In a perfect world, there would be no bed bugs at all. However, we live in a world where these invasive pests infest homes and office buildings in the upper Midwest, and throughout the country. The bed bug has a keen ability to hitchhike on people and rough surfaces, using its strong claws. With six legs, bed bugs can crawl up to 4 feet per minute; making them a force to be reckoned with. Prevention and routine pest control inspections are key to keeping these infuriating pests out of your office, for good.
How to Identify a Bed Bug
An adult bed bug only grows to 5 millimeters in length — about the same size as an apple seed. It has a rusty brown appearance, two segmented antennae and a small snout that it uses to withdraw blood from its host.
Although the bed bug is most active at night, it can emerge from its hiding spot during the day. After all, if your office doesn’t have any overnight workers, it eventually has to come out to feed. Because of its small size and painless bite, you might not notice any activity taking place. However, a bite can leave behind red, itchy welts and indicate an infestation.
Preventing a Bed Bug Infestation in Your Office
Keeping things clean and tidy is one way to stop bed bugs from taking over your office. Use these five tips to prevent an infestation or the further spread of bed bugs:
- Vacuum and clean the entire office building daily, including the bathrooms and personal work areas. Vacuuming will pick up the pests before they can settle in the office.
- Set up a bed bug prevention team to check for pests along the seams of furniture, behind picture frames and in various crevices around the office.
- Clutter makes the ideal hiding spot for a bed bug infestation. Remove all clutter from your office, especially in storage areas that may harbor an infestation.
- Never unpack new shipments in the office. Instead, carefully inspect the packages for bugs before bringing anything into the main work area.
- Communicate with your staff about the importance of finding and reporting even one bug to management. If you find bugs in your office, recognize that they may come from employees who live in an infested home. Therefore, you may want to provide assistance such as home inspections and pest control treatments for your workers.
Taking Out Bed Bugs for Good
Bed bugs don’t just infest offices in the Midwest; they occur in every part of the world. If you find a bug in your workplace, contact Anderson Pest Solutions for an inspection and professional treatment. We provide full bed bug elimination services such as treating wall outlets, office furniture and wall-hanging items. As an extra precaution, we’ll send out an exterminator for a follow-up visit within 10 days. In addition to providing extensive treatment, we also provide education to prevent future infestations of bed bugs in the workplace.
