Mark Sheperdigian: inspection is “single most crucial operation in bed bug treatments”

Mark Sheperdigian has published a new article in Pest Management Professional. It begins,

It has been said that you cannot hit what you cannot see — and for bed bugs, that goes double. The single most crucial operation in bed bug treatments is the inspection.

Inspection is, unfortunately, also the part of the process that we hear many pest control professionals either skip or rush through. Some feel it is too time-consuming. One large and reputable New York PCO, readers tell us, never conducts inspections anymore, as a matter of policy.

But bed bugs are easier to treat if you know where they are. And of course, you need to verify the problem is bed bugs in the first place. Therefore, Sheperdigian is right to tell PCOs they need to “Expect to inspect for bed bugs.”

Sheperdigian gives tips for searching (including where to look for bed bug eggs), advice on choosing an LED lamp, and tips on how best to hold the light to see bed bug eggs and other evidence.

You can read the full article here.

And if you’re suitably impressed, or just spending a lot on vacuum cleaner bags, you should also see Sheperdigian’s earlier article on vacuuming here.

He includes the wonderful tip of using a nylon knee-high to catch bed bugs inside a vacuum crevice tool. (Most bed bugs survive vacuuming; here’s a way to catch samples and use your vacuum bags more than once.)

Thanks to hopelessnomo for the link.