Bed Bug Sightings Are Becoming Common In Massachusetts Office Buildings, And Why Store-Bought Bed Bug Treatments Don’t Ever Work
Bed bugs have been more than a nuisance in homes and certain businesses, like hotels, for quite some time now, and the insects are particularly numerous in Massachusetts and other northeast states. Recently the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Bureau of Environmental Health have been reporting a greater amount of bed bug sightings and infestations in offices and other professional settings in the state. The two agencies also note that infestations are increasing in privately owned homes and public housing units in the state as well. This increase is due to a few factors, one of which is that bed bugs are becoming more resistant to traditional pest control methods, mainly store-bought bed bug control methods.
Anybody looking to eradicate bed bugs from their home should not bother with over-the-counter bed bug treatments, as experts agree that these treatments will not even reduce bed bug populations within a home, let alone eradicate them. Bed bugs are, perhaps, the most difficult insect pests to eradicate from a structure, and recent research shows that the insects will become even more difficult to eradicate due to bodily changes that many bed bug populations are currently undergoing.
Bed bugs, like all insects, are covered with an exoskeleton called a “cuticle”. Unfortunately, this cuticle is becoming thicker, which is preventing common bed bug treatments from absorbing into the insect’s body. Several experiments have already demonstrated that bed bugs possessing a thicker cuticle do not die off in response to store-bought insecticides. Store-bought insecticides are also insufficient for eradicating an infestation of typical bed bugs, as these products only manage to kill a small percentage of bed bugs within a population. Pest control companies, on the other hand, make use of the most cutting edge treatments to eradicate bed bugs. One of these treatment methods makes use of heat to kill bed bugs, which makes throwing out furniture and bedding unnecessary. But this treatment is a highly technical process that can only be used by a licensed pest controller. In any case, DYI bed bug treatments will only allow infestations to grow; instead, if bed bugs are found in your home, contact a pest controller immediately.
Have you ever found a bed bug presence within your home that did not reach infestation proportions?