Now that it's mid-March, it's beginning to be resort season - a time when people go away from their homes and venture down to warmer areas of the world in search of sunny skies and relaxing winds. Well, that dream may come to an abrupt halt when you discover bed bugs crawling around your room. Bed bugs are a common problem in hotels, and if you aren't careful, they may make the trip home with you. Consider these tips to keep bed bugs out of your hotel.
You may never have encountered bed bugs before. These small pests come in large numbers and have an affinity for invading apartment complexes, hotels and other lodging destinations, the Minnesota Department of Health noted. Even the finest, most expensive hotels and resorts have dealt with bed bugs. This pest is hard to spot and has a tendency to come out at night, when it likes to feed on sleeping humans. Normally, they hide within sheets of the bed or within the mattress so they are hard to detect by the unsuspecting. Yet they also love to travel. Once they've gotten in your hotel room, they'll invade your clothes and wiggle into your luggage. Before you know it, you'll have brought bed bugs home.
Be mindful of your suitcase: Since bed bugs are so fond of crawling into suitcases, you should be aware of where you place yours, ABC News stated. If you do have bed bugs and don't know it yet, you definitely don't want to bring them home with you. Place your suitcase on an elevated surface instead of plopping it on the floor. Consider putting it on a chair, the desk or even on the closet shelf. Putting your bag on the floor is an open invitation for beg bugs to wander through your things, while they are less fond of higher surfaces. If you don't have any space, you could place the bag on the tile floor in the bathroom. Bed bugs prefer carpet to tile, and you're more likely to spot them scurrying along.
Give the room a rundown: Before you get settled, inspect your room, especially your bed. Look thoroughly at the curtains and pull back the sheets on the bed. Shake out and fluff the pillows to see if anything comes crawling out. Hopefully, nothing will. However, if you do spy little bugs coming out of the bedding, your room is most likely infested with bed bugs. If this is the case, immediately contact hotel staff.
You probably already know that most people are repulsed by the simple sight of cockroaches. If you are personally dealing with a cockroach infestation, the feelings of disgust are probably even more intense. Unfortunately, the cold winter weather tends to be one of the reasons this pest ends up in your home in the first place, according to Any Pest. While you may know that you don't want to share your home with cockroaches this winter, there are a number of interesting facts about this pest that you've probably never heard.
Because of the high amount of traffic and the versatility of the facilities, pests are naturally attracted to long-term care institutions. Many nursing homes, rehabilitation centers and other care facilities include on-site kitchens and cafeterias as well as private rooms and common spaces. All of these places are susceptible to attracting pests because of the presence of food, water and viable habitats.
During the summer months, some people love to go camping with family and friends. Yet this fun trip can be ruined with a few unwanted visitors, most notably different types of bugs. Crawling spiders, hungry mosquitoes and buzzing flies can become annoying quickly. How can you avoid these pests when you're outdoors? Consider these tips to keep bugs out of your campsite.
Carpenter ants can chew through the strongest studs and stringers in a house as they hollow the wooden beams out for nesting. The resulting damage can weaken the home's structural support and require expensive repairs. Professional pest control workers can remove a colony of ants, but the best practice for homeowners is to learn the best ways to keep out an ant colony and prevent the problem before it begins.
As the weather cools, you'll probably see fewer pests than you did during the warmer months, but that doesn't mean they're all gone just yet. Some insects can actually come out in full force during the autumn, while others might seek refuge in your warm home. Here are some key tips to keep in mind as fall gets underway:
As the middle of summer approaches, you need to be vigilant about keeping your garden free of pests. Many insects breed during the summertime, which means they're on the lookout for great places to lay their eggs. For many bugs, that means near a source of food. In fact, some species of insects will lay their eggs inside budding vegetables and fruit so their larvae have something to eat as soon as they hatch. That's why you have to keep harmful bugs out without damaging the bugs that could help you, such as bumble bees.
You might have noticed that, with the exception of the kitchen, you find more pests in your bathroom than in the rest of your home. This is because insects and rodents see the bathroom as a convenient watering hole. Pests love leaky pipes and standing water because these offer them a hydrating oasis in the otherwise dry biome that is your house or apartment. And if your bathroom develops mold, all the better for pests, who may eat fungus or use it to lay their eggs.
The kitchen is largest gathering place for pests in a residential home. The reason is simple: pests can grab a bite to eat and take a sip of water while they're here. And when they find such a bountiful place, they will return home to their nests and report the finding - before you know it, your whole pantry is a buffet for ants! The problem could get even worse if a piece of food falls somewhere and begins to rot. Similarly, fruit and vegetables you bring into your home may be harboring unseen pests waiting to hatch.
