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Footage from the recent New York Pest Expo: Bed Bug Edition

nobugsonme — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:33:14 +0000

Bug Off Pest Center in NYC recently hosted an event called the New York Pest Expo: Bed Bug Edition. Frank Andorka notes in his PMP column that it attracted 500 pest management professionals. And we New Yorkers can be glad — that’s 500 PMPs who sat down and heard bed bug experts Dr. Dini Miller of Virginia Tech and Dr. Michael Potter of the University of Kentucky, who Andorka said spoke for a total of around six hours. (Pest Management Professional magazine was a sponsor of the event.)

Frank Andorka shared the following video highlights of the event (among others) on his blog (Thanks to Frank for making this footage available on YouTube):

Dr. Dini Miller talking about the use of Temp-Air thermal treatments at Virginia Tech University.

Dini Miller mentions the problem of bed bugs getting through some encasement teeth, and encourages PCOs to tell customers who can’t afford encasements on both the mattess and box to put a high quality encasement on the box spring:

Dr. Michael Potter talks about the challenges of treating apartment buildings for bed bugs. Potter mentions the need for periodic inspections of occupied and vacant units, and suggests 28% of tenants won’t complain about bed bugs (because they don’t react to bites, or don’t want to cause trouble, among other reasons):

Here, Potter talks about how effecive bed bug dogs can be and how much of a commitment they are for the company. He distinguishes between good bed bug dogs and bad bed bug dogs:

Mike Potter recommends PCOs issue gloves to techs working on bed bug jobs. One Chicago tech got a needle stick doing bed bug inspections:

And last but not least, listen to participants field questions in the Great American Bed Bug Challenge. If only journalists were exposed to this quiz, the treatment of bed bugs in the media might improve a bit:

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University of Central Missouri (and other Missouri colleges) vs. bed bugs

nobugsonme — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:52:33 +0000

This article and video report from WCBD in Charleston reports that bed bugs have been found at colleges all over Missouri, including Northwest Missouri, Missouri State, and 70 cases at Wichita State.

However, the focus of this article is on the encounter between bed bugs and the University of Central Missouri:

It is a pest unexpected by college administrators.“We didn’t have them until about three years ago,” said Patrick Bradley, director of housing at the University of Central Missouri. At UCM, since the beginning of the last academic year, Bradley confirmed bed bugs in 32 rooms, treating many of them multiple times.

Some parents and students with infested rooms are angry, not only because those bed bugs keep returning, but because in some cases UCM has failed to fulfill it’s pledge to replace infested beds. Students say they discovered the discrepancy by marking their beds before officials displaced them to treat the room for bed bugs. Returning students then looked for their markings when they moved back into their treated rooms. Freshman Lauren Pulse was disturbed with the findings.

“It was the same mattress and the same bed frame,” Pulse said. “You ask them to do something and they don’t,” says freshman Molley Buckley

The university says it has since instituted tighter controls to ensure facilities employees dispose of bed bugs from infested rooms. “What we’re doing right now is everything we know,” Bradley said.

They may take a cue from the University of Florida, which decontaminates students’ infested items by heating them in a makeshift oven. Thermal methods may be very effective for treating mattresses, and would avoid the unnecessary expense of replacing mattresses.

Though I understand that students and parents think replacing beds is the solution, doing so actually does not ensure bed bugs have been removed from the room. If there are bed bugs there which persist after treatment, you may simply be giving them a new home.

Encasements are an option, though they must be treated with care so as not to rip. My own college had sealed mattresses (though I had no idea why at the time), and I wonder if colleges won’t start using these again.

The other thing UCM needs to think about is that experts say as many as 70% of people do not react to bed bug bites. Relying on students to react and then report the problem means many more students may have bed bugs, which feed and breed and spread, unknown to administrators.

It would be in the college’s interest to implement a proactive bed bug detection program. Bed bug sniffing k9s are not 100% accurate, but a good one is likely much more accurate than a human inspector. Texas A&M University has been flying bed bug detection dogs in to check for the pests before students start to complain of bed bug bites or bed bug sightings.

You can read the full article here or watch the video.

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New mattress encasement comparison test data

nobugsonme — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 05:06:02 +0000

Rick Cooper recently made a presentation at the ESA (December 2007) based on tests he had done on six mattress encasements currently being sold and labeled to protect mattresses from bed bugs. This information is now available to us.

The encasements tested were: Bed Wetting Direct, Clean Rest, Mattress Safe, National Allergy Classic, National Allergy Elegance, and Protect-a-Bed AllerZip. Each test was run five times on each model, with first instar nymphs.

Cooper’s research attempted to answer three questions about these encasements:

Could bed bugs get through the zipper teeth when the zipper was closed? (All passed.)
The end stop: could bed bugs escape from the area where the zipper closes? (Mattress Safe, National Allergy Elegance and Protect-a-Bed all passed.)
When the zipper is open slightly, by 1-2 teeth, could bed bugs escape? Cooper’s research suggested the Protect-a-bed encasement was the only one which would prevent bed bugs from escaping when the encasement zip was slightly opened. The “BugLock” feature is a quilted pad behind the zipper which is sucked towards the zipper, creating a tight seal even if the zipper of the Protect-a-Bed is slightly opened.

I personally used (and still have) the National Allergy BedCare Classic encasement, which did not fare well in this test. Many Bedbuggers have used National Allergy or Mattress Safe covers. Cooper’s research suggests that of the National Allergy covers, the Elegance is likely more effective than the Classic. And it would be essential that the zip not be allowed to open. Many people tape those zippers, as recommended by NA (and by many readers here), but keeping those zippers entirely closed can be very tricky.

Cooper’s research suggests that the Protect-a-Bed encasements may now be the most effective encasements for keeping bed bugs inside the encasement (or keeping them out).

People who have purchased other types of encasements should not panic. They may work fine. The bottom line is that even the best covers must be used properly and carefully.

However, I will be revising some of the FAQs on encasements based on this information.

I was glad to see these tests were done, and I hope more research will follow.

You can view the three parts of the ESA 2007 presentation by Rick Cooper below:

1. Background on encasements:

2. Encasements compared as to effectiveness in two tests: bed bugs’ ability to get through the zipper teeth, and bed bugs’ ability to escape a closed zipper end stop.

3. Encasements compared as to effectiveness in the third test: bed bugs’ ability to escape the encasement when the zipper is not in a fully closed position.

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