North East Bed Bug Forum

Diatomaceous earth also known as diatomite, DE, or kieselgur, is a naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock that is easily crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder. Diatomaceous earth is a very effective way to kill bed bugs, although it will not kill the bed bug infestation in it’s entirety, it can alleviate the problem until you can get a bed bug inspection company and pest control agent to the origin of bed bug infestation.  Diatomaceous earth has a particle size ranging from less than 1 micrometre to more than 1 millimetre, but typically 10 to 200 micrometres. This powder has an abrasive feel, similar to pumice powder, and is very light, due to its high porosity. The typical chemical composition of oven dried diatomaceous earth is 80 to 90% silica, with 2 to 4% alumina (attributed mostly to clay minerals) and 0.5 to 2% iron oxide.

Diatomaceous earth consists of fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled algae. It is used as a filtration aid, mild abrasive, mechanical insecticide,[2] absorbent for liquids, cat litter, activator in blood clotting studies, and a stabilizing component of dynamite. As it is also heat-resistant, it can be used as a thermal insulator.

It is not reasonable to take a bag of diatomaceous earth and spread it through out the house like you were spreading carpet freshener.  The main advantage in using diatomaceous earth to alleviate a bed bug problem is to spread it around your bed as a barrier.  This may not work though if the bed bugs are already in your bed.

Your best bet if you think you have bed bugs is to call a bed bug inspection company to find out for sure and then proceed with a pest control agent that specializes in bed bug infestations.

There’s no doubt about it: bed bugs are back! In fact, the recent Bugs Without Borders survey conducted by the National Pest Management Association and the University of Kentucky found that 95 percent of U.S. based professional pest management companies have encountered a bed bug infestation in the past year. Prior to 2000, only 25 percent of respondents had encountered a bed bug infestation. In addition, the NPMA’s Bed Bugs in America survey found that one out of five Americans has had a bed bug infestation in their home or knows someone who has encountered bed bugs at home or in a hotel.

The bedbugs go wherever people do – and not just to places with lax housekeeping. Niketown in Manhattan, for instance, was closed for four days in September because of a bedbug infestation.

“They’ve been on trains, buses. Just before Christmas, we had a guy who had them in the cab of his pickup truck,” Mulloy said. “We’re getting more and more office buildings.

Though insecticides may be the treatment of choice for killing bed bugs, other options do exist.

“There are several different methods that are effective in killing bed bugs. Heat is one of them. Others include steaming, freezing, vacuuming, and use of properly applied pesticides. You are getting a lot of information on the temperature at which bed bugs can be effectively killed because a lot of research is still being done in that area. The most current data that we have shows that all stages of bed bugs…will be killed at 122 degrees Fahrenheit.”

Factors considered when evaluating treatment methods include the extent of the infestation, the type of location that will be treated, and any budget parameters.

Treatment costs can fluctuate dramatically by protocol and region, says White.

Dr. Stephen Kells, associate professor and Extension and Research Entomologist at the University of Minnesota, who is conducting research on bed bugs, says humans have lived with bed bugs since the days of cave-dwelling.

Through research, he has found that freezing works well for smaller household items, like books. In order for the treatment to work the temperature has to be near or at freezing for approximately 6 to 10 days.

Steaming is another option, though not by utilizing a carpet steam cleaner. Instead, a steam generator must be used and the temperature must be between 160-180 degrees Fahrenheit in order to control bedbugs.

When treating with pesticides, Dr. Kells recommends multiple product types including dust, short action, and residual. “The reason is each has a specific area of use. Residual is used outside of rooms, dust to fill voids in the wall, and short action for beds and mattresses,” the professor says.

Question: If you put on “Off” or some other insect repellant before retiring in a hotel will this prevent them from biting? -Dolores Hill, Bessemer, Ala.

Answer: Although we have not specifically tested mosquito repellants on bed bugs, we have tested repellant insecticides. Bed bugs do not seem to respond in the slightest to repellent insecticides. In fact, they will sit on top of them until they die. These results have been confirmed by the older bed bug literature (Usinger 1966) who stated that many repellant materials were applied to bed frames in an attempt to keep bed bugs from crawling up, but none had any effect. Because we have not tested repellants on skin, we can’t say for sure whether bed bugs would be willing to stick their mouth parts though repellant treated skin or not. But we have found bed bugs to be very determined little creatures and I think it would be hard to stop a hungry bed bug. In addition, the repellants that you buy for mosquitoes last only a couple of hours before the effects begin to wear off. If you apply a repellant before getting into bed, a lot of the material could rub off on the sheets etc. Also, bed bugs are most active between 3 and 5 am, which is several hours after the time you would have put the on the repellant to go to bed. Bottom line, a repellant may prevent you from getting a bite or two but I do not believe that they will significantly hinder a hungry bed bug.

So you think you may have bed bugs in your apartment, house, or business.  First thing you do is go on Google to try and find an affordable bed bug inspection company.  You make the calls to figure out how much this bed bug inspection, evaluation is going to cost.  It seems most people are asking between $300.00 and $400.00 for their inspection service.  Then, you get a hold of a couple of places that offer free bed bug inspections or evaluations.   You think to yourself, wow this is great I can find out if I have bed bugs for free.

An important thing to remember is, nothing in life is free.

I recently talked with a person who told me a horror story about getting a free bed bug inspection or evaluation.  It seems they shopped around for prices of bed bug inspections and found a pretty big name in pest control offering a free inspection/evaluation.  Going the cheap route for this person did not end up cheaper.  In my opinion they got hoodwinked.  The inspector came in with a flashlight and magnifying glass.  He found,  what he said was bed bugs to be in the entire apartment.  The owner of the apartment had to have it exterminated at a cost of close to $2,500.00  That’s  right, this free bed bug inspection ended up costing almost $2,500.00.

Do I believe that the whole apartment had to be exterminated? No, of course not.  After further digging the person told me they were not even getting bed bug bites.  Someone they knew had mentioned they had a bed bug problem in their apartment and she wanted to protect herself just in case.

So, the moral of this bed bug story is if you think you are getting an inspection or evaluation for free, you will probably pay for it in the long run.  What seems to cost a little bit of money for a reputable bed bug inspection by a bed bug dog, probably will save you money in the long run.

The CDC reports that bedbugs were nearly eradicated in industrialized countries such as the United States up until a few years ago. The first U.S. reports of the resurgence came from the East Coast. Bedbugs infested more than a dozen New York City schools and part of the Empire State Building.

Until a couple days ago, bedbugs weren’t known to spread diseases, unlike other bloodsuckers.

“They are a nuisance,” Wears said. “They itch like the dickens but aren’t a health concern.”

‘It’s not time to push the panic button’

However, Canadian scientists detected drug-resistant staph bacteria in bedbugs from three hospital patients in a downtrodden Vancouver, British Columbia, neighborhood, according to a CDC report released last week.

“It’s not time to push the panic button,” said Marc Romney, one of the study’s authors, adding that it’s unclear whether the bacteria originated with the bedbugs or were merely picked up from the people. The bacteria often are seen in hospitals.

“This is an eye opener,” said Romney, adding that it might be cause for the CDC to initiate a bedbug tracking system, depending on findings of follow-up research. “We’re in wait-and-see mode right now.”

New mobile heat truck is the new weapon against bed bugs and other pest.

Stratford, CT.   Northeast Heat Treatment LLC (www.northeastheatreatment.com and www.ecopestimination.com) announces this week the launch of a new business serving Connecticut and Massachusetts and upper Middle Atlantic areas businesses, apartment buildings and homes.
As background, the growing incidence of bed bug problems reported through the country which by some measures has reached epidemic proportions in the metro New York City area has highly migrated into other areas north and south of New York.
Many pest control operatives, entomologist and scientists all agree that high heat treatment is a highly effective strategy to kill bed bugs and any other insects without use of chemicals, the eco green approach.  Northeast Heat Treatments mobile box truck was specially designed to not only create high temperatures lethal to bed bugs and other insects but to also have temperature monitoring systems in place to measure the effectiveness of the treatment and protect assets.  There is no need to throw out sofas, beds, furniture, books anymore.   Once the assets are placed in the truck, the entire eradication process take no more than 2 hours bring effective solutions, saving money and giving customers a piece of mind.  Landlords who are faced with uncooperative tenants in dealing with bed bug infestations in their buildings can realize speed and effectiveness with the heat truck.
Co Founders of Northeast Heat Treatment LLC, Mike Morin and Don Frey say that his mobile heat treatment is a relief too many customers who fear elimination of bed bugs is not possible.  They also say their company has been getting calls from people who are seeking heat treatment on damp and watered damaged items.

Bed bugs are very sensitive to heat and are rapidly killed when exposed to temperatures over 113 degrees Fahrenheit. If your are using heat to kill the bed bugs, it needs to happen as fast as possible or the gradual temperature increase will cause the bugs to scatter and possibly lead to further infestation, such as to the room next door or the floor above, etc.  This is why it is optimal to kill any bed bug infestation in your furniture and or belongings in a secured area, such as a mobile heat treatment unit.  These bug killing heat treatment units are designed for your furniture and belongings to be brought into, enclosed, and heated until the bugs are killed.  After this is done your things may be brought back into your home bed bug free.

Heat is a pretty good tool to use against bed bugs. It’s nice and safe, and natural.  It is a very good method of exterminating bed bugs and other insects that is Eco-Friendly.  It reduces the amount of chemicals needed to treat a bed bug infestation.  In this day and age any strategy that is effective in killing bed bugs and cuts down on the amount of chemicals being put into our environment is a good thing.  Mobile heat treatment units for combating bed bugs is the new green method of pest extermination.  These innovative mobile heat treatment units for killing bed bugs work by circulating heated air that is computer monitored to reach a high enough core temperature for the correct amount of time in order to thoroughly kill all bed bugs in your furniture and belongings.

If your hotel is lucky enough to have avoided an infestation of bed bugs, there are a number of proactive approaches that can be implemented to lessen their impact on your operations when they arrive. Michael Merchant, PhD an urban entomologist for the Texas AgriLife Extension in Dallas explained recently ways to reduce your risk.

#1 First and foremost, work with a pest control company or bed bug inspection company that has experience combating Bed bugs. Rely on the pest control experts experience and knowledge to guide you through all of the steps needed to prevent or eradicate an infestation. Bed bugs are complicated pests and are resistant to many traditional chemicals and treatment protocols. An over-the-counter chemical remedy applied by an untrained hotel staff member could be a recipe for disaster. It may spread the bed bug infestation you have in your facility from one room to many other rooms.

#2 Employ good passive monitoring, systems, like the BDS Catchmaster or Climb-Up Insect Interceptor, in your guest rooms. Glue or dead fall traps allow hotel owners to identify potential problems quickly and without great expense. If bed bugs are spotted in a trap, a well-trained bed bug inspection agent can quickly identify if the infestation is limited to one room or if it has spread to adjacent rooms. Canine units trained to detect bugs are a very good strategy to be brought in to help identify the extent of the infestation.

#3 A must, develop a bed bug action plan to educate all hotel staff members what to look for in the guest rooms and how to react quickly and effectively if a guest makes a complaint in person or online. Simple visual inspections by trained housekeepers looking at sheets, mattresses and other hiding areas is an inexpensive first line of defense.

#4 Going a step further, denying entry to some of the places bed bugs like to stay is an effective prevention method. Use of mattress, pillow and box-spring encasement’s effectively eliminates the most common breeding grounds. A typical encasement set for a king bed can be purchased for around $50 to $75. It is extremely important that the mattress encasement be placed on both the mattress and the box springs. Encasement’s can also help eliminate allergens and dust mites that improve indoor air quality in your hotel.

The Department of Environmental Protection has put some heavy money behind combating bed bugs in the United States. Recently they have doled out $550,000.00 in grants to Rutgers University and four other recipients.

The University of Missouri-St. Louis has gotten one of five grants awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to work on new ways to tackle bed bugs.

The grants, totaling $550,000, will be used in areas of the country where problems with bed bugs are present but resources to eliminate them are limited, according to an EPA press release. With parts of the nation dealing with increases of bed bug outbreaks, the release says the agency is aiming to use the grants to help continue education on the problem.

UMSL will work in minority, immigrant and high-poverty communities and the work will translate current information about bed bug control, prevention and identification to a ‘smartphone-friendly” website, the release states.

Other grants went to the Texas Agri-Life Extension Service at Texas A&M University; the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; Rutgers University; and the Michigan Department of Community Health.

These grants will help in developing environmental friendly ways to prevent and treat bed bugs. In our estimation it is money well spent.