It may be the 21st century, where news can go viral in seconds, but the talk still seems to travel a little quicker on our island. As Hawaii business owners, we all know that a bad reputation in the community can lead to a drastic decrease in profits, and a long road to recovery. If you’ve got bed bug problems in your facility, it can easily damage your reputation in the community. If you knew the truth about bed bugs, you’d realize just how easily your business could incur an infestation.

Hitchhikers Who Like Blood

People associate bed bugs with itchy bites and sleepless nights. However, these small pests, which are barely five millimeters in length, don’t get enough credit for their most impressive ability, clinginess. They’ll latch on to anything they think might lead them to a sustainable food source, which puts even the most well-kept facilities at risk for bed bug infestation. You see, bed bugs can enter your business on almost anything; clothes, shoes, pets, people, and even luggage. In fact, luggage is one of the things that can put your business at serious risk of infestation. Places like train stations, bus stops, and airport terminals are known as bed bug hot spots since, odds are, someone’s bag has a few tag-alongs. If any sort of luggage, even bookbags or briefcases, is brought into your business with bed bugs, you’ll quickly incur an infestation.

Another risky activity when it comes to bed bugs is buying second-hand furniture. As a business, you might be interested in buying used items to save money. However, even things like appliances, desks, couches, and office chairs may already be infested with bed bugs, so make sure to check those items thoroughly before bringing them into your facility. Now, remember: bed bugs don’t just infiltrate places with beds. Any office with furniture can fall victim to an infestation, so be careful where you buy used furniture. Call the professionals at Bullseye K9 Detection for continual prevention protection!

Eradication and Prevention

If you want to protect yourself against bed bugs, inspecting those at-risk items is the best preventative measure. Other preventative measures include managing your employees and their personal items. If possible, personal items need to be stored separately in the workplace and in a secluded area like a locker room or storage room. You’ll also want to create a culture of honesty and no judgment so that employees are willing, to be honest about having their own bed bug problems at home and perhaps bringing the bugs into the workplace. Since these pests are so small, it can be hard to tell if you do have a problem. Some of the signs you can look for include:

• Musty odors: when an infestation is severe enough, bed bugs will emit an almost overwhelming odor.
• Rust-colored excrements: these will leave stains on any mattresses or lightly colored furniture.
• Bloodstains left behind after nightly feedings: whenever bed bugs interact with humans, even if it’s on a couch or office chair, blood droplets that fall out of their feeding tubes will be left behind.

If you do notice these signs, there isn’t a lot you can do about removing bed bugs on your own. The Internet will tell you to simply vacuum them up or suggest some sort of spray. This might work on the top layer, but most bed bugs lay hundreds of eggs under the surface of whatever furniture they inhabit. In a couple of weeks, you’ll just have the same issues again.

In order to preserve your reputation, along with the comfort of your employees and customers, you need the problem fixed on the first try. To get rid of bed bugs for good or to protect your establishment from infestation, call Bullseye K9 for the guaranteed results you need.