3 Reasons Bed Bugs Might Affect the Well-Off Just as Much as the Poor

Alana Korol

April 20, 2017

As we mentioned in our most recent blog, the bed bug targets no socioeconomic class. Bed bugs don’t care whether or not you have a maid, they don’t care whether or not you don’t have time to pick crumbs off the floor because you’re rushing to your third full-time job, and they don’t care if you have a king-size canopy bed or sleep on a futon. People of all economic levels need natural bed bug treatment.

Maybe there is an economic difference, just not like you think. Sometimes it’s people who are actually more well-off who are susceptible to bed bugs and need to purchase bed bug killer spray. How can that be? Before we take a look at a scenario in which this can happen, we have to start with a short history of the bed bug infestation.

1. When They Were In Rapid Decline

No one knows where Cimex lectularius, aka the common bed bug, originally came from. But as the world got smaller with the increase of international travel, bed bugs traveled all over Earth. They are most commonly found in crowded cities where they can travel more easily from apartment to apartment and hotel room to hotel room.

The bed bugs were in decline for decades, between the 1930s and the 1980s. That’s because heavy pesticides were used to kills insects in apartment buildings and hotels. While we agree that these poisons such as DDT were banned, their disuse led to a resurgence in bed bug populations during the 1990s and forward.

2. Why Fancier Hotels Might Have More Bedbugs

Two reasons. First of all, fancier hotels are more likely to have international travelers and those who are constantly staying in hotels. A traveler might pick up bed bugs in their luggage in Canada, drop some off in New York, and then infect a hotel in London and Paris. If a fancy hotel notices bed bugs, they might jump on the problem to protect their reputation...only to discover that an international traveler could reinfect it within the week.

Second, a hotel that notices the bed bugs is going to try to deal with it, but they’re often reluctant to bring out the strongest of bed bug killers. While a $30-a-night dump of a motel might not care about the smell associated with strong insecticides, the higher-end hotel might baby the situation a little too much in order to avoid the smelly stigma.

3. Taking Them Back Home

Alright, let’s get back to the international traveler. These jobs often pay well, and once he or she picks up those bed bugs and drops them off at major cities, they head home. They have a nice house, and sure that house might get weekly maid service and look sparkling clean on every surface, the suitcase drops off its final invaders into the white carpet, where they crawl up the bedpost and then start feasting on the international traveler’s blood (which has hints of poutine, thin-crust pizza, fish and chips, and escargot.)

So, are those well off travelers always more likely to get bed bugs? Probably not. But we do hope this goes to show that it’s certainly not just those who are poor that are the ones with bed bugs.

If it doesn’t have to do with cleanliness, what is it then? The closest thing we can call it is “bad luck.” You didn’t do anything wrong to pick them up. You didn’t pick a bad hotel, you didn’t stay in the wrong city. Bed bugs are in every state in America, and we can verify that because we have shipped hundreds of orders to each and every one of them!

Check out our great selection of bed bug sprays (travel sizes, too) right here!

Let us at Bed Bug Store assist you. All our products come with a 90-day 100% satisfaction guarantee. We have been relieving customers of their bed bugs for over 15 years. Our products are also 100% all-natural, chemical and pesticide-free. The smell you notice when using our solution, is the fresh scent of peppermint.

Safe for children and pets, completely deadly for bed bugs.

Our sprays are made with 100% effective natural ingredients and essentials oils, making Bed Bug Patrol a great alternative to harsh pesticides and insecticides which bed bugs are becoming increasingly resistant to.

Enjoy the safety of knowing your bed bug battle will soon be won by the all-natural power of Bed Bug Patrol.