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Bed bug education event on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Tuesday focused on prevention and IPM

nobugsonme — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:05:13 +0000

WLOX.com reports that a bed bug education session was held in Gulfport, Mississippi yesterday:

GULFPORT, MS (WLOX) – Don’t let the bed bugs bite! That’s what local pest control employees, state health officials, and people in the tourism industry learned Tuesday.

About 70 people took part in a training session in Gulfport to learn more about the tiny insects that can inflict very painful bites.

In a video which accompanies the article, an unnamed member of the pest control industry explains that the focus of the event was on preventing bed bug infestations and learning to identify them and detect them.

That’s really exciting, because the best time to learn how to prevent, identify and control bed bugs is before your facility ever gets infested.

Being prepared isn’t just for the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. It’s the best way to fight the spread of bed bugs, everywhere.

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Interview with Sam Bryks on Integrated Pest Management; also, we learn about the origins of Bug n’ Scrub

nobugsonme — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 22:56:02 +0000

Here’s an excellent discussion between Renee of New York vs. Bed Bugs and Sam Bryks, a pest management expert from Toronto (and one of the advisors of the Toronto Bed Bug Project.

There’s so much that is wonderful here, including a thorough exploration of what Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is, and isn’t.

I particularly enjoyed this tidbit, from which I learned more about the origins of Toronto’s Bug n’ Scrub, a program we’ve long been fans of here at Bedbugger. Sam Bryks says,

An example of a really wonderful program in Toronto is that of Seaton House, the largest shelter. I was asked to visit some years ago and I gave my overview then as well as I could. The shelters were experiencing major problems. One of the staff who has a social work background, Richard Grotsch, decided to use the men in the shelter to attack the problem as part of their looking after themselves and he developed a process of non-chemical treatment and prevention that knocked the problem down amazingly and then, he worked like the devil to get support for those guys providing services to others. They are called the Bug n’ Scrub team and they do fantastic work in helping clean up units in preparation for bed bug treatment. They are very busy.

You gotta love a program that helps people gain very useful skills, gives them work, and gets rid of bed bugs at the same time!

What could be better?

And how interesting and inspiring that it started with residents being asked to learn how to get rid of bed bugs in order to deal with their residence’s infestation.

I can only hope the program spreads.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg as far as the interview goes, so I know you’ll want to read the entire conversation, here. Similar Posts:

New Guidelines for Prevention and Management of Bed Bugs in Shelters and Group Living Facilities

nobugsonme — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 02:58:06 +0000

Today, I am pleased to point you towards the new Guidelines for Prevention and Management of Bed Bugs in Shelters and Group Living Facilities, which was produced by J.L. Gangloff-Kaufmann and C. Pichler of the New York State IPM Program at Cornell University.

It is an excellent guide which you can download in four PDFs from the link above. (It’s also being added to the other guides in the links page, so you know where to find it later.)

“IPM” is Integrated Pest Management, the basic premise of which is that you can (and in fact need to) do a whole lot of things other than spray pesticides in order to control pests. Sometimes this means dealing with bed bugs without pesticides, but I think that in practice, it usually means taking a bunch of steps to remove bed bugs, make the premises unfriendly to them, and use pesticides carefully to complete the treatment.

The guide specifically does not discuss the use of pesticides, but goes into many other areas from bed bug detection methods and tools, to ways of killing and removing bed bugs and eggs (such as steaming and vacuuming), specific guidelines for those managing an infested facility, and for social workers working with clients with bed bugs.

Even though this is aimed at the managers of shelters or group living facilities, I would stress that nearly all of the information would also be useful for managers of multi-unit buildings, and even individuals with bed bugs. Do check it out.

Thanks to co-author Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann for sharing this with us!Similar Posts:

Bed bug trap on its way, finally

Winston O. Buggy — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:03:47 +0000

While most claims of an effective bed bug trap have to date been much ado about nothing, a new product which seems to be the real deal is only a month or two away.

The trap I am talking about is the NightWatch by Biosensory, Inc.

In the past, this innovative company has produced an effective mosquito product and some other units which use inhibitors or attractants or both. This new unit attracts bed bugs via CO2 heat and a 7-part kairomone lure. The results have been studied for over a year by independent housing authorities and respected individuals and now the trap is scheduled for distribution early October.

The price for a unit which covers a 16×16 room will be around ~~$400~~ [editor's note: they are going for $450 on Amazon as of 3/2010]. Overnight, the trapped bed bugs will be contained in a pit which you empty each morning. This trap sounds like a great step forward but remember they themselves state that the unit is for detection, monitoring and as part of an Integrated Pest Management program. In addition the manufacturers state, “If the premises have not been treated with additional EPA-registered insecticide(s) and/or steam heat, this protocol should be considered.”

Having been involved in trying to develop a prototype trap not associated with this one, as well as having dealt with bed bugs from an educational and control standpoint, I think this will be a great tool in the war against bedbugs. Sleep tight.

Editor’s note: Thanks, Winston!

Winston O. Buggy is the pseudonym of a bed bug professional. Read more about the science behind NightWatch here.

Update 10/5/2008:

Editor’s note: Sean of the Bed Bug Resource points us to a Canadian distributor offering pre-orders. (I don’t know anything about the store, personally.) For $100 CA or $95 US down (out of the total cost $400 CA / $380 US), they say your Nightwatch trap will ship when released (11/15 is the expected date). They will be sold to anyone, apparently. [The shop we were referred to since closed.] The protocol on the Nightwatch website does appear to be something laypeople could do.

Note: They haven’t been released yet so we can’t really say much about them (but I do know someone with bed bugs, if Nightwatch wants to send me one to review (hint, hint!)

The data looks promising, but read all the info. on the Biosensory site, and caveat emptor.

Update: 5/2009: the Nightwatch has been available for several weeks and has now been voluntarily recalled, so the manufacturer can fix a potentially defective switch.

Update: 3/2010: As of July 2009, the recall had ended and the new Nightwatch was good to go.

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The War on Bed Bugs on caulking

nobugsonme — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 03:40:05 +0000

Frank at the War on Bed Bugs is not a PCO, but he’s an amateur with a very determined IPM approach to beating bed bugs. His recent post on caulking is good advice.Similar Posts: