Bed Bug Information

Bed bugs have become the #1 pest in Canada. These blood feeders have spread rapidly over the past few years and now infest many if not most multi-unit dwellings, as well as single family homes. Bed bugs can hide in areas barely wide enough to slip a piece of paper into. Bed bugs can live up to a year without a blood feed.

Recently it has been discovered that bed bugs seem to be resistant to present day pesticides. This new strain easily fights of the effects of the sprays you can buy that say they control bedbugs. Some treatments with heavy soap or alcohol percentages can kill on contact because they dry out the exposed bed bugs, but they have no residual and can stain. Many products state they kill bed bugs, but this is a laboratory strain with very few similarities to the field strain that we are now facing. Don’t waste money on ineffective sprays.

Dr. Stephen Kells from the University of Minnesota offers excellent information at his site.

Bed bug control can be achieved by dry steaming infested furniture. Dry steam penetrates the fabric and kills the adults and the eggs where they hide. Bed bugs cannot become resistant to steam and therefore a thorough steaming treatment can provide quick and safe relief. Unfortunately, steam provides no residual effect. In order to get long lasting results, always treat the baseboards and bed frame with Silica Gel dust. This dust is made from crushed fresh water shells and actually scratches the bed bugs and makes them dry out.

Dry steam and Silica Gel are the one/two punch you need for real bed bug control. Dry steamer products are available at www.stevespestmanagement.com as well as Silica gel.

For all your bed bug questions, call Steve at 1-866-477-1110