The Australian show “The New Inventors”(ABC) features several new inventions in an episode, with a panel of judges choosing the best of the lot.

Inventor Tony Abrahams won episode 16 (20 May 2009) with his passive bed bug monitor, the “Bed Bug Barrier,” which either attaches above the feet of the bed, or sits under the feet of the bed, trapping bed bugs attempting to crawl up onto the bed in a glue. (Based on the placement of the glue under the rim of the device, it is not clear to me whether bed bugs would also be intercepted if they tried to crawl off a bed, rather than onto it, as would be true with the Climbup TM Interceptor.)

There’s some iffy science here (for example, I don’t think anyone can prove the inventor’s claim that bed bugs cannot harbor on a mattress encasement). One judge is concerned that bed bugs brought onto a bed via a suitcase (rather than climbling up the bed leg) will not be hindered by this tool, and this judge is apparently correct. Bed bugs can live on beds. This device will not get rid of bed bugs living in the bed frame, on the mattress, or for that matter, on chairs or in other parts of the room.

This does not mean the trap is useless, but it does mean it is not a total solution. I would like to see independent test data demonstrating the effectiveness of any bed bug monitors. And I would like to know whether bed bugs are 100% trapped while entering or leaving a bed, since from what I can see, there’s some possibility bed bugs exiting a bed could drop down without crawling on the underside (glued) region of the trap.

Clearly, the passive bed bug monitor is an idea that is blooming in lots of different forms, and time (and independent peer reviewed research, we hope!) will tell which is best.

You can read about other currently available bed bug monitors such as the Climbup TM Interceptors — which provide a barrier for bed bugs climbing onto or off of beds — here, or read about David Cain’s soon-to-be-widely-available bbalert monitors — which provide a harborage for bed bugs somewhere on the bed frame itself — here and here.

I love that a bed bug-related product won this contest. Interestingly, Tony Abrahams got the idea for this product because he was in the business of renting out accommodations to travelers. His invention beat out a device which weighs beehives and some kind of portable refrigeration/food heating device.

Let’s face it: bed bugs in the popular media are always a good thing: one of the judges notes she will change her hotel room behaviors based on this presentation (presumably, she won’t be leaving luggage on the bed anymore!) If news about the problem of bed bugs reached many other Australians via this show, that in itself is a very good thing.

Click below to watch!

Thanks to Paula for the tip!Similar Posts:

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On May 21st, Biosensory, maker of the Nightwatch active bed bug monitor, distributed a recall letter to Distributors and pest control operators.

The letter, which you can download in PDF form here, reads,

This letter is to notify you that BioSensory, Inc. is voluntarily recalling its initial production run
ofthe NightWatch™ Bedbug Monitor and Dragonfly II mosquito trap for safety reasons.

BioSensory has decided to take this action as a result ofa potentially defective pressure sensor
manufactured by MAMCO Precision Switches. Although only 3 failures have occurred, it was
decided to voluntarily recall all units until the source ofthe defect can be positively identified
and verifiably corrected.

BioSensory tested NightWatch and Dragonfly II units without incident during two years of
product development. During manufacture each unit was 100% tested as a sub assembly and as
a final assembly with no reports of defects. BioSensory is working with MAMCO engineers to
study the three failed units in order to find and correct the problem BioSensory will replace all
potentially defective switches free of charge.

Distributors and PCOs are asked to

1. Immediately discontinue shipping of the NightWatch and Dragonfly II units to customers.

2. Bring back all units already shipped to customers and hold them at your location(s) until
further instructions are provided to you. Further instructions may include: a) lot # search of
the defective parts; b) information regarding a field repair; c) return to a repair facility.

And there’s a number provided for PCOs/Distributors to call: (860) 928-1113.

Note, if you’re a customer (not a PCO), you should probably call the folks who sold it to you, so they can satisfy steps 1 and 2 above.

The Biosensory website’s note about the recall provides a second number, (800) 261-2659.

Thanks to the reader who shared this information with us!Similar Posts:

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I think the news media should cover bed bugs more, not less.

However, sometimes I am frustrated by the information readers are given.

For example, a new article from KVAL in Eugene, Oregon states,

A key place to look in your home is the edge of your mattress.

“This will be the first place you check when you peel this back,” Lamm said. “This will be loaded with eggs.” Lamm said.

Really?!?  It that always so? It wasn’t in my case, nor in many others. (”Lamm,” by the way, is Joseph Lamm from Mr. Bug Pest Control in Eugene.)

It’s not that you necessarily won’t have “loads” of eggs underneath your mattress.

But if I had a dollar for every person who flipped their mattress back to find absolutely nothing obvious — no live bed bugs, no obvious fecal stains, no bed bug eggs — well, I would be a very rich gal right now.

The danger is that –having flipped the mattress back and seen no bed bug eggs — Eugene residents may simply say, “Well, I guess I don’t have bed bugs.”

When, in fact, they certainly might.

The amount of bed bug evidence you find is going to depend on how long you have had bed bugs.  It can be a little, or a lot.

It may even be very difficult to detect, especially for someone with no experience.

And where you find this evidence may vary.  The bed is a good place to start, to be sure, but there may be other harborages.

The article is not a bad one, but contains other statements which may mislead those who do not know if they have bed bugs or not.

Take, as a second example, the title of the article, another quote from Mr. Lamm:

Well, um, maybe.

But bed bug bites can cause a variety of reactions, from nothing, to small pink bite marks, to large red welts, to scabby bites that look like scratches. Bites may be in lines, or rows, or triangles, or they may be single, isolated bite marks.

Readers may rule themselves out as not having bed bugs if they don’t see the signs this PCO is implying are the usual.

See: ‘You will actually have lines down your side like a feeding trough’ | KVAL CBS 13 – News, Weather and Sports – Eugene, OR – Eugene, Oregon | Health.Similar Posts:

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• Animal Planet’s “Monsters Inside Me” episode on bed bugs
• Apartment Therapy on bed bugs, bed bug sniffing dogs
• Building with bed bugs hosts polling station this week
• Steven Kells: bed bugs “could almost be considered like a disease themselves”

We are happy that Renee of New York vs Bed Bugs alerted us to the news that Baltimore is now implementing a bed bug control strategy, which includes

• bed bug inspections,
• training for Baltimore City Health Department Healthy Homes Division staff in detection and control of bed bugs,
• development of English- and Spanish-language educational materials, as well as several Spanish-language outreach campaigns, and (as Renee writes)

training Baltimore City public housing maintenance and management staff and, apparently, impressing upon them “the need to immediately respond to bed bug complaints.”

For more, see Baltimore’s Bed Bug Response Plan.

Baltimore City Health Department has a bed bug page, which lets readers know what to do in case they suspect bed bugs.  Unfortunately, at this time it only mentions what “homeowners” should do.

It is crucial, in my mind, that local fact sheets direct renters as to what they should do when they suspect bed bugs.

Also, the fact sheet advises:

Avoid “insecticide bombs” and “foggers” in your home. These products can spread hazardous chemicals throughout your home.

It is correct that people with bed bugs should avoid “bombs” and “foggers” when treating bed bugs.  But the reasons are not just related to the spread of chemicals.  In some cases, they are a fire hazard.

But as important is the fact that entomologists tell us bombs and foggers can disperse bed bugs and drive them deeper into our homes.  They’re specifically a bad idea with bed bugs for this reason.

Still, we are very glad Baltimore has a bed bug page and that they’re taking coordinated action to reduce the spread of bed bugs, and help citizens learn how to identify and get rid of the problem.

The bed bug page also provides links at the top to download PDFs of the press release, Baltimore’s bed bug plan, the EPA bed bug fact sheet in English and Spanish.

Update (4/27): and now the Baltimore Sun catches up with New York vs. Bed Bugs, reporting about the new Baltimore bed bug plan and website.Similar Posts:

• Bed bugs in the media: David Cain on British radio, Dr. Susan Jones in the Plain Dealer
• Towels under the door: when cities abandon tenants with bed bugs
• Bed bug education event on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Tuesday focused on prevention and IPM
• Room for Debate on bed bugs: a must-read!
• Interview with Sam Bryks on Integrated Pest Management; also, we learn about the origins of Bug n’ Scrub

According to independent student newspaper, The Daily Aztec, twenty-seven “comfy” chairs were recently removed from the lower level of the San Diego State University library after bed bugs were found there.

Bedbugs are back with a recent infestation in the library, specifically in the “comfy” chairs on the lower level of the Dome.

“Twenty-seven chairs from the lower level of the dome were removed,” Mark Lester, director, Access, Administrative Operations and Communication of Library and Information Access, said. “We resolved the problem in the best way we could think of.”

This article from the university’s independent student newspaper notes that bed bugs were found in SDSU dorms earlier this semester.

And we also reported back in January that, again according to the Daily Aztec, bed bugs had been found in the “egg chairs” in the Counseling and Psychological Services Office at San Diego State.

Since bed bugs do hitchhike on clothing and in people’s bags, these should not be assumed to be unrelated incidents. Bed bugs in chairs in multiple buildings around campus should be taken very seriously.

A campus that is seeing bed bug infestations in chairs around the campus should be taking a very proactive role in detecting bed bugs and treating them properly — both in student housing and in other facilities.  If they are in the counseling office waiting room and the library, they could be anywhere.

Check out:  The Daily Aztec – Bedbugs found in library.Similar Posts:

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Where else but Bedbugger.com do you see the phrase “cheap and cheerful” and “bed bug monitors” in the same sentence? Okay, we’re not Apartment Therapy, but we know a good thing when we see it.

Remember the Climbup™ Interceptors — the inexpensive bed bug monitors, developed by Susan McKnight, which you place under a bed or sofa leg?  The idea is that bed bugs will get stuck either crawling onto or off of the trap, and you will therefore not only be able to know if you have bed bugs, but which direction they’re coming from.  (One forum user whose PCO employed these referred to them informally as “coasters.”)

This is the view from above of a Climbup™ Interceptor with bed bugs caught in it.  (Your bed or sofa leg would go into the center.)

(Photo All Rights Reserved, Susan McKnight.)

This month’s issue of Pest Control Technology has an article by Changlu Wang, Timothy J. Gibb, and Gary W. Bennett detailing the study of the Climbup™ Interceptor. You can see the contents of the April PCT issue with a link to the article here. This is the same study I discussed in the previous post about the product.  To quote from the PCT Online article,

RESULTS. The inspections revealed that all 13 apartments were infested with bed bugs. The average bed bug count was 6.7 per apartment. Among the residents interviewed, only four of 10 said they noticed bed bug bites. After visual inspection and hand removal of bed bugs, we installed Climbup interceptors under furniture legs. After seven days, an average of 8.8 bed bugs per apartment was captured using the interceptors.

CONCLUSIONS.: Bed bug interceptors are more effective than visual inspections for determining the presence/absence of bed bugs and estimating bed bug numbers. In addition, they can effectively detect low levels of bed bug infestation. Because interceptors remove bed bugs, they also provide immediate relief to residents from bites and reduce the need for insecticide applications as they catch the bugs.

[Note the fact that 4 out of 10 residents reacted to bed bug bites.]

Update (5/6/2009):

Climbup™ Interceptors are now available from NorthShore Care (with free shipping if you enter the code in the ad below) and other online retailers, as well as from Residex and Oldham Chemical. In New York City, you can get them from Standard Pest in Astoria.

(Disclosure: Bedbugger has an affiliate relationship with NorthShore Care, which means that if you purchase through our links, it helps support this website at no additional cost to you. We’re grateful to NorthShore Care for offering our readers the best deals we know of on Protect-a-Bed AllerZip encasements and Climbup™ Interceptors, as well as free shipping with the BBFREE coupon code.)

You can also click the following links to download a PDF brochure about Climbup™ Interceptors, or instructions for their use.
—–

Meanwhile, also in the world of bed bug monitors, David Cain of bed-bugs.co.uk (who is well known to our Bedbugger Forum users) has been developing a different kind of passive bed bug monitor.  Again, this would be something which will be affordable to everyone and could be potentially used in every bed as an ongoing monitoring tool.

(Photo All Rights Reserved, David Cain, bed-bugs.co.uk.)

The March and April 2009 issue of Pest has an article on David’s passive monitor.  Click here to download a PDF.

Pest notes,

The monitor is roughly the size of a packet of cigarettes. Made of moulded plastic it consists of a seven layer sandwich. On top is a label to record the monitoring routine. This is stuck to the top layer of the plastic monitor, within which is the filler consisting of corrugated pulp-based tunnels – ideal hideaways for bedbugs.

The monitors are designed to be anchored to a particular spot on various types of beds.

According to Pest, limited quantities are currently available from bed-bugs.co.uk, “with large scale availability before the summer.”

These two passive monitors have different functions. The Climbup™ Interceptor can only intercept bed bugs which are climbing onto or off of legs of the furniture placed in the disks. They should remain trapped if they cross the interceptor.

David Cain’s passive bed bug monitor is a harborage for bed bugs in the bed itself (attached to the bed base or onto a bed slat, depending on the type of bed). Bed bugs are not forced to remain in the monitor, however.

Neither of these items is going to trap all of your bed bugs or remove them from your home; they are just monitoring devices. But monitoring devices are very valuable where bed bugs are concerned, and both of these tools allow pest professionals and clients can work together to monitor whether bed bugs are present in a space.

We are most excited to see these tools being developed. Bed bugs are a most elusive enemy, and we need all the help we can get in determining they are present.Similar Posts:

• New bed bug monitor #2: the CDC 3000
• More bed bugs at Wilkes University (in University Towers apartments)
• Bed bugs bite Edmonton
• The ethics of bed bugs: the lies landlords and roommates tell
• Bed bugs in the media: David Cain on British radio, Dr. Susan Jones in the Plain Dealer

Remember Kay Hammer, in Bakersfield, who we told you about last November? She had tossed out most of the family’s furniture. The landlord would not deal with the problem, so she called Eyewitness News 29.

Iso Tech Pest Management’s Mike Masterson brought in a bed bug dog and did a thermal treatment. They also found bed bugs in several other units of the building and in her daughter’s home across town.

The story will air on the Discover Channel’s Verminators series, probably in the summer. You can view the Eyewitness News 29 segment below.

Similar Posts:

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Dog Nose

Originally uploaded by jason044

The dog’s nose is a potentially powerful tool in the fight against bed bugs. It’s a war where the enemy is notoriously stealthy. We need all the help we can get.

Bed bug canines are always popular in the news media. Like some other bed bug-related services (such as structural fumigation and thermal treatment), every region does not have easy access to canine bed bug detection teams, so the news stories both do companies the favor of spreading the word about their existence, but also help bed bug sufferers, who might not know this option is out there. Luckily for us, they are popping up in more and more geographic areas.

One recent bed bug sniffing dog business was started in the Cincinnati area by LeAnne Montgomery and her husband John. LeAnne is better known to longtime participants on our Bedbugger Forums as “bugbait” — she was an active Bedbugger who came to the site to get support in dealing with her own bed bugs, long before the couple went into the bed bug dog business and started Canine Bed Bug Finder.

LeAnne and John did not have access to a bed bug k9 service when their home was infested. You can read a recent story here about the Montgomerys’ new bed bug sniffing dog Hershey, who was trained at Florida Canine Academy. Congratulations to LeAnne and John — I hope Hershey finds a lot of bed bugs!

There was also a recent story in the news about a new bed bug sniffing dog in Las Vegas.

Finally, Ontario’s Michael Goldman (of Purity Pest Control) and his bed bug sniffing dog Kody (who is said to have been the world’s first bed bug sniffing dog) were featured in a Discovery Channel story last week.

The segment on Kody starts about six minutes in (you can move the cursor past the iceberg story after the initial brief commercial). Click here to see the story.

It’s important to note that all bed bug sniffing dogs and handlers are not equally skilled. Dogs and handlers must constantly train in order to maintain the dog’s skills.

If you need help determining whether you have bed bugs, do your research, ask for k9 recommendations on the forums, or references from the handlers.

Are there any other specific questions readers should ask a bed bug dog handler, before hiring him/her? Please share your answers in the comments below.

Thanks to the anonymous tipster in the forums who pointed me to the segment on Kody!Similar Posts:

• Brief report on Seattle NPMA Bed Bug Symposium; bed bug dog awareness among customers
• Apartment Therapy on bed bugs, bed bug sniffing dogs
• Milwaukee Housing Authority purchases bed bug sniffing dog
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• Co-op pays $250K after bed bugs found in several units, storage area, stairwells

The Structural Pest Management Association of British Columbia (SPMABC) will be hosting a free information session on bed bugs and related topics this Saturday (February 28th) at Library Square from 9:00am – 1:00pm. Admission is free, but on a first come, first served basis (the room holds 300 people).

Topics will include:

• General Bed Bug Information
• Prevention Tips
• Detection Methods
• Health Concerns
• Tenant Rights
• Landlord Obligations

For more information please email info@spmabc.com.Similar Posts:

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2009 is the year of the bed bug monitor. While some are thinking high-tech, it is also important to know that low-tech monitors are being improved.

This month, the CDC 3000 is starting to be used by PCOs and a few of the luckier people with bed bugs. The Nightwatch is also set to ship soon, we’re told. The devices cost in the $500 – $700 range, and so they really are not aimed at the consumer market. These active bed bug monitors use kairomones, CO2 and heat to attract bed bugs into the monitors, and then trap them.

But passive bed bug monitors are also evolving. Traditionally, we have had the glue trap, which really is not very useful at catching bed bugs. Think about it: they’re usually rectangular, and they just sit there. They sit there covered with a thick coating of goopy glue, and people commonly report waiting patiently and nabbing no bed bugs. There’s no easy way to surround the legs of your bed in glue traps.

Enter Susan McKnight, who has designed the Climbup ® Insect Interceptor, a passive bed bug monitoring tool which can be used in homes under the legs of bed frames, chairs, tables, and other furniture.

This is a tool for finding out whether you have bed bugs. It is not going to treat an infestation, but can help you determine if you have bed bugs, and when they are gone.

It looks simple, but seems quite clever: first, it has two wells: a center well and an outer pitfall. So you can actually tell from where the bed bug is caught whether it is coming onto the furniture or trying to exit from it. (The idea is they can’t hop over the wall in between. Neat, huh?)

This is a photo of bed bugs caught in the Climbup ®:

(Photo courtesy of Susan McKnight, All Rights Reserved).

Those bed bugs in the middle were trying to get off the bed / chair / etc. and the others were trying to get onto it.

You can imagine how some treatment plans could be improved if PCOs could see whether the bed bugs were coming onto the bed, or leaving from it.

Think also of the woman who reacts to bed bug bites, whereas her children and husband don’t. This monitor may allow a much better determination of who is actually being bitten.

The directions found in this PDF on the Insect Interceptor website note:

Climbup ® insect interceptor is ready to use with center well and pitfall ring prelubricated with talc to form slick surface to prevent bed bug escape. The talc will not kill bed bugs. With repeated wipeouts and prolonged use, relubrication with talc is advised. OPTIONAL: To avoid handling of live bugs, a dust (e.g. diatomaceous earth) or nonrepellent liquid (e.g. soapy water, mineral oil) may be added to in center well and outer pitfall ring.

Some bedbuggers have long placed a bed bug-free mattress and frame on top of risers or inside of margarine tubs and filled these with diatomaceous earth or mineral oil in an attempt to keep bed bugs from getting into the bed. The moat of mineral oil in a cup around the bed legs can backfire if there are any bed bugs living in the bed, because they become trapped on the bed, and will keep biting you there.

The approach suggested on the Insect Interceptor site is not an entirely different idea, but in my opinion is theoretically a better one: this product is designed to trap live bed bugs and to show which direction they are traveling in, both of which would be very helpful, moreso than simply trying to avoid bed bug bites.

A Pest Control Operator could, as the directions also suggest, “Count bugs by developmental stage from each capture area to determine efficacy of control treatment.” A resident could simply count bed bugs, and know if they needed a follow-up treatment, or not.

Dr. Mike Merchant of Texas A&M wrote on his Insects in the City blog about a presentation by Dr. Changlu Wang at November’s Entomological Society of America conference in Reno. Wang tested the efficacy of various spray-based and dust-based IPM programs for bed bugs (using chlorfenapyr, diatomaceous earth and Climbup™ monitors). Merchant noted that:

The traps caught more bed bugs than were observed by the inspectors in all apartments. Another interesting observation was that 94% of the trapped bed bugs were in the outer bowl, indicating that they were off the bed. This shows the importance of treating off-bed locations when controlling bed bugs. These devices might be especially useful for clients with low budgets and a high motivation to help with the elimination program. Of course the effectiveness of the bowls depends on eliminating contact of the bed and bedding with the floor and walls.

I understand that Changlu Wang’s research will be published soon (and we’ll let you know when it is). In the meantime, you can download a brief but interesting PowerPoint of his presentation at the ESA in Reno, 11/2009 by clicking here.

The PowerPoint stresses the usefulness of the product for low-level infestations and where residents do not respond to bed bug bites. We are told that only “4 of 10 residents noticed bed bug bites,” and that while visual inspection detected an “average of 6.7 bed bugs per apartment,” the Climbup™ interceptor after being used for 7 days found an “average of 8.8 bed bugs per apartment.”

For this reason, it would not be a bad idea for everyone to have these under their beds and chairs, sofas, etc. Wang’s finding that only 40% of the residents had bed bug bites reminds us that everyone needs an early warning system that they have a bed bug infestation. Those receiving bed bug treatment need to know when bed bugs are gone.

My only concern is that this product might have to be used creatively to work for some — for example, people who have platform beds with broad bases, or big clunky sofas — I am not sure how the product would work with items of furniture which don’t really have “legs.”

The Insect Interceptor website states that Climbup ® Insect Interceptors can be obtained from Residex and Oldham Chemical (by PCOs only from those outlets, I assume). We also see that Bed Bug Central is selling these monitors to the public. I have not actually seen them yet, but the research sounds promising. We look forward to reading Wang’s research results and to hearing from people who have used the product.

Update 4/23/2009: This month’s issue of Pest Control Technology has an article by Changlu Wang, Timothy J. Gibb, and Gary W. Bennett detailing the study of the Climbup ® Interceptor. You can see the contents of the April PCT issue with a link to the article here.

Update 5/12/2009:

Climbup ® Interceptors are now available from NorthShore Care (enter code in ad below for free shipping) and other online retailers, as well as from Residex and Oldham Chemical. In New York City, you can get them from Standard Pest.

(Disclosure: Bedbugger has an affiliate relationship with NorthShore Care, which means that if you purchase through our links, it helps support this website at no additional cost to you. We’re grateful to NorthShore Care for offering our readers the best deals we know of on Protect-a-Bed AllerZip encasements and Climbup ® Interceptors, as well as free shipping with the BBFREE coupon code.)Similar Posts:

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