Managers of hotels, motels, and apartment complexes can’t tolerate “freeloaders” taking up valuable space that could be generating income. And that’s especially true if those very same “guests” getting a free ride are driving away your paying guests!

Well, that’s exactly what bed bugs do. Preventing a bed bug infestation and eliminating a bed bug problem you may already have should, therefore, be top priorities for your business. At Oliver Exterminating, our professionals are trained in top notch bed bug removal.

Tips for Preventing a Bed Bug Infestation

You can’t afford to wait until your guests start reporting getting bit before taking action against bed bugs. There is no choice but to be proactive, focusing on prevention and already having a plan of action in place should a bed bug problem even be suspected.

Here are five bed bug removal tips for keeping bed bugs away from your property and away from your guests:

1. Carefully inspect any new furniture (in all the cracks and crevices) before adding to a room’s decor. Bed bugs are not only freeloaders but also “hitchhikers.” You can’t help if they come in on guests’ suitcases, but let that be the only possible way in.

2. Cover all mattresses and box springs with plastic. A tough, rightly sized encasement will resist tearing and keep bed bugs from getting a foothold in their namesake location.

3. Isolate each unit to curb bed bug “migrations.” Put in door sweeps, seal cracks along floor/ceiling trim with caulk, and use outlet covers to keep bed bugs from moving room to room through the walls.

4. Use round, ridged plastic “monitors” under the feet of each bed. These ingenious little devices are very simple, but they keep many bed bugs from getting to a mattress by guarding the only locations where floor and bed are in contact.

5. Vacuum rooms thoroughly and frequently, especially right after a guest has occupied the room. Vacuum mattresses, box springs, floors, where carpet meets wall, and in and around wood furniture. Then immediately dispose of the vacuum bag in an outdoor garbage can.

Tips for Effective Bed Bug Removal

Far better to prevent bed bugs from intruding into your premises to begin with, but that is not always possible. There has been a resurgence of bed bugs in recent years, and they have a knack for finding ways to travel.

Here are five key tips for effective bed bug removal:

1. Thoroughly inspect the mattress. You need to look for dark feces spots at mattress seams, look inside the box spring, and dismantle the bed to check each part individually. Look inside crevices in wooden bed frames, and have a vacuum handy.

2. Inspect the entire room. Bed bugs don’t always live in the bed. You need to scour the carpet, the trim boards, all furniture pieces, lamp shades, everything in the entire room.

3. Use a steam machine to kill bed bugs and their eggs. Steam is a very effective way to rid a mattress of bed bugs, but you have to get into all the seams and crevices.

4. Stack a sealed mattress on an infested one to “starve out” the bed bugs. This method takes up to a full year to work, but bed bugs will eventually die if they can’t get out and feed.

5. Use insecticides specially designed to target bed bugs. You may need to call on professional pest management to safely administer and effectively apply the right kind of pesticide.

Contact the Professionals

Many of the tactics mentioned above can be done in-house, but some of them might be difficult for “amateurs.” Professional bed bug removal professionals like those at Oliver Exterminating will know how to do everything listed above and more.

Mosquitoes and ticks are among the most common and most noisome of all backyard pests. As such, much is known about them and much is done in our region in the way of mosquito and tick control measures.

Nonetheless, despite the familiarity of these two very unpleasant creatures, there are many “hidden” facts that most people simply don’t know about mosquitoes and ticks.

Here are five facts about mosquitoes and five facts about ticks that, perhaps, you never knew:

Five Little-Known Facts About Mosquitoes

1. The word “mosquito” is of Spanish derivation, meaning “little fly.” That makes sense if you know Spanish since “mosca” means “fly” and “-ito” is the diminutive suffix.

2. Only female mosquitoes are pests. All mosquitoes feed primarily on fruit and nectar. Females, however, also drink blood to get badly needed protein to the developing eggs. In fact, they can gorge themselves on blood to the tune of three times their body weight.

3. Mosquitoes are toothless. Even though they are so well known for biting, those are more technically “mosquito stings,” not “bites.” Having no teeth, a long proboscis is used to pierce victims’ skin and draw out blood.

4. Mosquitoes hibernate. Mosquitoes go into hibernation mode when outdoor temperatures dip below 50°F.

5. Mosquitoes find their victims in three ways: by following a “trail” of exhaled carbon dioxide, by smelling octanol and other chemicals emitted in sweat, and by using special sensors to detect body heat.

Five Little-Known Facts About Ticks

1. Ticks are rarely infected by pathogens. It’s true that ticks can transmit diseases, but when they do so, it is normally only because of infected blood from a previous host mixing with the blood of the new host.

2. Ticks live primarily on blood. There are specific species of ticks that gain most of their sustenance from the blood of deer, mice, and other animals (and people too!).

3. Ticks can feed for days on end on a single victim. They dig in their teeth and firmly attach themselves and then drink for as long as they can. It usually takes 24 to 48 hours before a disease can be transmitted, but there is no guarantee (so mosquito and tick control should not be considered optional).

4. Ticks are “stealthy.” That is, they purposefully climb up long blades of grass or other tall plants and wait for an animal or human to pass by so they can grab hold of them with their legs. Sometimes, they even jump from overhead and land on top of their prospective “blood donors.”

5. Ticks are technically not insects. While it might come as a surprise, ticks have eight legs instead of six and are, therefore, not true insects. They are related to spiders and are scientifically classified in the arachnid family.

Mosquito and Tick Control Strategies

There are a number of effective strategies you can employ to minimize mosquito and tick populations on your premises. Even in Puerto Rico, where mosquitoes and ticks thrive in the mild climate, there are ways to effectively “fight back.”

First, you should remove all standing water, cut down all tall grass and weeds, eliminate debris and yard litter, remove tarps and firewood, get rid of plants that attract deer (common tick carriers), and regularly check pets for ticks.

Next, you should contact a professional mosquito and tick management company, like Oliver Exterminating Services, to treat your premises with insecticides. Property-wide spraying, barrier treatments, spot-treatments, and regular anti-mosquito and anti-tick maintenance services can greatly reduce or eliminate mosquito and tick populations.