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Bed Bugs

  Sleep tight…. But be afraid.  Be VERY afraid!

"Sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bight" is a common story-book phrase.  Many think this is no more than a fairy tale, but as you will soon read, these words of advice and wishful thinking go well beyond “sweet dreams.” 

Bed bugs have been making an overwhelming comeback in the past few years and have proven to be a very challenging pest in homes, hotels, dorms, apartments, and many other types of structures.

It is estimated that that bed bugs will soon pass flea calls in larger cities with that trickling down into smaller cities in little time.  A study of Bed Bugs in random moving vans around the nation found nearly half had bed bugs.  A study of dorms of universities in Florida and Georgia found over half had bed bugs.  At airports, airlines are beginning to have the overhead cabins treated b/w flights.  People are continuing to pick these up in the travels and bringing them home.  Speaking of bringing them home, after winter exams at college, one can only hope students only bring home good grades.  Bed Bugs are Real and they are Here!

Bed bugs are crypto-biotic (they hide until they forage or feed), reproduce quickly (like cockroaches), and act as a health threat by feeding off of man and animals.  Even more troublesome, bed bugs are quickly becoming resistant to the insecticides available.  German cockroaches have a resistance level of 140; meaning, if they are resistant to an insecticide, overdosing the mixture 140x will give little additional control.  Similarly, in the short time that bed bugs have been “back on the scene,” some strains have developed a resistance level of 80.

Treating for bed bugs is a very invasive process.  Prepare to have a professional pest management firm repeatedly spend hours in the bedrooms of your home pulling out dresser drawers, turning furniture over, and dismantling your bed.  Prepare for recommendations of laundering your linens and clothes (if bed bugs have made it into your closets and drawers) in hot water and drying on high heat (>130*F)  for 30mins.  Embrace the suggestion of having your mattress and box springs encased by specially designed protective covers.  Don’t let an expensive pest remediation service agreement shock you when it comes time to write the check.   Nothing about bed bugs is simple.  Bed bug control will prove to be a very costly and frustrating nightmare for both the public and pest management professionals.

Once your pest professional has finally gotten a hold of the situation, don’t let your guard down.  Bed bugs are highly likely to re-infest.  There are many reasons: 1) Shared Roofs- people living in multiple family dwellings (apartments, condos, duplexes, etc) are likely to get pest visits from their neighbors 2)visitation- if you bring bed bugs home from Grandma’s house after Thanksgiving, get rid of them in your home, and go back to visit Grandma at Christmas, you are likely in for “round two 3) Luggage- you may want to inspect your luggage before it enters your house each time you come home from vacation or business travel  4)New mattresses- companies will be glad to remove your old mattress if you purchase a new one. Unfortunately, the new mattresses ride in the same box truck as old ones. 5) Yard sales- be careful of those “antiques” and “great deals” you bring home, they could prove extremely costly.  6) Other pests- a rat, mouse, bird, or bat problem could be the beginning of a bed bug problem as many animals can host and transport bed bugs 7) Fido- does your dog have fleas or is it bed bugs?  While bed bugs prefer humans, they are happy to use your pet as a surrogate host until you become available. 8) Lastly, at least for the purpose of this paragraph, Schools and Daycares.  Ever thought of what happens when your child’s book bag or diaper bag rests against another child’s bag that may come from a bed bug home?  We’ve seen this for decades with cockroaches and it now holds true for bed bugs.

Added information from our in-house continuing education classes:

• Bed bug calls from 2000 to 2006 are up 4500%.
• News about them is all over TV, newspapers, magazines, and the internet.
• Bed bugs are extremely difficult to control
• First and foremost:
  ¡Bed bug treatment is intense, invasive, requires lots of time, requires repeat visits, and is expensive.
  ¡How much time?
  ÷Average tech can spend 3-4hours at the initial of a small home
  ¡How many visits?
  ÷ it takes as many as it takes (3-4 for bad infestations)
  ¡How much? (just to get a ball-park figure)
  ÷Depends on size of home, degree of infestation
  ¢Start around $450 and go up… follow-ups anywhere from $200 and up
  ¡How do I know when they are gone?
                      When you don’t see anymore and aren't bitten anymore
• No Guarantee
• Most companies do not guarantee any outcome, only that they will provide service within the constraints of the agreement at an agreeable fee.
• Owner has obligations
•     Owner releases company of any liability from bed bugs, their bites, disease, injuries, loss of income, property damage, etc.
• Releases replacement of mattresses, furniture, rugs, carpet, medical expenses, moisture damage relating to bed bugs or their treatment, etc. etc.
• We are offering our expertise in attempting to reduce the populations of bed bugs
  We are offering our expertise in helping the homeowner understand their problem
  100% control is not a probable short-term outcome
  ¡As is the case with many pests
  They could be taken care of in 1-2 visits or require many more
  ¡Depends on infestation, where they are coming from, tidiness, structure, etc, etc

  Background Info

  Bug – Old English “bogy” from Hobgoblin… meaning terror in the dark
  ¡Common bedbug is related to a bat bug
  True Bugs – sucking mouth parts
  ¡Some feed on plant fluid, some on insect fluid, and some on blood
  Give off foul odor as a deterrent
  ¡True of bed bugs as well (though some describe as sweet)
  Bed Bug
  ¡Many species.. Most common Cimex lectularius
  Started in caves with bats
  ¡Man started seeking shelter in caves
  ¡Bedbugs have been with us ever since
  Up to about 1940 or so were common
  Then DDT came along
  Then organophosphates (which were still “hose it down materials)
  Then crack and crevice and baits
  ¡Which have less “broad spectrum effects”
  Now, we have bedbugs again.
  ¡And we travel more than ever
  ÷And we travel to “exotic places” more and more
  ¢Where there is less general pest control performed
  Bed bugs, Bat bugs, Swallow Bugs, etc, etc.
  ¡Subtle differences b/w them
  ¡Bat bugs more associated with bats
  ¡Swallow Bugs more associated with Birds
  ÷Source may be their nests
  ÷But… all can be transferred to human environments and feed on humans.
  ¡But be aware of birds in the chimney, something dead in the wall, or something dead under the house.
  ¡Or.. Maybe Fido doesn’t have fleas… maybe he has bedbugs

  Developmental Stages - egg, 5 instars, and then adult

  Biology

  Larger, round body and very small head

  Very Flat… brown (reddish after feeding)
  Wingless (thankfully, reduces their mobility)
  ¡Hitchhikers (unfortunately, they like mammals (us))
  Shed their skins (can cause asthma)
  Females lay 1-5 eggs/day, but in clusters up to 200
  Egg to adult is about 3wks, nymphs can go almost 2 months b/w blood feeding
  Bed bugs carry disease… ability to transfer inconclusive
  A Bed Bug can feed on a host up to 10 minutes
  ¡When leaving it often relieves itself and the specks of blood are left behind (for the host or pest technician to discover)
  ¡You don’t feel it.. They inject a numbing agent.
  ¡Later … you can have a reaction to the proteins in the saliva.
  Word of advice… don’t attempt to diagnose bites.

          You must have a "smoking gun"

  Severe infestations can cause anemia (abnormally low red blood cell count)… causing fatigue
  Can survive cold, but cant deal with hot (110-140*F)
  Feeds only at night and hides all day in crevices, cracks, holes, or seams as close to its foods source as possible
  ¡Mattress itself is the prime candidate
  ÷Tucked in the seams and folds at the edges
  ¡Box springs and bed framing
  ÷Not out in the open, but I the smallest of cracks
  ¡Furniture
  ÷Nightstands, dressers
  ¡Table lamp, phone, etc
  ¡Pictures and mirrors on walls
  ¡Carpet edges and in drapery
  ¡Door and ceiling moldings
  ¡Switch plates and light fixtures
  Usually found 10-20ft from their food source, but in rare cases.. Up to 100ft

  Don’t forget the dog, cat, or other pets and their bedding.

  The neighbors…

  ¡In apartments and hotels.. Units above, below, left, and right should be inspected and treated

  ¡In homes, same thing surrounding bedrooms.

  ÷If larger home… target bedrooms and dens/living rooms

  ¢Can be in couches, seat cushions, etc, etc.

  ¡If it can be deduced the bed bugs came from grandma’s house, then grandma’s house should be taken care of as well.

  Easiest thing to do is throw the mattress out

  ¡But if the bugs are elsewhere, they will find the new mattress

  ¡Mattress can be treated

  ÷With steam, heat, washed in appropriate materials, or encased in a mattress cover

  ÷There are pesticides approved for mattresses

  ¢More later

  ¡Sheets and blankets should be laundered using hot water at 140*F for at least 30mins.

  After the bed has been taken care of, it may take a while to control the rest of the room/house.

  Make sure the bed is moved away from the walls and the only contact is via the floor

  Then the feet of the bed frame can be placed inside smooth, glass jars that bed bugs can not climb (further put the glass inside a plastic bin in case of breaks)

  ¡There are products on the market now specifically for this

  Considerations

  Does the customer travel a lot (work or play)?

  ¡Immigration of bed bugs from hotels back to homes is most common

  ÷Book bags, luggage, hand bags

  Kids in college?

  ¡A study of Florida and Georgia schools found ~40% had bed bugs

  ÷Foreign exchange students?

  ÷Kids bring the bugs home when school is out

  New/Old Furniture

  ¡Has the customer bought any new furniture… or old furniture?

  ÷antiques sales… yard sales… or even new sales

  ÷New furniture often travels with old furniture in trucks

  Does the customer wake up with new bites frequently?

  ¡If not, may be another biting insect

  Has the customer moved recently?

  ¡Studies of moving vans across the country found 47% had bed bugs

  New Mattress?

  ¡Companies will gladly haul away old mattresses

  ÷But the new mattresses travel in the same truck

  ¢“But the new mattress is sealed”

  •Almost impossible for the plastic not to be torn during transport

  Any small black spots on bedding or any small blood spots?

  ¡Both signs of bed bugs

  Are there any adjoining units?

  ¡Hotels, condos, apartments, duplexes

  ÷Up, below, and side to side must be treated/inspected

  Animals?

  ¡Pets may serve as in-between hosts

  ¡Pests (rodents) can spread and even worsen a problem

  ÷0ften bed bug control and rodent control go hand-in-hand

  What is the threat that the bed bugs will come back after you’ve spent lots of time and the customer has spent lots of money getting rid of them?

  ¡VERY HIGH

  ÷Children- back and forth to school and daycare

  ÷Family- back and forth to relatives houses

  ÷mattress delivery, transport of materials, clothing, bags, bedding materials, and/or hotels or other infested structures, etc.

  Preparation for Treatment of Infestation

  1.Clients and their pets should vacate the premises while commercial applicators and/or technicians are performing inspection and/or the treatment process.

  2.Before beginning, all items should be removed from the floor. Remove shoes and other items from closet floor areas as well as the underside of bed areas.

  3.Move Furnishings 2-3 Feet away from wall areas to access the carpet and/or flooring perimeter edge.

  4.Also, remove drawers from dressers and night stands, and the items within them to access deep into furniture for treatment purposes.

  5.Take all pictures and headboards off of wall areas to access where bed bugs may hide behind them.

  6.Gather all appliances, lamps, etc to inspect and/or treat or discard.

  7.Remove all wall outlet switch plate covers in preparation for treatment.

  8.Remove mattresses and box springs from bed framework and lean up against the wall area to access both sides for treatment.

  9.Next remove the mattress box spring batting on the underside to inspect and treat inside the wood framing.

  Additional Prep (Including Customer Responsibilities)

  Place all throw pillows, stuffed animals and other plush items in a normal dryer on high heat.

  Wash all bed sheeting and clothing on normal cycle and high heat dryer cycle (185 degrees) sufficient to kill 100% of eggs and eliminate future hatch. Garments may need to be treated with a product labeled for such use.

  Garments that may not be treated should be washed and dried on high heat. Garments that may not be dried on high should be taken to a dry cleaner. Be careful not to return laundered clothing and sheeting to hamper basket or bags used to transport clothing after cleaning, as these items may be infested with bed bugs or eggs.

  Discard all cardboard hangers, cardboard boxes, or other discard able containers and items that may harbor bed bugs.

  Service carts used to maintain hotel and motel rooms may also need to be treated, and items in them may need to be discarded.

  Accounts where there is no confirmed evidence or customer wishes for "preventive" treatment..

      ... will not have to go thru the thorough prep list before treatment.

     ... will not require a full treatment protocol.

  Inspection, customer awareness, and general pest control in bedrooms will aid in, (but not guarantee), prevention of bed bugs.

   

   

   

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