Bed bugs have become a growing concern, especially during travel season when more people are on the move, staying in hotels, and using shared transportation. These tiny pests can hitchhike on luggage, clothing, and even personal items, making it easier for them to spread from one place to another. Understanding why bed bug infestations spike during travel season and learning how to protect your home can help you avoid the discomfort and frustration of an infestation.

Why Do Bed Bug Infestations Increase During Travel Season?

As the season for traveling nears, the rate of bed bug infestations continues to increase considerably. This is because of the much larger volume of people traveling from one place to another, thereby giving these pests more chances to travel in luggage and other items that belong to the traveler. When there are millions of people going on holidays or business meetings, hotels, hostels, and even airports become one of the hottest spots for bed bugs. These areas have transient populations indeed, and infestations have been on the rise during months when people travel extensively.

Statistics indicate that hotel-based complaints of bed bugs could increase manifold during months of heavy traveling. As an example, a recent survey shows that hotels account for about 30 percent of all the bed bug infestations, meaning how fast these places can become breeding grounds for them. Through this, vacationers often bring these insects back into their homes to start an infestation that can spiral out of control in a very short amount of time. This is a particular concern because bed bugs are capable of breeding extremely quickly-female bed bugs are known to lay hundreds of eggs in their lifetime, further increasing the problem in as little time as possible.

Bed bug sightings have been common in various ways of public transportation, such as airports. These places have regular traffic in and out of people, which generally aids in transferring the pests from one host to another. It has been one big travel-infestation cycle, with things getting worse with the latest trend of do-it-yourself removal for bed bugs, sometimes with a resultantly partial job to give a false sense of security. It is in this regard that a bed bug heater rental in Toronto might be one’s best option, since these services provide a thorough heat treatment, which often works more effectively than other methods.

In this perfect storm of bed bug infestations during travel season, being cautious becomes important for travelers. Being vigilant and proactive provides ways to safeguard one from inadvertently inviting these pests into one’s abode.

• Increased Human Movement
  Bed bugs are great hitchhikers. As more people take vacations, holidays, or business trips, the number of individuals sleeping in hotels, motels, vacation rentals, and even using public conveyances increases. This mobility provides an increased chance for bed bugs to be transferred from one location to another. Of course, hotels represent hotspots because they have many guests coming and going, thus increasing the likelihood of bed bug introductions and re-introductions.
• Shared Spaces
  Bed bugs will appear wherever there is considerable traffic of people in and out. The conjunction of hotels, hostels, airports, buses, and trains presents bed bugs with an avenue to latch onto luggage, clothes, or backpacks to ride into your home. And it only takes one person not to know they carry the bed bugs into a shared space to distribute it to any other person around.
• Lack of Awareness
  Most people tend not to realize just how easily bed bugs are transported. While traveling, many of us set our luggage on hotel room floors, set our bags on common surfaces, or bring home secondhand items from those vacation spots without thinking about how those actions introduce bed bugs to our homes.
• Delayed Detection
  Unlike other pests, bed bugs can go for quite a time without being noticed. Often, travelers return home and do not notice they have brought back bed bugs until weeks into arrival. During this time, the home could be infested and it would, therefore, be much harder to treat.

How to Protect Your Home from Bed Bugs During Travel

While bed bugs are a nuisance, you can take proactive steps in making sure they will not be a problem during or after a trip from your house. Here’s how:

• Check Hotel Rooms
  Upon arrival, and before unpacking, inspect the room for bed bugs. Look for small reddish-brown spots, which signal bed bug excrement, or the bugs themselves, that are found in places like the seams of mattresses, the headboard, and furniture. If you find any of these signs, request a different room or look for other lodging.
• Keep Luggage Off The Floor.
  Never place your luggage directly on the bed of a hotel room or on the floor. Place them instead on the luggage rack inside the room and keep it zipped and sealed as much as possible. Some luggage can even be kept in the bathroom; bed bugs are less likely to be there.
• Use Bed Bug-Proof Covers
  Bring pillow and mattress covers for bed bugs to prevent bed bugs from getting in the pillow and mattress. The covers trap the bed bugs inside or outside of them thus reducing potential bed bug infestation. They may be an extra luggage to bring but they will be able to serve their purpose.
• Wash Clothes Immediately
  Upon return, immediately launder all clothing in hot water and heated dryer-even those not worn. Heat may be one of the most effective means of killing bed bugs and their eggs. Simply by taking immediate care of the clothes a traveler has had, it reduces the potential of an infestation of bed bugs.
• Check Luggage Upon Return
  Inspect your luggage well before bringing it inside your house. Vacuum suitcases and backpacks inside and, if possible, store them in the garage or other place away from a living space. This can prevent any lingering bed bugs from settling into your home.
• Use a Bed Bug Heater
  Take it to the next level in reassuring you by going the extra mile and using a bed bug heater on your luggage and any personal items that you brought along with you upon coming home. A bed bug heater is a portable unit designed to heat any belongings you may have to a temperature where the bed bugs and their eggs die. This is non-toxic and a safe way of reassuring you that you are not bringing bed bugs into your home.

What to Do When You Find Bed Bugs after Travel

With precautions, bed bugs can still find their way into your home. If you happen to find bed bugs after traveling back home, there’s a couple of things you should do immediately .

• Isolate the Infested Area
  When you see bed bugs, you want to isolate whatever is infested. No transporting furniture or bedding in other rooms since moving these will be a sure way for bed bugs to spread.
• Vacuum and Laundry
  Thoroughly vacuum infested areas, particularly mattress seams and crevices, baseboards. Wash all bedding, clothing, and fabrics in hot water and dry on high heat.
• Consider Heat Treatment
  One of the best ways to try and rid oneself of the bed bug is through heat treatment. Bed bugs die at a temperature of approximately 122°F (50°C). Therefore, heat treatment from a bed bug heater or professional treatment can guarantee to kill every last bug. You can rent a bed bug heater from a reputable service provider to DIY your home and belongings if you want.
• Call a Professional
  If the infestation is deeply set, it is wiser to engage professional pest control services. They will be able to access the extent of the problem and recommend one or more of the most viable treatments.

Bed bugs are opportunistic pests that thrive during travel season, but with the right precautions, you can protect your home from an infestation. By being vigilant during travel, inspecting luggage and hotel rooms, and using tools like bed bug heaters, you can greatly reduce the risk of bringing these unwanted visitors home with you. And if bed bugs do manage to follow you back, quick action, including professional heat treatment, can help eliminate them before they spread.

For more information on how to protect your home or for rental options for bed bug heaters in the Greater Toronto Area, contact us at 647-628-4066 .