Palm Harbor Bed Bugs: Cold Proof?

It was, for once, actually pretty chilly last night in central Florida. This kind of weather has been rare even for the winter. Personally, I quite enjoy it. I flung my windows and curtains open and slept with the breeze cooling my home down nicely with no real worry for bugs. But the chill air made me think when I woke up. Which bugs are affected by the weather? Will it get cold enough to actually kill any of them? Today, the bug we’ll be discussing is the Palm Harbor bed bugs. 

Palm Harbor bed bugs: Cold Proof? 

Bed bugs are a horrible bug to have wonder into your Palm Harbor home. When these blood-eating insects take up residence in a home, they bring misery with them. But do you have to worry now that we are heading back toward the cold temperatures of winter? It is a fair question to ask. Let’s take a look at how seasonal weather change effects bed bugs.

As you’ve probably guessed, bed bugs don’t live in the wild; they live almost exclusively with humans. We provide their primary food source, and our dwellings provide their ideal habitat. There is no reason for these bugs to ever want to go outside–well, except when we try to kill them. And even then they don’t prefer it. So, bed bugs don’t have to deal with outside weather as other insects do.

Bed bugs don’t worry if temperatures drop below freezing outside. While these bugs will freeze to death when the temperatures get below 0°F, they are safe as a bug in a rug…or a bed. This is why bed bugs have been found in all 50 states, including Alaska.

Palm Harbor Bed Bugs: Also…heat proof?

Bed bugs don’t worry if there have been sustained rains or that the ground is oversaturated. When the water table rises, they don’t have to flee their home. This is assuming the floodwaters haven’t risen high enough to drive the human occupants from the home they are infesting.

When fall and winter have passed and we return to spring, bed bugs will be none the wiser. And, when the hot temperatures of the summer come, they won’t be affected if your home has central air conditioning.

There is, however, one circumstance where seasonal weather can have an effect on bed bugs. You may have heard that heat kills bed bugs, but that is a sustained heat of above 120°F. When summer heat warms a house to something that makes you want to plug in a fan, this is the ideal temperature and humidity for bed bugs to mate.

The Skinny:

While other insects experience a dramatic decline in activity, bed bugs are completely opposite. Bed bugs and cold weather seem to be directly proportional to each other. As cold months occur, bed bugs become rather wise. They look for ways where they can relocate. During cold months, when travel times increase, there are higher chances of bringing home a bed bug to start an infestation. They are known to inhabit motels, hotels, and lodging inns where most individuals reside when they are far from their homes.

Nonetheless, while bed bug infestations increase in several states and countries even if the weather is cold, there are still methods that utilize cold temperatures to kill bed bugs. Even though turning on your air conditioning units to its lowest setting cannot effectively kill bed bugs, it can somehow halt egg production giving you more time to eradicate mature bed bugs while they are still incapable of producing eggs. Most bed bug terminators agree that bed bugs are killed under temperatures lower than 32 degrees Fahrenheit, therefore soaking your beddings in cold water especially with an adequate amount of ice can also kill bed bugs.

Other individuals take advantage of the cold weather and place their beddings, bed frames and mattresses out in the extreme cold and make the bed bugs freeze in the snow, eventually killing them. Another effective method to kill bed bugs through cold temperatures is to have your beddings freeze for one week. It might also be helpful if you can access an industrial freezer to accommodate your large beddings.

The relationship between bed bugs and cold weather is a bit full of odds. While they experience dormancy and inactivity, they also take advantage of the cold weather to move somewhere else where they can start a new infestation. They live others and their eggs behind to continue an infestation shall proper termination methods are not applied. Nonetheless, they also die in extremely cold settings. But it’s not like you’ll have much access to that in the sunshine state to deal with the Palm Harbor bed bugs.

What To Do?

At the end of the day, everything that doesn’t involve a professional pest control specialist is a crapshoot. It -might- work a little, or to some varying degrees, but it won’t work all the time and 100% rid you of your infestation. Well, outside of being on top of identification, there really isn’t much else for you to do. Once you find a bunch of Florida Bed Bugs in your home, it’s time to pass the ball. Contact a professional pest control specialist. And, if you can, go for someone that uses natural, effective methods. Chemical pesticides are not only dangerous to you and your home, but bed bugs are starting to develop resistance to them. Palm Harbor bed bugs are tough, but remember that you don’t have to take those fights alone. We can help!

We look forward to offering our Brandon pest control services to our current and future clients. To schedule an appointment please call us at 1-800-634-1313.

Unlike many other Brandon pest control services, out treatment for bed bugs comes with a one year warranty. So, give us a call at 1-800-634-1313 or if you like, send us an email at naturalpestcontrol@yahoo.com if you would like to learn more about our bed bug program.