Interestingly,

The bed bug infestation came to light last week after the Pinellas County Health Department received an anonymous call about the problem.

So do call those health departments to report bed bugs in public spaces, or your workplace, people.

Even more interestingly,

Unlike roaches, which can be spotted easily, bed bugs hide, so “we don’t even bother looking for them,” said Charles Minor, a supervisor with the health department’s environmental division. “If we get a complaint, we assume that they’re there. We focus on getting rid of them.”

We’ve heard some pest control operators treat bed bugs the same way, even though in many places, it’s illegal to treat without evidence. Yes, bites are a form of evidence, but they can come from other sources, and so don’t definitively indicate bed bugs.

Still, I appreciate the Pinellas County Health Department’s enthusiasm for treating bed bugs.

PEMHS stopped taking new patients, moved those in the facility elsewhere and tented the building for fumigation, said Erin Gillespie, a spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Families, which oversees PEMHS. The building remained closed until Monday when employees and residents began moving back in.

It sounds like the building was treated with vikane gas fumigation. The facility may wish to educate employees and clients about bed bugs, since we can assume the bed bugs may have both been brought into the center from someone’s home, and may have been taken home by others, infesting their homes.

If employees or clients have bed bugs at home and do not get proper treatment, the facility can easily become reinfested.

• bed bugs clear Port Jervis, NY Hospital’s mental health unit
• Bed bugs in hotels: how to report (and check up on) bed bug infestations
• Freehold, NJ Social Service agency asks county for money to treat bed bugs
• Rockford, IL: half of Red Roof Inn shut down due to bed bugs

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Stern stresses the need for a residual placed down after Cryonite in order to deal with bed bugs not knocked down by the process; one person in the forums has claimed to have had multiple Cryonite treatments and a persistent infestation.

Some additional non-pesticide options not mentioned are Vikane gas and the careful and diligent use of a steamer (preferably a dry steamer, to avoid mold and fungus growth). Steam is a lot of work, and most effective in experienced hands, but can seriously reduce your bed bug population. Coupled with dusts and pesticides, it is a viable option.

Thanks to the anonymous Bedbugger who pointed us to this video.

Click here to watch the film.

• The iceman cometh.
• The Wall Street Journal on “new” bed bug-fighting tactics
• bed bugs on NPR again: “Bed bugs spiralling out of control all over” according to Richard Cooper
• Cooper Pest evaluates ozone treatments for bed bugs, finds current methods ineffective

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We’re all familiar with all of these options, and in some cases, with other providers of heat, Vikane gas, and bed bug dog services.  Nothing really “new” to us there.

However, I don’t think we were aware that

. . . researchers at the University of Minnesota are studying bedbugs’ behavior in an attempt to develop a trap that simulates a typical victim — a sleeping human.

Bring it on, University of Minnesota!

We do know that newbites (what we call Bedbuggers with newly detected bed bug problems) often jump on the latest treatments or the latest,  flavor-of-the-month PCO that the last guy just mentioned “discovering.” And sometimes those are good choices. But it helps to be skeptical: we’ve learned grand claims of success should be taken with a grain of salt:

Companies pitching the latest eradication methods — such as heat or icy sprays — say they are more effective as well as more palatable for people worried about using pesticides. Yet entomologists caution there still are drawbacks: The cold spray might not reach every bug; dogs can miss hiding places high up in a room; and heating might cause bugs to flee to a cooler place in the home. Except for heating, the latest methods usually require the homeowner to go through the onerous process of clearing out rooms, drawers and closets, and washing or dry cleaning all clothing and linens.

“We don’t have any easy method of elimination,” says Michael Potter, a professor of entomology at the University of Kentucky who has observed an increase in bedbugs through his research and work with pest-control companies. “We are looking for the silver bullet.”

And so far, there isn’t one.

More expensive options can be very successful.  But the amount of money you pay does not necessarily correlate to the most effective treatment.
Vikane gas can be very effective if applied to a single-family home, but we’ve heard of one case where it had to be repeated (and, of course, we don’t know what went wrong in that case). Having one’s belongings professionally gassed and moving can also be effective, but be cautious: if everything isn’t gassed and a bed bug gets moved, or the new home has bed bugs, or one is still being exposed to bed bugs, then you’ve spent a lot of money only to re-treat later.

Of thermal and freezing, two other professional options that are on the more costly end of the spectrum, WSJ said:

Another solution is killing the bugs and their eggs by heating a room to between 120 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit for several hours. ThermaPure uses infrared heaters to uniformly heat the room, says President and Chief Executive David Hedman. Treatment costs between $500 and $1,000 per room. (Easily melted items like candles and lipstick must first be removed.)

At the opposite end of the temperature spectrum, Cryonite, made by CTS Technologies, a unit of Venteco PLC in London, aims to eradicate the bugs by dousing them with a snowy spray of carbon dioxide. A drawback: Some bugs can survive if they aren’t directly hit by the spray. Treatments cost between $600 to $700 per room, or as much as 50% more than a conventional chemical treatment, says Douglas Stern, managing partner of Stern Environmental, one of the companies using the method.

Different options are better for one person vs. another, one living situation vs. another, but the bottom line is: if the provider is claiming their method works well, ask to see research studies, and ask for a guarantee.

• WPRI 12 News on bed bugs, pesticide resistance, and alternative bed bug treatments
• Cooper Pest evaluates ozone treatments for bed bugs, finds current methods ineffective
• bed bugs on NPR again: “Bed bugs spiralling out of control all over” according to Richard Cooper
• More on flea market nightstand: new ozone treatment for bed bugs

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“… on the advice of our exterminator, we intend to do the entire building,” Jackson said.

The fumigation will take place on three separate dates in June, he said. While the extermination is going on, tenants will have to vacate the building for several hours; those who have health conditions, such as Quinlan, who has emphysema, will have to vacate the apartments overnight.

“We are doing this at our own expense, at the cost of $8,000,” Jackson said.

“The extermination company said if we don’t handle the problem this way, and do the entire building, it could end up costing us a lot more later,” he said.

But some tenants, including Davina Waring, say the building management’s action comes too late.

She said she had to chuck her living room furniture after it became infested with the creepy crawlers nearly a year ago.

Strike one: if residents chucked furniture and other residents picked it up, that probably contributed to the spread.

Waring said she reported the problem to management, which brought in an exterminator to spray the couch. “After he sprayed the couch, the exterminator told me to vacuum it, but it didn’t do any good,” she said. She eventually threw it away.

“People used to come to my apartment, sit on my couch and start scratching,” she said. “One person thought she was allergic to my couch. I was too embarrassed to say what was really wrong.”

Strike two: not talking about the problem spreads the problem.

The building, located on Bergen Avenue between Grant and Orient avenues, is owned by the New Jersey Housing Mortgage Finance Agency and provides affordable and low-income housing.

It is subsidized through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 8 program.

One tenant, who did not want her name used, said she was able to get the building’s management to respond to her complaints about the bugs only after making calls to both HUD and the NJMFA.

However, Jackson said his office has responded to the problem whenever tenants called to complain. In fact, he said some tenants haven’t cooperated with their extermination efforts.

Strike three: education and cooperation are not extra bonuses. In the bed bug war, everyone needs to be on board with the problem, the treatment, and the follow-up.

“We even called a building meeting to explain what we are going to do about the problem but only 19 tenants showed up,” Jackson said.

Jackson also said bedbug infestation is becoming a problem throughout the state.

“The reason we have to wait until late next month to exterminate 277 Bergen is our exterminator is so backed up with similar jobs we have to wait for him to train more men to handle it,” he said.

I don’t mean to sound like I am blaming individual tenants–and certainly not the one quoted in the article. And I do understand the resistance of tenants to listening to what management tells them. This is why tenants need to organize and educate one another about bed bugs, with the help of management, in order to help prevent this happening again (more on that in a moment).

This article answers one question which came up in the comments on Jess’s post: the management paid $8000 for a 44-unit building. That’s only $182 per unit. That’s extremely economical. But sadly, unless at least 1/4 of the units are infested, the management is unlikely to see it as cost effective compared with traditional sprayings. And they should, assuming they feel they can prevent a repeat (again, more in a moment–bear with me).

My baseball metaphor is weak. The management company made a hit, a palpable hit, by using Vikane. I applaud the management for using Vikane and I hope other companies will do this when needed. But now comes the real test. As the comments on Jess’s recent post about another Jersey building undergoing the treatment suggested, education is most important–before people get bed bugs, while they’re fighting bed bugs, and perhaps most of all, once the bed bugs are entirely eliminated by Vikane.

Tenants need to feel some shared responsibility about not bringing in “found items” like used and secondhand furniture, found or bought. Even things given away by social service groups, relatives, or friends can be unknowingly infested. Tenants also need to be educated about signs to look for–I’d venture a guess that even more tenants had bed bugs than knew they had bed bugs (remember, many people do not react to bites). Still others knew and did not speak up. In order to make this bed bug-free situation persist, the management company, PCO, and tenants need to realize the precarious position that brought bed bugs into the building still exists, and they can come back. And this can be prevented (at least for a while), if everyone takes responsibility. Everyone.

If I were a tenant in 277 Bergen, or any other building using Vikane, and I were reading this, I would organize my fellow residents and work with management to bring an expert like Winston in to give a talk about how to prevent bed bugs coming back. Despite the fact that they are going to be wiped out, there is much to be learned. Otherwise, Vikane will only wipe the bed bugs out temporarily.

I know management can’t force people to attend, but residents should be the ones encouraging others to go. If I were a manager, I’d offer an incentive, say a free buffet meal, or a pair of movie tickets, to encourage attendance by residents at an educational session. It would be money well spent.

• Vikane Fumigation Successful in New Jersey
• Shameful landlord AIMCO: biggest landlord in USA refuses to deal with bed bugs
• ABC 7 Eyewitness News: Edison, NJ infestation
• New Jersey’s laws designed to spread bed bugs in rental housing

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The team of professional technicians spent approximately 12 hours sealing the building. Then the area was cordoned off and the gas was shot in for an exposure period of 24 hours. At the end of the exposure period, [the fumigation company] completed a nine-hour aeration with fans.

After a two days, the building was turned back over to the property manager, who brought in professional cleaners to clean before allowing tenants entrance to the property. So, that’s a grand total of less than a week to rid an entire building of a heavy bedbug infestation. Nice.

Two things amaze me about this fumigation. First is the level of caution taken by a multitude of interested parties, including Royal Fumigation, the company hired to tackle the task; representatives of Dow Agrosciences, the company which manufactures Vikane; the State of New Jersey EPA; and of course, the tenants and property manager of the building:

“Planning is critical,” noted John Achzet, Royal’s Vice President of Operations. During the preparation process, the company communicated with local police, fire departments, emergency aid workers and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. “Marty Morgan of Dow Agrosciences was right there with us, providing [us] with the kind of experience and knowledge about the fumigant that made this a precision operation.”

Sounds like Vikane fumigation is a little more complicated and involved than I had imagined. It’s comforting to know that so many groups were able to collaborate to orchestrate a successful extermination. They’re paving the path for the future.

The second thing that amazes (and inspires!) me is the attitude of the property owner, who, apparently, showed incredible compassion and concern not only for those involved in the fumigation process, but for his tenants:

“Getting all the components together to make this work was a challenge,” said George Milyo, manager, Royal Fumigation. “A great help to us was the property owner’s cooperation. The property manager went out of his way to take care of the tenants and support us, from arranging for tenant housing to educating them on how to prepare their apartment units for the building fumigation.”

It’s so important that property managers, building owners and landlords get educated about bedbug infestations and actively involved in treatment efforts. And it’s high time to get over the “blame game,” folks. At this point, it doesn’t matter WHERE the bedbugs came from or WHO brought them in. It sounds to me like this building owner sucked it up and took responsibility for his property, which is probably the smartest and most financially sound decision he could have made. While others are refusing to pay for relatively cheap PCO treatments (and allowing bedbugs to spread throughout their buildings), this guy played it smart: Vikane the building, solve the problem, game over. Good for him, and good for his (lucky) tenants.

• More from Edmonton bed bug evictions case
• Another Jersey building goes whole hog for Vikane; but will they follow up with the necessary preventative education?
• FAQ: what is Vikane gas fumigation?
• reader question: bed bug treatment options

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Those of us in multi-unit dwellings often daydream about having our whole buildings tented and fumigated with Vikane. It’s one way to get rid of bed bugs in a building (large or small) that’s out of control. You can do it to your house, or your whole building, but you can’t do it in a single apartment (hence the daydreams). It’s not legal everywhere, from what I gather, but is worth looking into. Everyone (humans and pets) must be evacuated before treatment, and the unit is covered in a tent so that the gas does not escape.

Only a trained and licensed professional can or should use Vikane gas. You should never try to replicate this kind of treatment using any kind of substance. It is extremely deadly.

Here’s Dow’s brief article on vikane gas fumigation for bed bugs, and Bowman Termite and Pest of Hawai’i on Vikane fumigation for bed bugs (this one tells us that the procedure takes one day and kills all bed bug adults, nymphs and eggs, if done properly).

Pest Control magazine clarifies that three times as much Vikane is used for bed bugs as for termites. And they outline Vikane’s benefits:

“We have recommended fumigation with Vikane on several extensive bed bug infestations where we felt that conventional treatment strategies could not bring a resolution to the problem quickly enough,” said Scott Crowley, technical director at Lloyd Termite Control in California. “When we use other treatment methods, re-treatments are frequently necessary. However, when we use Vikane and take some extra precautions, we can be sure that all of the bed bugs in the structure have been eliminated.”

The extra precautions that Crowley recommends include inspecting all personal belongings which may have been involved in the transference of bed bugs, as well as proper laundering of bedding and clothing which may have been exposed.

Frank of The War on Bed Bugs on Vikane:

(A) Vikane chamber can also be used to treat furniture and possibly vehicles. The technique sounds promising and does not cause significant damage to human health or environment. However, the cost of Vikane gas fumigation is significantly higher, and it is impossible to treat a multi-family dwelling without the co-operation of every unit. The long-term effects of using Vikane gas are also not clear.

Like Frank, I’d like to know more about the possible long-term effects. I have a hunch that gas is nor harmful to us or pets, because we don’t re-enter the home until it has been aired out for a time and the gas has fully dissipated (which is an advantage of a gas over other substances which might be applied). But I’d like more information on that.

I’d also love to have a ballpark figure on the costs of Vikane gassing a 3-bedroom house, say, or a 3-family house, or a 35-unit apartment building. If anyone has done it or knows how much it would cost, please tell us (and include the region or rough geographical location, if you will).

We also seriously need details on anyone who is licensed and able to provide Vikane gassing of a moving truck full of bed bug infested items. If you know of anyone who does this, anywhere, please let me know. Entrepreneurs, do you realize how many people from this site alone would frequent such a service? It would open up “moving” as a viable option for getting away from bed bugs, which it really isn’t now.

Dow’s FAQs on Vikane for termites note that many real estate transactions now require homes to be treated for termites before the sale goes through. For bed bugs, no other treatments but thermal and Vikane can potentially offer 100% success (and I stress that thermal and Vikane have to be done by people who know what they’re doing). Vikane seems like a good option if you’re selling a home or building and have bed bugs. What’s more, if the provider guarantees their work, buyer and seller can have peace of mind on this issue.

Further reading:

This is the Environmental Protection Agency (USA EPA) page on Vikane gas fumigation.

This is one example of a success using Vikane.

This is a site for people concerned about pesticides, which suggests Vikane may be dangerous even when used correctly. The issue is likely to be controversial, but I wanted to share this link so readers are aware of it and can do further research if they’re concerned.

• reader question: bed bug treatment options
• Ryerson University: a study in unenthusiastic bed bug control practices
• Vikane Fumigation Successful in New Jersey
• “Bombs don’t work on bed bugs.” Citation, anyone?

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