Bed bugs were commonly found in homes in the United States prior to World War II. After DDT was introduced, bed bugs all but died out in this country. Once the problems with DDT were discovered and it was banned from the market, the population of bed bugs began to grow once again. Today, bed bugs can cause problems in movie theaters, hotels and almost any place people congregate where fabric cover provides them a place to live. The only way you can keep from having bed bugs is to know bed bug detection techniques.

Bed bugs are about the same size and color as an apple seed. They live in upholstered furniture, beds and even in carpets. They prefer to live close to their food source, which means if they are in your home, you. They wait until you are sleeping soundly before sneaking out to have their midnight snack. If you awaken and start to move, they will scurry back into hiding quickly before being seen.

Bed bugs may migrate into you home by hitch hiking on used furniture, luggage or clothing from hotel rooms, or even your clothing as you visit a movie theater. One female bed bug lays hundreds of eggs during her lifetime. This can lead to infestation of your own home. It does not matter if you keep your home clean or dirty. Cleanliness has nothing to do with bed bug infestation. They only need blood to survive. If they cannot get your blood, the will settle for the blood of your pets.

Homes that are fully infested wit bed bugs will give off a foul musty smell. This is usually not apparent until the problem is out of control, but there are dogs that have been specially trained to detect bed bugs that are often used in commercial buildings. Look for the other signs of infestation to take control of the problem before you are totally infested.

Bed bugs like to hide during the daytime, so look in cracks and crevasses on the bed. One of the first places you may find bed bugs is behind the headboard of the bed. In addition to these hiding spots and looking for the actual bugs, you will want to look for brown or rust colored spots along the edges of bedding.

Keep an eye out for egg shells or discarded skins from molting bugs. Remember that your box springs offer a multitude of places for bed bugs to hide as do ripped or torn mattresses.

If you find bed bugs in your home, you should take immediate action to get rid of them. Wearing insect repellent will not stop the bugs from biting you. One possible method is to encase infested mattresses and box springs in specially made plastic enclosures that zip shut so the bugs cannot escape. Without meals of blood, they will die.

Many people feel that it is simpler to discard of an infested bed and replace it, however, you must also remove all clutter from the room and be sure that the bugs have been removed from the home before bring in a new bed that will also become infested.

Learn more about bed bug detection. Stop by Jack Hanley’s site where you can find out all about bed bug detection Connecticut and what it can do for you.