In my previous post I voiced some concerns about cheap treatments for the Common Bedbug (Cimex lecturlarius). But the information I gave was somewhat vague.  So here are some specific facts to reinforce my position:

1. Bedbugs are nocturnal and exhibit a shy behavior during daytime.  Consequently they easily avoid detection, allowing populations to grow.

2. Bedbugs are thigmotatctic. (They prefer tight places.)  They will hide in every crack and crevice available within a room or wall void.

3. Development from egg to adult ranges from five weeks up to eight months.  The adult life span is six months to 1.5 years.  They can survive beyond the range of traditional service programs.  They can also go into dormancy in a protected location and reappear several months later.

4. Each female lays eggs in batches of 10 to 50, producing 200 to 500 eggs total during her life.  Uncontrolled populations can multiply very rapidly.

5. The female cements her eggs in cracks, crevices and wall voids, which enhances their chances of survival, by avoiding commonly treated areas.

6. Bedbugs can go without feeding for 80 to 140 days.  (One study showed survival up to 550 days!)  Drawing upon this ability, bedbugs may sense newly applied pest control products and cease feeding for a matter of weeks, after a treatment is performed.  This can produce a false sense of control due to a lack of bites.  However, when the bugs re-emerge they will feed voraciously.

7. These creatures travel very well within wall voids, so room-to-room movement is very likely.  Additionally hiding in wall voids makes bedbugs difficult to control.

8. Rodents, bats, birds, dogs and cats may also act as hosts.  The movements of these animals can aid in moving an infestation around a structure, increasing the chances of the bedbugs' survival.

As you can see from these characteristics, control isn't just a matter of a simple treatment within a structure.  Each of these habits and characteristics must be taken into account and acted upon accordingly.  Even the best treatment may not guarantee that an infestation will not re-emerge, but a thorough inspection and complete treatment, followed by monitoring for possible re-emergence, will go a long way toward satisfactory control.  Conversely, quick, cheap inspections and treatments will almost certainly fall short, running the risk of consequences like the ones I discussed in my previous post.

"If it seems too good to be true, it probably is."  It's an old addage that still holds true today.

In a previous e-mail alert we told about the resurgent problem of Bed bug infestation in North America and around the world.  This is an issue that isn't going away any time soon and a lot of people are quite concerned; with good reason.  A few Bed bugs brought into a home can quickly become thousands, causing suffering, embarrassment and even fear.  Bed bugs can be accidentally picked up in a variety of ways.  They can be found in the best of high class hotels and roadside motels.  They can be picked up at the office if one employee brings in an infested jacket.  That slightly used dresser or bed that you recently bought at a garage sale may harbor Bed bugs.  You can even pick them up by riding in an automobile, bus or other mode of transportation.  As the populations of these insects grow, so will the types of locations in which they may be waiting to hitch a ride home with you.  And bed bugs aren't particular about whether a home is clean or not.  Their only requirements are nice, warm, secluded places to hide during the day and warm-blooded hosts (you and me) to provide them with their meals.
 
The habit of these insects is to hide, during the daylight hours, in all sorts of tight, cracks, crevices and secluded areas that you may never think of.  They will hide between the parts of your bed frame, along mattress beading, between dresser drawers, behind anything hanging on walls and will enter wall voids by crawling under baseboard moldings and through electrical outlets.  They will even hide in your clean laundry.  Treatment for these pests is a detailed, time-consuming and expensive effort.  It requires participation of both the pest professional and the homeowner.  Each must thoroughly do his or her part if control is to be achieved.  Beds must be taken apart, dresser drawers pulled out, window hangings must be inspected and thoroughly cleaned or treated.  Pictures and other decorations must be removed from the walls and checked for bugs.  Every potential hiding place in the infested room must be looked at and treated.  All clothing in a room must be laundered and dried on high heat to kill the insects and eggs.  Other clothes must be taken out and dry cleaned.  In short, the whole room is virtually "taken apart," treated and put back together.   Even then, two or more follow-ups and possible touch-up treatments are highly recommended to ensure, as much as possible, that the problem is solved.
 
Lately, in what appears to be an effort to gain customers in our tight economy, some companies have begun to tell customers and potential customers that they can eliminate Bed bugs for very little cost and with little effort.  Some are also promising to include Bedbug control in regular pest control programs at no additional cost.  There are only two ways this can be accomplished.  1. Charge higher fees to compensate for the additional time and materials to treat an infestation should one occur.  (If it never does, the customer has purchased some pretty expensive "insurance.")  2. Keep the fees low and hope for the best.  In this case the pest control company is betting that an infestation will never happen.  Unfortunately, if an infestation does develop, the technician doing the work will feel rushed to get the job done because he, or she and the company are not being properly compensated  The results from such a treatment may be less than thorough.  This will likely result in a temporary reduction or perceived elimination of the problem, with some Bed bugs escaping the treatment.  The infestation will likely resurface at a later date, possibly with a more treatment-resistant population.  In some locations resistant populations are already being reported.  It is this author's concern, that over time, practices like these could result in a nearly uncontrollable epidemic of these unsavory insects.  If you're approached by a company offering low cost treatments or programs to treat this problem, be extremely cautious and suspicious.  Do your homework.  Check on their reputation and success rate in dealing with Bed bugs. Be sure that your contractor will do the job right, before you make the buying decision.