The most common method of studying bed bugs is to do literature searches. While there is some utility to this approach I find I learn more with hands on learning – especially since relatively little has been published about bed bugs. But hands on learning can sometimes be limited because the exterminator, working by the […]

Several years ago I was treating a very rare good quality rooming house for bed bugs and noticed a large stack of flyers (one foot tall) beside the laundry machines about 4 feet away from an infested suite. These flyers were destined to be delivered to local mailboxes by someone living in this rooming house. […]

The first task the exterminator faces is to discern the source of the bugs. I have found that, in cases where bugs are self reported, that it is the nice conscientious tenant that first reports the bugs. But if one starts looking around the original source of those bugs is elsewhere. And when I start […]

While it is always better to treat bed bugs before a tenant moves sometimes there is no other choice, usually because of the tenant failing to cooperate, but to have a tenant move out of a building with infested furniture. One thing the exterminator can do in this setting is to ensure that the suite […]

I am both a landlord and an exterminator specializing in bed bugs so I put a lot of effort into bed bug prevention in my apartment block. All tenants have received prevention education in document form and also with personal conversation. Most tenants are very appreciative that this apartment block has fewer bugs than other […]

About a year ago I was given the privilege (and I mean that sincerely) of treating a severely infested room in a 100 year old rooming house during a gutting/renovation process. The room was located in a corner of the second floor with two exterior walls and two interior walls. The home was a typical […]

Last week I was interviewing a potential tenant, experienced in bed bugs,  for my own building.  She stated that she had looked at an apartment in a trendy/high price area of the city  and the caretaker attempted to block the view of the bathtub.  The potential tenant deliberately looked in the tub and saw a […]

Exterminators have many tools in their tool box to battle bed bugs and the bug sniffing dog is one of them. There are times and places where a bug sniffing dog can be very useful. But there are also times and places where other tools are cheaper or more effective. Perhaps the ideal use for […]

It is well known that bed bugs excrete a black liquid after a blood meal. The evidence is often noted in black spots on mattress edges or other areas close to where bed bugs harbour. When bed bugs are well fed they become elongated and quite fat with the blood volume. In starvation settings the […]

    We have learned in earlier studies that a large percentage of bed bug activity is host driven. That means the bugs will remain in their harbourages, even in starvation settings, until a host is made available. Therefore treating empty infested suites is problematic. The bugs just wait, protected in their little hideaways, until […]