH: The most obvious sign of a bedbug infestation is itchy bites on the skin, often at the extremities, but you can also look for bedbug excrement on light-colored sheets. Living on a liquid diet, bedbugs defecate continually, leaving dark smears on mattress seams, headboards and bed frames (pictured). Alvaro Romero

BIG LUNCH: Bedbugs, pictured here swollen with blood after a meal, consume only blood. They prefer human blood, but will also bite dogs, cats, rodents and other warm-blooded animals. Benoit Guenard

LITTLE SUCKERS: Adult bedbugs are about the size of an apple seed, visible to the naked eye. The adults are reddish-brown, whereas juvenile bedbugs are smaller and lighter in color. Eggs, however, are hard to see, being only about the size of a speck of dust. http://www.kingcounty.gov/

Discover world-changing science. Explore our digital archive back to 1845, including articles by more than 150 Nobel Prize winners.

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Top 10 Myths about Bedbugs [Slide Show] - Scientific American

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Everyone in North Carolina wants to live in a house that provides a safe and secure environment for them and their family. Healthy surroundings lead to less stress and are vital for everyone in the family to thrive. Unfortunately, many families in your area sharing their homes and yards with uninvited guests. Insects and other pests like ants, mosquitoes, bed bugs, cockroaches, silverfish, mice, and termites are some of the most common pests found inside homes and burrowing under lawns. They, of course, can spread harmful diseases and infections, and literally ruin your house and property.

The professional pest control in North Carolina are skilled in ridding your home and property of all threatening pests by using safe and effective methods. The products used by professional exterminators in your area are more powerful, accurate, and non-invasive on easily affected environments. Professional chemicals are not available to anyone with a license. They also have the right equipment for the job, which can help them finish the job quickly and efficiently. Be sure to ask NC exterminators what their methods are, and if they are safe for pets and children in your house.

Experience as a professional tradesman is one of the most important skills an exterminator can bring to a job site. Local pest control experts in North Carolina have experience dealing with the pest problems native to your area. This is a real benefit when counting on an expert to solve the problem the first time. This also means an efficient job as local NC exterminators know exactly how to attack the pest removal job at hand. This means less impact for you and your family. Be sure to ask the various ways you can protect your house against future infestations. He'll have plenty of useful suggestions for you, based on his years of local experience.

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Pest Control North Carolina | Get Rid of Bed Bugs in North ...

The varied carpet beetle in many ways does resemble the bed bug. Anthrenus verbasci are small, about 3mm in length, and flat. Much like bed bugs they are even oval-shaped when looked at from the top down. However, the varied carpet beetle does not feed on blood and get their name from their feast on natural fibers when they are in larval form. They can damage natural fibers such as carpeting.

Carpet beetles look very, very different from bed bugs when they are larger. They look like tiny furry caterpillars whereas the bed bug larvae look a lot like the larger versions, but just very small. Bed bug larvae look like little worms, while carpet beetle larvae look like fuzzy bugs with little spines all over them.

The main difference is the color. Varied carpet beetles do have brown on their backs, but they look more spotted or striped with white and light colored patches mixed with brown.

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Carpet Beetles vs. Bed Bugs | Ehrlich Pest Control