Why is it so hard to get rid of bed bugs?
Do you have a bed bug problem but it just won’t go away? Have you tried home remedies or maybe even other extermination companies but still have bugs? Are you left wondering, why is it so hard to get rid of bed bugs? Well, here is what makes it hard to remove them. Bed bugs are the perfect storm of characteristics that make them difficult to remove from somewhere once they have infested it.
First of all, bed bugs are small, flat, and adept at squeezing themselves into tiny spaces. They can hide in places we’d never think of looking for them, like behind loose wallpaper or under electrical switch plates.
To successfully eliminate an infestation, you’ve got to find and kill every viable bed bug, which is not an easy task.
Second, bed bugs multiply quickly. A single female can lay 500 eggs during her life, and within a few months her offspring can reproduce as well. A few individuals introduced to a new environment can increase exponentially. Depending on conditions, bed bugs can produce 3 or 4 generations in one year. Additionally, bed bugs reproduce most quickly in temperatures between 70*deg; and 82*deg; F, right in the range where most people keep their thermostats.
Bed bugs can go a remarkably long time without feeding, should no host be present to provide them with needed blood meals. Scientists have documented adult bed bugsliving up to 550 days without eating, and nymphs may last for months. So simply leaving an infested dwelling unoccupied for a few months in hopes of starving them out will do nothing to discourage the little freeloaders.
Just to make their extermination more difficult, bed bugs can sense chemical odors, and may avoid areas where cleaning agents or even pesticides have been applied.