
Summer and Fall Are the Best Times for Bed Bugs
While there is no official bed bug season, there are definitely times of the year when these pests are most active. Bed bugs are small insects that, true to their names, bite people at night while they are sleeping in their beds. Here are a few reasons that these pests are most active during summer and fall:- Bed bugs are cold-blooded insects, so they are more active when the weather is warm.
- If you travel during the summer, you are more likely to bring a bed bug home in your luggage.
- With 8 million people vacationing at Niagara Falls each summer, chances are good that some have brought bed bugs with them.
Bed Bugs Are Active All Year
Many animals hibernate during the long northern winters. Mother bears enter their dens and rest peacefully with their cubs, chipmunks go to cozy underground burrows and frogs settle down in the squishy mud at the bottom of ponds. It would be wonderful if bed bugs went to sleep all winter and humans could turn the tables on them by becoming the predator and preying on the bugs in their insect beds. This scenario, unfortunately, is only wishful thinking. Bed bugs do not hibernate and instead can be active year-round. Thanks to your home heating system that maintains a constant temperature, they probably do not sense the change in season. Even if your house is vacant during part of the winter, the temperature inside is probably not cold enough to kill insects. Consider these facts:- Bed bugs are still active at temperatures as low as 7 degrees Celsius.
- Only prolonged temperatures below freezing (0 degrees Celsius) can kill bed bugs.
- Eggs can survive at -16 degrees Celsius.