History of Bed Bugs

Bed Bugs were nearly wiped out in the United States in the 1950's and 60's. Bed Bugs started popping up again in the late 1990's. These pests have been around throughout recorded history. Female bed bugs can lay up to 5 eggs a day and 500 eggs during one life time. Untreated, on bug can turn into 32,000 in just 6 months. Bed Bugs hide in cracks, crevices, and behind baseboards and moldings as well as in your mattress, headboard, bed frame, night stand, and box spring.
Allied Services is your Chicagoland Bed Bug Pest Control Expert and an industry leader in the Chicagoland area for professional inspections and treatments of bed bugs. Call us today to schedule an inspection!
(855) 855-BUGS www.gobugfree.com www.855855bugs.com

Steps That Will Not Work To Get Rid of Bed Bugs

• The following steps will simply not work in trying to "get rid of bed bugs."
• Abandoning the infested room
• Moving to a new location
• Use of "bug bombs" or foggers
• Simply throwing away furniture and buying new furniture
• Sleeping with the ligths on
• Dousing belongings, bed or yourself in pesticides

You need a qualified pest control company who is fully capable in treating bed bug infested living quarters such as homes, apartments, etc. If your current pest company simply sprays around your home for bed bugs, it will NOT work. Each home and case is unique when fighting off bed bugs. Call Allied Services for your expert pest control needs. (855) 855-BUGS Serving the greater Chicagoland area. www.gobugfree.com

Obvious Spots For Bed Bugs

Some of the most obvious spots that bed bugs like to hide at are as follows:

• Mattress
• Box Spring
• Couches
• Headboard
• Night Stand
• Recliners
• Bed Frame
• Dresser

There are also less obvious spots to look for bed bugs at:

• Books
• Carpet
• Electrical Outlets
• Alarm Clocks
• Edges
• Picture Frames
• Baseboards
• Televisions

Keep an eye out. You may spot one or a few. If you do, call your local pest control expert to come out and do a full inspection. Allied Services can help. (855) 855-BUGS www.gobugfree.com

Bed Bugs In Your Sofa!!

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If you look closely at this photo, this is the bottom fabric of a sofa. The little white specs are bed bugs eggs. There are several. Each and every one of those eggs will turn into tiny little bed bugs that will grow and feed on you at night! Allied Services used "green" products to treat infestations like this one. We can also use heat to treat entire living units to kill off bed bugs. Call us today for an inspection and let us help you! We are Chicago's Bed Bug Experts! (855) 855-BUGS

Bed Bugs on Your Books!

Bed bugs on your books!! Yes, this is capable of happening. When left untreated, bed bugs multiply rapidly. One female bed bug lays 2-5 eggs a day, which is up to 35 a week, and 140 a month. Just imagine how many of those new eggs will be females and keep the reproduction cycle going!! EEEEEKKKK! Count on a qualified company like Allied Services. We serve the great Chicagoland area and specialize in the inspections and treatments of bed bugs and general pest control! Call us today to set up an appointment! 855-855-BUGS

Hygiene and Sanitation

Bedbugs are small insects that can infest homes and other structures. There are several species of bedbugs, one of which  is responsible for the majority of infestations in temperate climates; another species can be found in more tropical areas. There are also related species known as "bat bugs" and "bird bugs", which infest the habitats of those animals.Human bedbugs are found around the world and can infest any structure or site where people may rest. Bedbugs tend to be more common in apartment buildings, and hotels.

Travel, Hotel Rooms and Bed Bugs

In case you haven't heard, bed bugs are back. And one of the most popular places they like to hang out and "feed" is in hotel rooms. So if you travel -- and who doesn't? -- you need to take some precautions to make sure you don't bring any little critters home with you. I can tell you from personal experience that getting rid of these pests is both a hassle and extremely expensive. Better to avoid the problem in the first place.

Here are his recommendations for keeping the bed bugs away:

1. Check for Complaints

Before you book any hotel, go online and check for bed bug complaints from other travelers. Some favorite sites for this include TripAdvisor, The Bedbug Registry and Bedbugger.com. Just keep in mind that researching a property before your trip won't guarantee you a pest-free stay since many infestations go unreported.

2. Inspect the Room

Once you get your room key and step over the threshold, it's time to get to work. At a bare minimum, you should inspect the mattress (you'll need to remove the sheets and carefully check the seams), headboard (try removing it from the wall if you can), and side tables by the bed. If there's a sofa bed, you'll need to open that up too. You're looking for everything from live bed bugs and their eggs to blood spots and fecal matter.

If you happen to notice a white powder residue in the drawers or around the circumference of the room, chances are the hotel has recently treated for bed bugs.

3. Keep Luggage Away from the Bed

The biggest mistake you can make is to lay your suitcase on the bed and start unpacking your clothes. In fact, you don't even want to store your bag on the floor. Instead, use the luggage stand. Just make sure to inspect the wooden legs and cloth straps before doing so.

Really cautious travelers will even keep their suitcases in the bathroom (and the tub, if possible) since bed bugs don't tend to sleep in the powder room.

4. Use Plastic Bags for Laundry

Anything you wear in the hotel room, especially your pajamas, could come in contact with bed bugs. The smartest thing to do is to place all of your dirty laundry in a sealed plastic bag so it doesn't contaminate your other clothing or your suitcase.

5. Wash Everything

Once you get home, you should wash and dry (preferably on hot) all of your dirty laundry. For your clean clothing, you can skip the washer and just pop it in the drier.

How Do I Prevent Bringing Bed Bugs Home?

If you have visited a dwelling or hotel  infested with bed bugs, the following procedures will help prevent you from bringing the pests home.

• Wash all clothing in 110°F water and use a machine dryer set on hot before or as soon as the clothing is brought back into the home.
• Suitcases should be carefully inspected, scrubbed with a stiff brush and thoroughly vacuumed.
• Seal the luggage in a plastic bag for several months to prevent bed bugs from feeding and they will eventually die. Bed bugs can live several months without a blood meal.
• Leaving luggage for several hours in a closed vehicle in full summer sun may also kill bed bugs and eggs.

Several different kinds of insects resemble bed bugs, so any bugs found in your home should be carefully compared to pictures to confirm their identify. A pest control expert or entomologist can also accurately identify the insects you collect.

Landlords and property owners have an obligation to provide safe and habitable accommodations for tenants. Tenants have an obligation to cooperate with owners and landlords. This includes preparing the home so that the pest control operator can easily inspect the rooms and treat if necessary.

More Myths on Bed Bugs (1)

Myth A: Bedbugs live exclusively in mattresses

"'Bedbug' is such a misnomer," Kells says. "They should also be called pet bugs and suitcase bugs and train bugs and movie theater bugs." Bedbugs spread away from beds into living areas and can be seen on any surface, he says, including chairs, railings and ceilings.

Myth B: Bedbugs prefer unsanitary, urban conditions

"Bedbugs are terribly nondiscriminatory," Schal says. Bedbugs can be found anywhere from ritzy high-rises to homeless shelters. The prevalence of the bugs in low-income housing is therefore not a result of the insect's preference, but of dense populations and the lack of money to pay for proper elimination strategies. "Any location is vulnerable," Kells says. "But some people are going to have a harder time getting control of them because it is such an expensive treatment."

Myth C: Bedbugs travel on our bodies

Bedbugs do not like heat, Kells says. They therefore do not stick in hair or on skin, like lice or ticks, and prefer not to remain in our clothes close to our bodily heat. Bedbugs are more likely to travel on backpacks, luggage, shoes and other items farther removed from our bodies.

More Myths on Bed Bugs (2)

Myth A: Bedbugs transmit disease

Bedbug bites can lead to anxiety, sleeplessness and even secondary infections, but there have been no reported cases of bedbugs transmitting disease to humans. They do, however, harbor human pathogens: At least 27 viruses, bacteria, protozoa and more have been found in bedbugs, although these microbes do not reproduce or multiply within the insects. Canadian researchers announced (pdf) in the June issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases that bedbugs isolated from three individuals in a Vancouver hospital carried methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, aka MRSA. Still, there have been no reported cases that the bugs actually transmit human disease.

Myth B: We should bring back DDT

When the controversial pesticide DDT was banned in 1972, most bed bugs were already resistant to it, Schal says, and today's populations are even more widely resistant thanks to the use of a new class of pesticides. Pyrethroids, the main class of pesticides used against bedbugs today, targets sodium channels in bedbug cells, just like DDT. Consequently, as bedbugs develop resistance to pyrethroids, they also become cross-resistant to DDT.

Myth C: You can spray bedbugs away 

Thanks to pesticide resistance, those cans of spray at your local hardware store simply will not do, Schal says, adding: "Relying strictly on chemicals is generally not a good solution." The most effective solutions are fumigation and heat treatments, but these can cost a cool $2,000 to $3,000 apiece for a single-family home. Scientists are diligently pursuing other strategies, including freezing and bait similar to that used for cockroaches. In the October 2010 issue of the Journal of Economic Entomology Schal and colleagues at the U.S. Department of Agriculture published a technique that employs inexpensive infrared and vibration sensors to track bedbug movement, which could be applied to the development of automated traps that detect the pests.