SYRACUSE -- They are unwanted guests and this year bed bugs are showing up in greater numbers than ever before.
To help combat bed bugs the city is sponsoring a series of informational workshops with experts on hand to educate property owners. Craig Stats an exterminator with Ehrlich Pest Control says bed bugs can be difficult to detect.
"You can see them but you are going to look for more evidence you are going to look for evidence of the bugs themselves. You're going to see blood stains, stuff like that. A lot of times you can't see the bugs they're notorious hiders."
Notorious hiders that like to multiply one female bed bug can produce up to 500 eggs. Sharon Sherman with the Greater Syracuse Tenants Network, says landlords are required by law to remove bed bugs from their property and she says it is in their best interest to do so as soon as possible.
"It absolutely is the sooner you abate it, the sooner you put everybody else in the building on alert the better you are going to control it," she says.
To help prevent bedbugs from getting into your home experts recommend you wash your clothes as soon as you return from a trip, avoid using used mattresses or furniture and cover your mattress with an encasement.
Most importantly, experts say if you think you have bed bugs you need to hire a professional to remove them from your property.
That is what landlord Dana Natale did when she discovered bed bugs had infested some of her rental properties. "It's absolutely worth the investment, you've got to do it because it's a little bit of money up front and a little bit of work up front to save yourself from disaster in the long run," she says.
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