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Pest King Monthly News Letter

Bed Bug Basics and Control Measures  

1. Bed bugs are on the rise again.  Prior to the availability of DDT, bed bugs were a predominant pest in the United States.  After WWII, pest management professionals (PMPs) were able to obtain this insecticide, and did a booming business controlling bed bugs.  For more than 40 years now, this insect has been a rarity, with sporadic cases noted.
    
2. With New York City and New Jersey, however, there has been a noticeable increase in bed bug calls.  The problem is that very few technicians have seen bed bugs, and know even less about how to control them.
   
   
3. Here are few basic points to help you through your inspection.
   
   
4. A person sitting on an infested couch or bed can easily pick up a few bed bugs within a few minutes and not know it.  They can then transport these insects to another room or apartment.
   
   
5. Because these insects have no wings, they crawl—a lot! Do not restrict your inspection to the bed.
   
   
6. In order for a bed bug to molt, it must obtain a blood meal.  Not every bed bug comes down to feed on the same evening, but there is a time period of about a week between molts.
   
   
7. Bed bugs can survive without molting for a year or longer.  Watch out when someone re-enters the room and sleeps there that night. Renovated apartments that once had bed bugs are known to harbor these insects without detection, and then show up in the new fancy apartment.
   
   
8. Bed bugs tend to bite all over the body, rather than on the legs like fleas do.
   
   
9. Some people react severely to bed bugs bites.  Others barely show any marks.
   
   
10. A female bed bug can deposit up to 200 eggs, at the rate of one to five per day.  The eggs are white and deposited into cracks or on a rough surface.
    
    
11. The dark red to reddish-brown spots bed bugs leave behind are characteristic signs on mattresses and other locations where they rest.
    
    
12. Bed bugs feed primarily at night.
    
    
13. Bed Bugs hide on picture frames, behind ornaments on walls, baseboards and ceiling moldings, cracks on walls and behind dresser drawers.
    
    
14. These insects are not an important factor in transmitting disease organisms to humans.
    
    
15. When alarmed, bed bugs give off a repulsive odor that can be easily smelled and not forgotten.
    
    
16. Although it’s not their preferred diet, bed bugs can feed on mice, rats, birds, and bats.

CONTROL POINTS

1. So, how does one best control a bed bug infestation?  Keep the following in mind.
2. If the customer or someone else used pyrethrin-based products, it will scatter bed bugs to many places.
3. The mattress, box springs, and headboard all commonly harbor bed bugs.  There are very few materials permitted on  mattresses to control these pests.  Most, if not all, are pyrethrin-based products.
4. Bed bugs commonly crawl up to ceiling moldings.  Therefore, when treating, be sure to treat the upper perimeter walls.  Tempo WP is registered for this use.  Check other pyrethroid labels.
5. A thorough inspection to try to find all of the hidden resting areas is essential.
6. Be thorough in the inspection, treatment and customer explanation.
7. If bed bugs are found on the mattress, concentrate on vacuuming and minimize the use of any pesticides.

Frishman, Austin M. 

A pest control consultant since 1967, is president of AMF Pest Management Services Inc., Farmingdale, N.Y.  He specializes in pest control training and inspections, research and marketing of pesticides and equipment, and insect and rodent control for a wide variety of businesses.

Austin M. Frishman, a pest control consultant since 1967, is president of AMF Pest Management Services Inc., Farmingdale, N.Y.  He specializes in pest control training and inspections, research and marketing of pesticides and equipment, and insect and rodent control for a wide variety of businesses. 

Frishman, Austin M.  “Bed Bug Basics and Control Measures.”  Pest Control Management.  (March 2000):  24.

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Please come to our Question and answer room to get the answer to your pest control problem.  Dates and times will be posted as soon as they are available.

 If you want to see the actual products, then go to my website at   www.killfireants.com.

Sincerely,
Miles Self, Owner
CA#35466 PTLW  (stands for Expertise in  Pest Lawn & Ornamental & Weed)

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