Professional Bed Bug Exterminator in the Fraser Valley
When bed bugs invade your home, it can feel like you’re fighting a battle you can’t win. However, with The Bugman on your side, you’ll be able to take back your home and kick out the intruders.
| Size: | Adult bed bugs are usually 4-5mm long |
| Colour: | Brown to reddish brown – their color may differ as they digest blood |
| Shape: | A flat, oval body with 6 legs and 2 antennae |
Bugman’s Bed Bug Treatments
In order to effectively resolve a bed bug problem, the living bugs and the eggs must be addressed. Luckily our trained Bugman technicians know all the best ways to find and get rid of your bed bugs.
Aprehend Treatments
Apprehend is applied as a fine mist along the baseboards and bed frames of any infested rooms. Apprehend spores take a few days to kill a bed bug, allowing the bug to transport the spores back to its home, so that eggs come in contact with the spores as soon as they hatch, instead of waiting for the bugs to come out and come in contact with the spray.
It can be effective for mild to moderate infestations, depending on the circumstances. Apprehend can be a more cost-effective option when compared to a heat treatment, due to the shorter amount of time required for treatment. It can also be a great option following a heat treatment for continued control, or to catch any bugs that may have been missed or reintroduced into the structure following treatment.
This product takes 4-10 days to kill a bed bug, and during this time the spores will be transferred from one bug to the rest of the bugs in the colony. Apprehend cannot penetrate or kill eggs, so we allow for a minimum of 28 days for full control of an infestation.
Apprehend is completely safe for humans and pets while remaining extremely effective against bed bugs. Due to its excellent long-term activity, Aprehend® will provide three months of protection from the establishment of bed bug infestations.
Heat Treatments
Heat treatments are our preferred treatment method for moderate to severe infestations. Heat treatments are a great option as they allow us to kill all live bugs and eggs in a single treatment. During heat treatments, we bring a professional-grade electric heater with large fans that can push heat through the building.
We bring the structure up to a minimum of 120 Fahrenheit because for the treatment to be effective, every item in the room needs to reach 113 F for a period of 60+ minutes. To ensure we get rid of all the bugs, we apply heat for a minimum of 3 hours, though the average job lasts 6-10 hours.
For a professional pest control company, it should take about an hour to get up to temperature, sometimes longer if it’s a large space. For a homeowner, it can take a lot longer to get a room up to temperature, but once it gets there you are set.
Being that this treatment can take a long period of time, it is more pricey than our Aprehend treatment. For a heat treatment, you can expect to pay upwards of 1 dollar per square foot for heat treatment, with the minimum charge being around $1000.
Steam Treatments
A steam treatment is a great option for targeted spot treatments and is the most practical for treating smaller spaces such as offices or automobiles. We occasionally use steam in conjunction with Aprehend or heat treatments to further increase their effectiveness. We provide steam via the Polti Cimex Eradicator, which is a professional-grade, bed bug-specific, dry steam tool. Due to the dry nature of the steam produced, we do not have to worry about water damage or residual moisture, as most, if not all moisture will evaporate quickly following treatment.
K9 Inspections
While a visual inspection by a human can be a good way to confirm an active infestation, sometimes the bed bugs are hiding where we can’t see them, such as in the depths of a bed or couch. This is where k9 inspections come into play.
The dogs receive months of training, similar to bomb dogs that you see at airports. K9s will inspect the unit and sit to alert their handler of a bug so that the handler can go and visually confirm the bug. This service costs, on average, $200 for up to 2000 sq ft of inspection, depending on your market, and once the inspection is finished, you have professional confirmation that you are bed bug-free.
Don’t wait until you’re covered in bites, call Bugman at 604-854-2847 to get the bed bugs out of your home
Bed Bug Prevention Plans
Did you know that you can take preventative measures to keep bedbugs out of your house? We at The Bugman Pest Control offer bedbug prevention plans in which we regularly treat your property to ensure a bedbug infestation doesn’t develop.
What does a bedbug prevention plan entail? Bugman will complete an Aprehend treatment every three months, as this pesticide lasts on surfaces for up to 90 days. During each treatment, we will also complete an inspection to confirm that no infestation has developed.
Does this mean I’ll never have bedbugs? No, unfortunately, we cannot prevent bedbugs from showing up. This will however prevent them from staying, as they will die within 10 days of coming into contact with the pesticide, and will not have enough time to reproduce.
Who should utilize a bedbug prevention plan? Any business that is at high risk for an infestation, including hotels, Air Bnb’s, daycares, theatres, and anywhere else that has a high volume of people regularly coming and going. For those who have residential properties, it is recommended if you travel regularly, or if you just want peace of mind.
Do you offer any guarantee? Of course! We wouldn’t ask you to pay for a prevention plan without offering any guarantee on our services. We’ll give you the Bugman guarantee that your property will not get a bedbug infestation. If a bedbug is somehow able to withstand our pesticide and causes an infestation, we will complete a heat treatment right away at no cost to kill all bugs present.
How much does it cost? Depending on the size of your property, the cost is $200-$400 per visit, with treatments occurring once every 3 months.
Is it worth it? Well, we’ll leave that decision up to you. All we can say is a bedbug infestation, if caught early, can cost $900-$1500 to resolve, and one that isn’t caught right away can cost up to $3000 to resolve.
Bed Bug Life Cycle
Approximately 4-6 weeks after hatching, the new bedbugs are mature enough to start reproducing.
Stage 1: Eggs
Bedbug eggs are difficult to spot because they are pearl-white in colour and are the size of a pinhead or a grain of salt. Eggs hatch in 6-10 days and move on to the next stage.
Stage 2: Nymph
To move on from the nymph stage a bedbug must eat a blood meal and shed its exoskeleton 5 times, each substage taking up to 1 week to complete. Nymphs can last up to 3 months without a meal.
Stage 3: Adult
Once a bedbug reaches the adult stage, they need a suitable host to reproduce. However, adult bedbugs can last up to a year without a meal. With a sufficient blood supply, bedbugs can lay up to 500 eggs in their lifetime.
How Bad Is My Bed Bug Infestation?
Mild (0-60 days)
If you have a mild infestation you’ll have seen minimal bugs if any, and see minimal blood and fecal staining on the wall and mattress. Adults seen will be tan or dark red, and will be flat. Juveniles will be small and clear in colour.
Moderate (2-5 months)
If you have a moderate infestation you’ll have seen adult and juvenile bugs and there will be blood and fecal staining on the wall and mattress. Adults will be dark red and most won’t be flat.
Severe (6+ months)
If you have a severe infestation you will see adult and juvenile bugs on the walls, mattress, and possibly the couch, curtains, and ceiling. There will be a lot of blood and fecal staining on the wall and mattress. Eggs will be visible, as will cast skins.
Don’t wait until your infestation gets to the red zone, call Bugman today at 604-854-2847 to get the bedbugs out of your house.
Bed Bug Frequently Asked Questions
WHY DO I HAVE BED BUGS?
The gist of it is that bed bugs are attracted to people, so unfortunately anyone can end up with undesirable bedroom guests. But, if you’re like us and prefer a more in-depth answer, here is a bit of a longer explanation:
Bedbugs are attracted to the carbon dioxide that people exhale, as well as the warmth that people emit and because they are such good hitch-hikers, bedbugs can come home with you from just about anywhere, including a hotel, airport, bus station, movie theatre, apartment, or clothing store.
What do Bed Bugs Travel On?
Bed bugs may not like to cling onto people, but they’ll catch a ride on just about anything else, including backpacks, purses, laptop bags, suitcases, or furniture.
Where Do Bed Bugs Hide?
Once the bed bugs are inside your house, they’ll look for a suitable place to hide. They have been known to travel up to 20 feet to feed on their host, but are more commonly found hiding within 5-7 feet of the host.
How Fast Do Bed Bugs Move?
Bed bugs can travel at speeds of 3-4 ft per minute, but more often travel at a slower pace of 1-2 feet per minute.
Bed Bug Travel Habits
Interesting Fact: While bed bugs are considered to be nocturnal, they will travel during the daytime or at night if the lights are on.