School breaks and summer vacations are right around the corner and that means trips and hotel stays that might result in bringing home some unwanted house guests. Bed bugs can follow you or your family home from the fanciest hotel or the most expensive college dorm; and by the end of the summer, you’ll be wondering how to kill bed bugs in McKinney, TX. Before you start fumigating your home with toxic pesticides, here are some things you should know about bed bugs:

Bed Bugs Are Everywhere

The bed bug population cycles up and down and, at the present time; bed bugs have had a resurgence as a threat to our homes. Bed bugs aren’t picky. They can infest every kind of building from mansions to dormitories to restaurants, regardless of their state of cleanliness. In fact, one in five Americans have either had a bed bug problem or have known someone who’s had a bed bug problem. Some experts have attributed the rise of the bed bug population to a combination of factors including an increase in international travel and a lack of knowledge the general public has about the signs of a bed bug infestation and how easily bed bugs are transferred from one place to another.

Bed Bugs Are Hard To Kill

With an increase in the number of bed bug infestations reported comes a rise in the number of times companies that handle pest control have had to treat homes and businesses for them. And, unfortunately, according to Texas A&M University’s AgriLife Extension, bed bugs are the hardest pest problem to treat quickly. The difficulty is that there really is no way to prevent an infestation short of making everyone who enters your home remove their clothing at the front door so that it can be washed in hot water and thoroughly inspecting every seam of their shoes, handbags, backpacks,f and luggage on the front lawn. Since that won’t happen, the best you can do is to watch for signs of an infestation.

Bed Bug Signs To Look For

You should suspect a bed bug problem if you (or anyone in your home) wake up, consistently, with small, itchy, red welts on torsos, arms, or legs. Since bed bugs look for their blood meals in the very early morning hours – usually between 3 am and 5 am – when you’re asleep, you are more likely to find small blood trails on your sheets and pillowcases rather than the actual bugs themselves, though you can search for bed bugs while they rest in the seams of mattresses, bags, clothing, curtains, and lampshades.