Bed bugs and cars
Several years ago I was involved in treating an apartment suite for bed bugs. The bugs had been discovered and treated relatively quickly but the tenant then failed to cooperate with all instructions. The tenant abandoned the bedroom and slept on a chair in the living room and, when that became uncomfortable, slept in his […]
Condos and bed bugs
The news programs have recently identified apartment blocks as having more difficulty with bed bugs than other types of dwellings. There is some truth to these claims as apartment blocks have a high degree of transient populations and the potential to spread the bugs to other suites is high due tenant panic and error (raid […]
rookie landlords and bed bugs
Ten years ago my wife, children, and I moved to the inner city and became inner city landlords with great aspirations of making a difference in the community. I came prepared with degrees in Biblical studies, International Development, and Conflict Resolution. But nothing could prepare us for what assaulted our senses. We came from the […]
Bed bugs, alarm pheromones, glue boards, and Diatomaceous Earth
It has been known for some time that bed bugs emit an alarm pheromone when sand is poured on a bed bug’s back. I have not seen the research on bed bugs releasing alarm pheromones when injured but concede that is possible. As such there is some question about whether or not bed bugs, when […]
Delayed or non existent reactions to bed bug bites
10 years ago there was very little research being done on the common bed bug. Today, because of the exterminator’s inability to easily control the pests, much more research is being done. One of the areas being researched is the human reaction to bed bug bites. I particularly appreciated the study entitled “[Bed Bugs] The […]
Pyrethroid resistant bed bug behaviour in home settings
Ordinary bed bug behaviour is basically invisible. Bed bugs will typically feed when people are sleeping and stay out of harms way when there is human activity. After chemical treatments the bugs begin to lose control of brain function and and begin acting in very uncharacteristic manners such as wandering around during the day or […]
The evolution of exterminator practice in relation to increased pyrethroid resistance
I questioned my chemical supplier who has 30 plus years experience in the exterminator business and he stated that before carbamates and organophosphates were banned there was no difficulty in getting rid of bed bugs. A single application was sufficient to kill the bugs. When Pyrethroids became mandated for bed bugs the same “single treatment” […]
Pesticide dusts and repellancy
Pyrodust PCP # 13074 is a common pesticide dust applied by homeowners for bed bugs and can be purchased in many stores. Unfortunately when people use this product they often apply it inappropriately causing more harm than good. For example, I often see about a line of dust around the baseboard about a quarter inch […]
Evidence for additional host seeking cues beside heat and carbon dioxide
I was given the privilege of touring a rooming house room that had been unsuccessfully chemically treated for over a year. The tenant commented that he observed the bugs climbing the walls. The tenant input was initially ignored due to the improbability of that observation but then out of desperation the landlord inspected the light […]
Bed bugs and doors
The very first suite I ever treated came with a complaint that there were bed bugs in the bed room door. At the time I could not understand why there would be bugs in such an odd location. I treated the door just to make the caretaker happy and soon discovered bugs pouring out of […]