The total development process from and egg to an adult can take place in about 37 days at optimal temper- atures (>72° F). Adult bed bugs have a life span of nearly one year depending on regular access to blood meals and favorable temperatures.
It typically takes anywhere from 2-4 treatment sessions over a period of 3-6 weeks to completely eliminate bed bugs, depending on the level of infestation and the size of the house. However, each situation is unique.
There are various home inspection rates in Atlanta, GA, for getting rid of these bugs. At the end of month two, the population grows to 10 breeding adults with many eggs and 200 developing bed bugs in various stages. At this time, you may observe small, reddish-brown colors and dark specks of dirt on your bed sheets.
That being said, bed bugs have a unique capability of laying dormant in a state of “hibernation” for up to a year in ideal conditions when food resources are not available. This can extend their overall life span by a long time while they lay dormant.
Get Professional Heat Treatment
Depending on how hot it is, the bugs will die in a matter of hours. For bed bug eggs, nymphs, and adults, the thermal death point is 113 F (45°C). This temperature will kill all stages of the insects in about an hour and a half.
In most cases, bed bugs thrive inside a home whether it's cold or warm outside. In fact, they can be extremely active in the winter months, especially if you keep your home nice and warm to combat the cold. So if you notice bed bugs in your home, don't wait for the cold outdoors to scare them away.
Bed bugs can also go long periods without feeding, and it takes 7 weeks from them to go from egg to adult, so it's possible that you don't notice the presence of bed bugs for several days or even a few weeks.
Often a great indicator of how long an infestation has been around is the number of adult bed bugs present. Generally it takes at least seven weeks for a bed bug to grow from an egg to an adult, so there should be no new adults from eggs during that period.
Those individuals who are not sensitive to bed bug bites may not know they have an infestation. Because bed bugs are nocturnally active, it's hard to see other signs of their presence—unless you're accustomed to waking up at 3 A.M. and taking a census.
To lure bed bugs out of their hiding spots, you can use a steamer or a hairdryer to heat areas such as mattresses. Neither of these is hot enough to kill the bed bugs, but it can trick them into thinking a human host is near. You can also keep an eye out at night to locate their nests when they are most active.
Steam Clean Often
Steamers are a great tool for maintaining a bed bug-free home. The heat of the steam can kill bed bugs and their eggs. Take your steamer and slowly spray each room with it. Pay extra attention to the baseboards, closet shelves, window trim, and even the carpet.
It's best to keep the infestation localized to as few rooms as possible. This will also make remediation easier. Do continue to sleep in your bedroom after identifying a bed bug infestation. If you move rooms or start sleeping on the couch you run the risk of contaminating these other areas of your home.
Rubbing alcohol kills the bed bugs instantly if applied directly because it's dissolvent and a desiccant that will dry out the exoskeleton of bed bugs, and dry them out.
A bed bug cannot fly, they can only crawl, so chemical treatment makes the most sense. The University of A&M has shown that chemical vs. heat when properly prepared for and carried out by a proficient certified applicator both have a 97% kill rate leaving 3% behind to proliferate.
Light Bed Bug Infestation
Few sightings and blood stains noted if any, 1-2 caught as specimens for identification, minimal irritation from bites.
Rusty or reddish stains on bed sheets or mattresses caused by bed bugs being crushed. Dark spots (about this size: ), which are bed bug excrement and may bleed on the fabric like a marker would. Eggs and eggshells, which are tiny (about 1mm) and pale yellow skins that nymphs shed as they grow larger.
If you have a bed bug problem, you're probably wondering how to clean every inch of your home. Although bed bugs certainly prefer living in mattresses, they can infest carpet, too! Instead of burrowing into the carpet, the bugs will stay close to the surface. This makes it easier to vacuum them up!
Mattresses and pillows make potential habitats for bed bugs. Pillows may also be host to bed bug eggs, making them a potential point of bed bug infestations. A possible sign that bed bugs have infested pillows may be the appearance of bites.
Instead, the most frequent causes of a bed bug infestation are due mostly to accidental and random reasons. They are usually brought into the home by hitching a ride on infested items, including furniture, suitcases, clothing, purses, and backpacks.
Bed bugs reproduce very quickly! A bed bug infestation can become a full-blown population within months. They also pop up in places you do not want them to exist, such as on your bedding or bed itself. The bed bugs that cause this problem will not go away on their own unless there is no food supply.
Bed bugs live throughout the year, but there is a particular time during each year when bed bug infestations become more common. In normal years, bed bug “season” peaks in the months of August and September when most families have returned from their travels, and bugs have a chance to gain a foothold.
Bed bugs can survive for short periods in cold temperatures, but they don't like the cold and are less likely to hitch a ride with someone going from place to place and more likely to hunker down in the safe warmth of the place they've already infested.