Can Bed Bugs Take Cold Weather?
WouterThe temperature of your house is a key factor in whether or not you have bed bugs. In cold weather, bugs are not as active as they are during the warmer months, so their feeding and breeding cycles are less affected. However, the colder temperatures make it more difficult for bed bugs to travel, which can make them less happy and cause them to die.
To avoid death from the cold, bed bugs can enter a state called diapause, which is the insect equivalent of hibernation. This means that they go dormant and do not need to feed for several months. This diapause stage occurs when temperatures drop below 61 degrees Fahrenheit, but extreme cold can kill them.
Bed bugs are known to survive cold weather if they are exposed to it for several days. They can acclimate to the temperature by lowering their freezing point. At 3.2 degrees Fahrenheit, bed bugs can survive for 80 hours, but at minus thirteen degrees Fahrenheit, they will die.
In order to effectively kill bed bugs, it is important to apply a cold-weather treatment. This is most effective when the temperature is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit for at least four days. This method may not be effective in a home freezer, because the temperature may not be extremely low enough. The temperature inside the freezer must be minus ten or twelve degrees F in order to kill the bugs.
