Even if you keep your house spotless, bed bugs can still find their way in. Unfortunately, many homeowners don’t even realize they have bed bugs in their house until they have a full-fledged infestation. The reason bed bugs are so problematic is that they are sometimes difficult to spot and can infest a home quickly. How long does it take for bed bugs to infest? It happens faster than you’d think.

One bed bug produces around 5 eggs a day. While that might not seem concerning when bed bugs enter a home, there is more than one. Imagine if just 2 or 3-bed bugs make their way into your house. In a week, they could have laid 100 eggs. Each egg takes about 10 days to hatch, so by the time you realize they are in your home, you could have hundreds of them.

In Michigan, bed bugs are on the rise, with 4 cities in Michigan making the list of top cities for bed bugs. This means if you live in Michigan, you need to be prepared for a potential bed bug infestation.

What can you do?

While bed bugs can be hard to get rid of, they are easier to prevent. The best way to keep them out of your home is to pay attention when you travel. This is how bed bugs often make their way into a home. If you stay at a hotel inspect the bedding, the furniture, and inside the dressers. Even if you don’t see any bed bugs, keep your luggage inside a plastic bag. Once you are home, if you lookout for signs of bed bugs.

Some signs to look for:

• Small bloodstains on your bed sheets or mattress
• Eggs and eggshells (these look like the skeleton of a tiny bug)
• Live bed bugs
• Bites around the neck and face or arms, especially after you’ve been sleeping

If you notice any of these signs, you could have inadvertently brought some bed bugs home with you. When bed bugs aren’t feeding, they like to hide. You can often find them around the bedding. Check the seams of your bedding, around the tags on your mattress, and around the headboard.  

If you think you have bedbugs in your house, even if it’s just one or two, contact a professional pest control company right away. Home treatment rarely works. Stay on the lookout for them. If you see one, try to capture it as it will help the pest control determine if you are dealing with bed bugs or something else. Try not to panic. Even if you’ve heard nightmare stories about bed bug infestations, a professional pest control service can help you eliminate them from your home.

If you have any concerns about bed bugs infesting your home, call Van Den Berge Pest Control at 616-392-7367. We can help you stop bed bugs in their tracks.