How bed bugs end up in Madison homes
Bed bugs travel on people and their things: luggage, backpacks, used furniture, mattresses and clothing. Madison has plenty of ways for them to move.
Tens of thousands of students move in and out of apartments around UW-Madison every August.
Older houses on the Isthmus and near campus have been split into duplexes and flats that share walls, stairways and laundry rooms.
Hotels downtown and near the Alliant Energy Center host visitors from everywhere, and curbside furniture on moving day is a classic way to carry bed bugs home.
What to look for near Fitchburg
- Rusty or black spots on sheets, mattress seams and the box spring
- Pale shed skins along the mattress piping and bed frame joints
- Small, flat, brown bugs about the size of an apple seed in seams or behind the headboard
- Bites in a line or cluster after sleeping, often on the arms, neck or legs
- A musty smell in a room with a heavy infestation
Bites alone are not proof, because some people do not react and other pests bite too.
What to look for near the Near East Side
The technician checks the mattress and box spring seams, the bed frame and headboard, nightstands, couches and recliners, baseboards and outlet covers near the bed, curtains and closets.
Rooms next to the bedroom and any couch someone sleeps on get checked too. In a duplex or apartment building, ask whether neighboring units have had problems, because that changes the plan.
Treatment options
Heat
Heat treatment raises a room or a whole unit to a temperature that kills bed bugs and eggs, and holds it long enough to reach inside furniture and wall gaps.
It takes one long visit and suits a spread infestation or a home full of furniture. Medicines, candles, aerosol cans, instruments and some electronics come out first.
Targeted treatment
A targeted treatment applies products to seams, cracks, joints and baseboards where bed bugs hide, with encasements on the mattress and box spring.
It needs at least two visits because eggs hatch over several weeks, and suits an early infestation in one room.
Follow-up
With either method, a follow-up inspection about two weeks later checks for new activity.
Preparing for the visit
You get a short list for your home.
Usually it means washing and drying bedding and clothes on high heat, bagging dried items, clearing the floor around the bed and the edges of the room, and not carrying belongings to other rooms, a friend's place or a parent's house, which spreads the bugs.
Moving day and used furniture
Late summer is the riskiest time in Madison.
If you pick up a couch, a mattress or a bed frame from the curb or a sale, check the seams and joints with a flashlight before it comes inside.
When moving into an apartment, look over the mattress seams and the baseboards near the bed on the first day, and report anything to the landlord in writing.
The bed bugs check in Madison covers the dishwasher line and the expansion joint on the same walk-through.
Tell your landlord or property manager as soon as you suspect bed bugs. Units beside, above and below often need an inspection too.
Landlords with student rentals can schedule inspections between leases, which is far easier than treating a building in October.
What not to do
Do not throw out the mattress before treatment. Do not use foggers or bug bombs, which push bed bugs into walls and the next room.
Do not sleep on the couch to escape them, because they follow you.
Where bed bugs show up near Middleton
Call as soon as you find spots or a live bug. A problem in one bed is much easier to clear than one through the whole home.
Call now and say which rooms are affected and how long you have noticed bites.
Bed bugs signs in Madison
- Species: the common bed bug, *Cimex lectularius*, flat, reddish brown and about the size of an apple seed when grown.
- Hiding places: mattress seams, box springs, bed frames, couches, baseboards and outlet covers near where people sleep.
- Life cycle: eggs hatch in about a week to ten days, and young bed bugs need a blood meal at each of five stages.
- Moving season: in a college town, the August lease turnover moves a lot of used furniture and is a common time for new infestations.
- Heat: held at about 120°F or higher long enough, bed bugs and eggs die, which is how heat treatment and hot dryers work.