In severe infestations, especially when the tenant has been attempting self treatments, the bugs are widely scattered throughout the suite. The bugs are in the walls, light fixtures, hardwood floor cracks, behind door and window frames, and sometimes even behind the kitchen cabinets! Basically it is impossible for even the best exterminator to access the […]

The available research shows that bed bugs are unlikely to follow Co2 cues beyond 5 feet. Heat has been shown to attract within one foot. Various smells that humans emit also attract bed bugs but have much less potency than Co2. But in my practice I have found that bed bugs can sometimes find a […]

I treated a severely infested suite for bed bugs two weeks ago. At that time the tenant had installed 4 small clear plastic/glue monitors between the mattress and box spring. They are designed to entice the bugs into a small space and then are caught in a glob of glue in the middle of the […]

The September 19, 2014 issue of PCT magazine contains a bed bug supplement entitled “Trouble Brewing for Insecticides?” The general thrust of the article is an examination of bed bug resistance to modern combination chemicals containing pyrethroids and neonicotonoids. An excellent read. One aspect of the article I particularly found interesting was an attempt to […]

I was asked to assess a bed bug problem in a triplex with two suites upstairs and one suite downstairs. I entered the front common door and was immediately confronted with several thousand dead bed bugs on the all the stair treads leading to the second floor. As I walked up the stairs I noted […]

As discussed in the video “climb up interceptors versus modified glue boards” it is possible to get rid of bed bugs with heat sterilizing the couch and sleeping furniture and placing glue board traps under the bed legs. While this is true it is not as simple as it sounds. The following are suggestions to […]

  Sometimes when I am addressing bed bugs I marvel at their abilities to survive and adapt. For example bed bugs tend to abandon areas that have been treated with pyrethroid chemicals and harbour in untreated areas. Also bed bugs seem to be able to find the best place to hide as exemplified by a […]

Over the years I have noted that aerosol pyrethrins cause tremendous damage by scattering bed bugs over a wide area. Scattered bugs are more prone to be transported to cars, work places, friend’s house, neighboring suites, etc. A few weeks ago I started a new multi family account and one of the first jobs I […]

Programs that house the “hard to house” have been having problems with bed bugs for a very long time. In response to the constant infestations many housing coordinators have been soliciting donations to replace the beds and furniture with all steel units. The thinking is that if the dressers and box springs are constantly being […]