Pest Control and Bug Exterminator Blog

Bed bugs can be found singly, but often congregate once established. They usually remain close to hosts, common locations for congregation include:

• Beds
• Couches
• Luggage
• Vehicles
• Furniture
• Bedside clutter
• Near animals that have nested within a dwelling, such as bats, birds, or rodents

Bed bugs are elusive and usually nocturnal, which can make them hard to spot. They often lodge unnoticed in dark crevices, and eggs can be nestled in fabric seams. Aside from bite symptoms, signs include fecal spots, blood smears on sheets, and molts. Detection of bed bugs in RV’s can be especially difficult, making it imperative that RV mattresses are kept clean and checked regularly for signs of infestations.

The bedbug epidemic is damaging many businesses.  Hotels, apartments, and other residential rentals are the more obvious victims to this spreading problem.  But they are not the only ones. Airplanes and movie theaters have been listed before, but this is a new one.  A retail clothing store gets hit and bad enough to close up shop for the 4th of July.  But this wasn’t just any retail clothing store, this was Hollister of New York, NY. And a few days later Abercrombie & Fitch closed for bed bugs as well.

How does this happen and what next?

Up until about 2 years ago the bedbug problem in the US was pretty much extinct.  Quoting the Illinois Department of Health’s website the bedbug “remains an occasional invader with infestations arising in homes and swank hotels as well as apartment buildings and homeless shelters.” Not only is this information  outdated, but it incorrectly reinforces the idea that bedbugs are associated with a lack of care on the establishments part.  It does correctly say that hosts have no idea that they are even catering to these blood suckers. “The bed bug’s adaptation to humans is so complete that its bite is rarely felt until well after the bug leaves its victim.” Thus controlling this epidemic is extremely difficult because by the time the problem is realized it’s a full blown infestation. And hosts will unknowingly carry them from hotel to home, from home to the retail store, from the retail store to the movie theater. Bed bugs will infest any location frequented by humans.

Fortunately getting rid of bedbugs in sheets and linens isn’t too difficult. The pest control company in New York assisting Hollister wants to assure people that the clothes will be fine.

“Bedbug expert Timothy Wong, the technical director of M&M Environmental who worked with Moving Right Along to help treat Hollister’s merchandise and is intimately familiar with the case, says that the clothes are fine after undergoing fumigation in an off-site warehouse — that process is foolproof (and smellproof — you’d never know the clothes had been treated, Wong says)”

http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2010/07/is_hollisters_bedbug_problem_r.html

But the problem could be far from over.  If the bedbugs hit both Hollister and Abercrombie and Fitch then the pests could be coming from a warehouse.  Plus, it’s going to be difficult for the stores to regain the millions lost while the problem is being solved.

http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/pcbedbugs.htm

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/07/03/2010-07-03_bedbugs_shutter_2nd_store_seaports_abercrombie__fitch_infested.html

http://mmbuzz.mandmenvironmental.com/2010/07/bed-bugs-shut-down-new-york-retail.html

After a recent visit from an exterminator declaring they were indeed infested with bed bugs the Wilmington Fire Station threw out mattresses, upholstered furniture and carpets, anything that might be housing the bed bugs.   And these little blood suckers cost more then a few drops of blood.  The total cost to the fire station was over $5000 between the loss of the furniture and the pest controller’s bill of $800+.

ABC reported on the matter first.  Also citing a CDC saying bedbugs are up by 500% over the last few years.  Considering that bed bugs had been virtually eradicated from the US over 20 years ago, that number doesn’t do the Bed Bug epidemic justice.

Fortunately doctors still have not found any serious health risks associated with bedbugs or the spread of disease through bedbugs.

Interesting points specifically about this bed bug case – Was it really necessary to throw out all the furniture?

Perhaps not, but throwing away old mattresses that need to be replaced anyways will certainly help cure a bed bug problem.  Perhaps consumers should consider the old adage, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

And prevention is easy.  A proper mattress cover will thwart any attacks made by bedbugs on your resting place. Yes, it really is that simple.  No need to pay $300 per room as some exterminators quote for bedbug treatments.

Get a mattress cover today so you can rest easy… pun intended.

“Former President Clinton recently had to clear out of his office for a few days because it’s infested with bed bugs.” according to the New York Times laugh line… but bed bugs isn’t a laughing matter for pest control companies and victims of this spreading epidemic.

Sure its funny to insinuate that Clinton has a new guest in his bed, or multiple bed buddies for that matter, but these guests are blood suckers.  Bed bugs are nocturnal insects that feast on the host.  The bites are painless since they inject a numbing agent which keeps the victim from feeling the bed bugs while they feast.  Most infestations go unnoticed for a couple of weeks as they feed and reproduce more feeders.  Victims usually begin to note something unusual after their skin breaks out with red eruptions. Some of these sever cases require medical attention for the skin irritations.  But by the time all of this has happened the bed bugs have not only infested the bed, but have moved on to couches and out the door with clothing.  Within relatively short periods of time entire apartments, hospitals, and other structures are crawling with this tiny invaders.  And so the epidemic roles forward.

Perhaps its good that this problem has finally bitten a politician.  Of course, one blood sucker may have compassion on the other blood sucker.  And since “politics” can be broken down into “poli” meaning “many” and “tics” meaning “blood sucking creatures” we may be able to conclude that they are indeed in bed together.

Do-It-Yourself Bed Bug Control

Bed bugs have become a major concern for pest control companies.  Calls for bed bug service are pouring in around the nation.  The National Management Control Association says they’ve seen a 71% increase in bed bug related calls.  New York reported that bed bug infestations increased 34% during the past year. Where are these bed bugs coming from?  Why are bed bugs on the rise?

Authorities want to point fingers at international travelers.  They believe that individuals traveling abroad bring back the pests in clothes and in suit cases. Travelers within the US may also pick up these pests from hotels that are frequented by international travelers and bring them home. But what’s even more frightening is that idea that these bed bugs are moving out of the bed and into couches, airplanes, and movie theaters! …YIKES!

After a 50 year slump these bugs are back with a vengeance.  And Pest Control companies are perplexed on how to solve the problem.  They don’t fall under general pest control treatments.  Realistically it takes special equipment and several interior treatments to rid a home of bed bugs.  Plus its recommended that residents wash all of their laundry around the same time to kill of any bed bugs that are hiding in clothes. And according to pest control companies that attended the recent EPA: National Bed Bug Summit ,”Residents are a problem and are sometimes unwilling to cooperate or engage in behaviors to manage pests”  ….Residents are a further nuisance because… “Preventative and ongoing inspection is necessary to address the problem, … residents and property managers  do not  cooperate  or do not consider pest inspections to be a priority” The conclusion therefore is that IPM which integrates the residents doesn’t work.

It seems that ultimately those in attendance still don’t have a solid solution for controlling bed bugs.  They made suggestions like “Property managers must be certified pest control operators to treat their own properties.” to ideas like “Pest Control Companies should be certified in bed bugs and there should be a national accrediting body for those pest control operators.”  In the end, the biggest complaint from PCOs was that the EPA has restricted the use of products that use to work for bed bugs. So it seems they believe the only solution using the current products is a program that both the residents and PCOs can work together on and both share some of the burdens of failure or success. Needless to say,  “We need to educate the public” was among the better solutions they came up with at the summit. So at least they all seemed to agree on one thing… There is a Bed Bug Epidemic and that the public needs to know about it.

But don’t worry they plan on holding another Bed Bug Summit to further discuss the problem and possible solutions.

Read EPA’s Full report here: http://www.epa.gov/oppfead1/cb/ppdc/bedbug-summit/partic-recom.pdf

Bed Bugs 2009 summit was held April 14th.

New bed bug site that proves useful and interesting: www.bugsinmybed.com 1/12/2010

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