Joel Stein thinks bedbugs are funny, harmless little creatures. He thinks the thought of an infestation is worse than an actual one. In his Time article, Stein makes fun of his wife, who asks him to "strip naked as soon as I walked in the door upon returning from my last business trip, and it was not to have sex."
Ha ha, very funny. Stein goes on to say that his wife drives him crazy when going to a hotel. She once made him switch hotel rooms after she noticed a mosquito bite on her leg. His wife checks for bedbugs, but to Stein, it's just a bunch of misplaced hysteria.
The fact is that bedbugs have spread throughout the world at an alarming rate, an the travel industry is one of the main reasons why. Stein's wife was smart to move the bed and check for bedbugs, and is not crazy for being concerned about them. One bedbug can stealthily hitch a ride home on a suitcase and then cause an infestation in one's home. Let's see how funny that would be, Stein.
The U.S.A. may have one of the best army divisions in the world in their Marine Corps, but it seems they're no match for bedbugs. As reported by enctoday.com, "Camp Lejeune staff lay out bedbugs barracks treatment plan," (link) one set of barracks, and all of its contents, have been evacuated and set up to be treated.
The first of its kind (and probably the first of many), a bedbug summit opened in Chicago this week. Appearing were bedbug experts, entomologists and businesses, all looking to share information about bedbugs and how to deal with them. Phillip Cooper, president of BedBug Central, organized the event. CBC News reported Mr. Cooper as saying,"This summit will provide a sophisticated level of information to a variety of industries that can be lost in smaller or less specific seminars."
The following also came from the report:
At a trade show, participants can check out the latest in bedbug technology, such as sprayers and steamers. One company is offering a ring device that fastens around the leg of a bed to keep the bugs from climbing up.
The Times has been closely following the bedbug story in NYC and nationally. This particular story though is unique because it represents a shift in the conventional wisdom.
Until now, hotels have refused to acknowledge that there's a bedbug problem - until a year or so ago, they pretended not to know what a bedbug is. More recently, hoteliers began to acknowledge that they may have heard some rumblings about this problem but ... "not in our hotel". What is unique about this article is that it features a general manager of a hotel who says flat out "we have had bedbugs". What he saying is, we have had them, and all other hotels have had them - it's a new reality and it's something we need to acknowledge and learn to live with.
This is a TREMENDOUS, MONUMENTAL shift in thinking. What it means is that this hotel has decided that people would be happier knowing that they are aware of the problem and are actively seeking to control it as opposed to sweeping the issue under the proverbial rug.
Our core product BBEDS™ (Bedbug Early Detection System) follows this mode of reasoning. Recognition that there are bedbugs and taking steps to seek them out BEFORE you have an out of control situation on your hands.
I have heard some people express the idea that "they'd rather not know" if they have bedbugs. This thinking is obviously backward - if you DO have them, you're a heck of a lot better off knowing about it today than in a month from now when there's 10 times as many in a hundred more hiding places.
I think that this "I'd rather not know" type of reasoning was an early "freak out" reaction to the new bedbug outbreak. Once people get over than initial shock, sensibility kicks in and they immediately recognize the intrinsic value and vital importance of early bedbug detection. This article is, in my opinion, the first concrete sign that this shift is happening.
With tons of reports on bedbugs, I was wondering where the response was from the Travel Industry.
Most reports on bedbugs say that the little blood-suckers are master travelers; hitchhiking on suitcases and clothing. While there are new local laws being put into place governing apartment buildings and resold mattresses, I haven't seen one article on the response by the airlines or hotels, where it seems bedbugs are transferred from one person to another and from city to city.
Logic would dictate that the airlines need to constantly check their planes, lounges and terminals for bedbugs. They should also utilize early detection units such as Catchmaster BBEDS to help prevent infestations. The same goes for hotels; even more so with the fact that they are called "bedbugs" after all.
What do Bergdoff Goodman, Elle Magazine and the Empire State Building have in common? They have all recently had bedbug infestations.
One popular way to find the tiny, blood-thirsty critters is by hiring a company that has a bedbug sniffing dog. It seems that Man's Best Friend is an extremely effective (yet sometimes expensive) way to search for bedbugs in your domain. Each day there are more reports of companies and private residents using this method effectively. According to the Wall Street Journal, New York City's Department of Housing, Preservation and Development is evaluating the idea of hiring its own pack, which would service multifamily residential properties throughout the city. (link to article)
Another great way to detect if you have bedbugs is by using Catchmaster BBEDS. Easy to set up and use, this product will help determine if you have bedbugs, so you can act quickly to get rid of them before they multiply.
On Sunday, August 8th, the NY Times published an op-ed piece in its Sunday Opinion section titled "This Bedbug's Life." (link). It's an excellent and informative article (one of the best I've yet to see published), authored by May Berenbaum, Head of Entomology at the University of Illinois.
A few comments:
"My Bostonian bug turned out to be one of many on the forefront of an unprecedented resurgence. Global travelers now bring in a steady supply from around the world, inconspicuously undeclared in checked bags and carry-on luggage."
I hate when people blame "global travelers" for our new bedbug problem. This is OUR problem now and we have to point the blame inward. True, increased global travel brought them back but WE banned effective pesticides that had previously all but eradicated these little bloodsuckers. We made the bedbug infested bed ... now we have to sleep in it.
"Even professional pest control operators are struggling to keep up, because bedbugs have become, for the most part, resistant to the old pesticides that once were so effective, and relatively few viable chemical alternatives exist."
Hogwash!! There are plenty of effective pesticides that can be used for bedbugs - like proproxur for example. It's just that the EPA has taken these out of our hands. Besides, there are still many other good over the counter options that can work - the real issue is that people wait until the infestation is so far out of control, it becomes impossible to find and kill every single bedbug hiding in a crack or crevice. The idea is to stay AHEAD of the problem and be aware of a bedbug issue while it's still manageable. EARLY DETECTION IS THE KEY TO EFFECTIVE BEDBUG MANAGEMENT - through monitoring and regular inspection. Using an early detection product such as CatchMaster BBEDS can help prevent an infestation in your home or business.
The stories are hitting the front-pages and leading off the nightly newscasts. The statistics are glaring and the projections scary. Bedbugs are being compared to the H1N1 virus in terms of seriousness, but unlike H1N1, there's no quick and easy immunization solution.
We've heard of chemical warfare, but how about insect warfare? In a story right out of the Old Testament, when G-d sent locusts upon the Egyptians to punish them, a man in Des Moines is suspected of trying to exact revenge by leaving a bag of bedbugs in the hall of a city building (see story here).
DesmoinesRegister.com reports the incident having occurred three weeks ago at the city's Armory Building. City Manager Rick Clark said, "It appears somebody had an ax to grind."
Additionally, the article reports that "the building (was) fumigated three times to eradicate the biting bugs, but the critters have not been wiped out."
If you suspect you have a bedbug issue, early detection is key. Using a product like CatchMaster BBEDS is an effective way of detecting bedbugs in your home or when you're away. To learn more, go to www.CatchMasterBBEDS.com
Just when you thought it was safe to go outside...er, wait, it's not!
Check out this report from WLWT in Cincinnati which is reporting bedbugs at local summer day and sleepaway camps. According to the report, one camp had "three bedbug sightings in the past 13 months -- all from luggage brought in by campers and guests." Guess we now know that it's not just cooties your child might get from the other campers.
Early detection is key. Using a product like CatchMaster BBEDS is an effective way of detecting bedbugs in your home or when you're away. To learn more, go to www.CatchMasterBBEDS.com
People's reactions in the reports that the Victoria's Secret in New York City's Midtown recently had a bedbug infestation were quite amusing (story link). It seems that bedbugs at home, the office or in hotels seem understandable, but who would expect the bloodsucking critters to turn up in your panties and bras? Most people reacted with shock and horror and said that they would not shop in that store, or if they had, they would return their merchandise for a refund.
This just shows how widespread the problem has become. No building, shop, airplane, suitcase is immune to the possibility of housing bedbugs and the stealth, sometimes microscopic insects are master travelers. It reminds one of the H1N1 virus a little in how it spread from one place in the world to another; except there's no vaccine. However, one can detect if they have bedbugs in their home. Early detection is key. Using a product like CatchMaster BBEDS is an effective way of detecting bedbugs in your home or when you're away. To learn more, go to www.CatchMasterBBEDS.com
News about bedbug infestations from around the United States keep coming in. Some of New York City's famous shops, such as Hollister and Victoria's Secret, have recently had to shut down temporarily to deal with the problem. All last week there was a nightly feature on NewsChannel 4 New York on bedbugs in New York City.
Here are some links to recent stories from around the country:
Early detection could have helped in all of these cases. Using a product like Catchmaster BBEDS is an effective way of detecting bedbugs in your home or when you're away. To learn more, go to www.CatchMasterBBEDS.com
When it comes to pest control, New Yorkers Gil Bloom and Doug Stern have long been proponents of passive monitoring. Both believe that monitoring is an effective IPM tool for all pests, including bedbugs, which, as we all know, have been much in the news lately.
A well-respected authority on bedbug management and president of Standard Pest Management, Bloom is also a member of New York City’s Bedbug Advisory Board. His company has done some field-testing of AP&G’s new bedbug monitor system called the Catchmaster BDS (Bedbug Detection System). The unique device, about the size of a business card, was officially introduced to the market in April 2010. His company reports some early successes.
Stern, of the pest management organization bearing his family name, believes this monitoring product has “much exciting potential” for the industry and for his company in particular. “These days, about 50 percent of our business is devoted to bedbug management,” he says, “and we recently saw the wisdom of incorporating the Catchmaster BDS into our bedbug jobs.
“We know it to be the first passive monitor that’s intended not only to focus on the bed area, but on other areas that are attractive to bedbugs.That gives us the flexibility to place it in couches, night tables, behind TV sets, and other bedbug hot spots,” he says.
“Unlike bedbug scent dogs, the Catchmaster BDS is very discrete, and because it’s relatively inexpensive, it allows us to monitor on a large scale basis and to reach residential clients that can’t afford expensive bedbug control products. And you can actually place hundreds of these monitors in large office buildings or in schools without attracting unwanted attention. That’s important for facilities that are open 24/7, such hospitals, municipal and federal sites, offices of large corporations, apartment complexes and union headquarters.”
Says AP&G’s Ed Dolshun, “the Catchmaster BDS is an affordable bedbug monitoring device created specifically to give PMPs an extra edge in detecting bedbugs before they proliferate and infest a new location. By placing it in a proper location you can attract them because you’re actually providing a very favorable habitat—from the bedbug’s point of view.”
The product, which simulates the conditions that appeal strongly to bedbugs, was created based on knowledge of their biology and behavior, according to Dolshun. “We know that they need to feed on blood, so we know that they’re going to try to get their meals from us in our bed, on our clothes or on our couches. We know that we need to place our monitors in their pathways.”
The protocol developed by AP&G, says Dolshun, involves placing the Catchmaster BDS in typical locations, such as bedrooms with standard furniture such as a bed, two nightstands, a dresser or two and a soft chair.“Bedbugs want to reach us but can do so only in certain ways,” he explains. “The four bedposts are prime areas for activity. They’ll crawl up those posts to get at us. Another bedbug hot spot is behind the headboard. A less likely location is found between the mattress and the box spring, although the regular activity of changing sheets could discourage them from hiding there.”
Research shows that bedbugs favor small spaces and uneven textures and materials. The Catchmaster BDS, therefore, was created as a harborage providing tight, dark tunneling and rough woodsy material, similar to the small grooves of corrugated boxes, mattress creases and wood furniture. If bedbugs are located nearby, they’re drawn to it and trapped in its patented and unique adhesive matrix pattern coated on untreated paper.“If they should escape from the monitor, chances are they will leave fecal matter behind which will also help us make a positive identification,” says Dolshun.
Bloom believes the material used in manufacturing the Catchmaster BDS is “a big plus” and thinks that the overall concept is good for the pest control industry. He also likes its low profile design, which allows it to be placed in tight areas, such as wall hangings.
“Monitoring and inspecting are important aspects of any bedbug management program, not only in infested units, but surrounding units as well,” says Bloom. “With that in mind, our company deployed the Catchmaster DBS in several hotels for continued monitoring as part of our regular service.” He reports that the product captured bedbugs in several hotel rooms where there were known bedbug problems. “But it also discovered bedbugs in rooms that were not suspect. That’s of particular importance because those rooms had low levels of infestation and we were able to treat before the infestation became a serious problem.”
Bloom believes that common adhesive monitors (such as the roach monitors currently on the market) have limitations for bedbugs. “They often avoid entering those monitors. But using them en masse is a good idea because they may give you some indication of the presence of bedbugs—and that’s better than nothing.”
Says Dolshun, “There’s a stigma associated with having bedbugs. People think they are caused by bad sanitation and that’s the furthest thing away from the truth. Bedbugs can infest the homes of billionaires as readily as they can the bedrooms of low cost apartment complexes.”
According to Jonathan Frisch, VP for AP&G, the Catchmaster BDS product has been initially used in apartment complexes in the Boston and New York City areas, as well as in parts of the Midwest and West Coast. “It’s an affordable product that can help expand a pest management’s business and area of expertise to include bedbug control. The relatively inexpensive pricing of the BDS will allow a pest management company to readily employ this tool to identify a bedbug problem before it gets out of control. It could also be installed after a bedbug treatment to either illustrate that the treatment was effective or to assist in identifying continued post-treatment activity,” he said.
“Although the Catchmaster BDS is new to the market, the more we learn, the more we will evolve and improve the product. Today it’s not precisely what it was when it was first being tested in the field. We as a manufacturer continually strive to put the best product forward,” says Dolshun.
For more information, go to www.catchmasterPRO.com, or phone AP&G at (800) 458-7454.
On June 8, The Wall Street Journal reported in their Metropolis blog (link) that there was a bedbug bill in Albany, sposored by Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, that was soon to become law. According to the report, the bill would force landlord to disclose if there were bedbugs in an apartment (and the building it is in) for the last year, before a new tenant moves in.
An explanation from a Facebook page about the legislation (link) states that the bill is "intended to combat the growing epidemic of bedbugs in New York, which have caused tremendous anguish, anxiety and financial hardship for residents across the socio-economic spectrum." There's a great quote there, about bedbugs, from the Assemblywoman: "“As the scourge of bedbugs continues in New York, I am committed to giving my constituents the tools to protect themselves both epidemiologically and financially from this plague.”
The blogger states his problems with the bill, stating:
"My problem with this bill is that I lack confidence in the department of health: will they really require mattress refurbishers to use a treatment method that will absolutely and without a doubtkill all bed bugs and eggs present?"
Critics of the bill think it let's the resellers off too easy by letting them "sanitize" the mattresses or just put slips on them, but don't do enough to destroy the blood-sucking critters. Here's hoping Assemblywoman Rosenthal's bill has less holes in it.
It seems that one of the most under-appreciated and unfortunate realities of the bedbugs issue is how easily they can go from one place to another such as from your hotel room to your home (and visa versa). Imagine, if you will, that you unknowingly have bedbugs in your home. Maybe a housekeeper brought them in, or they have found their way into your apartment from another's. You go on vacation or a business trip, and some of the little critters tag along in your suitcase. They hop off in your hotel room and cause an infestation there. The next person to occupy the room brings some to their home, and on and on it goes. Now imagine this occurring world-wide.
Let's look at a few bedbug articles from around the world:
Just this week it was reported that Goldman Sachs, the beleaguered investment bank, was found to have a bedbugs infestation in one of its offices in Jersey City, NJ. Click Here to read about it and view a video clip. The video clip also references major infestations in an apartment in Fort Worth, TX, in Seattle, WA, and New York City, where, ABC News reports, there were nearly 11,000 bedbug complaints last year.
The bedbug blog bedbugger.com has links to BBC reports on infestations in a hospital in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland (link) as well as student residence halls at the University of Exeter (link)
The ABC News report says that since the use of DDT was stopped due to its dangers to people and nature, it's surmised that the bedbug population continued to grow and grow until it's become the big problem it is today.
In its TravelTips section, USA Today recently published an article titled "How to Check a Room for Bed Bugs". While it was generally well-written, I want to discuss what I believe to be factually inaccurate as well as the main point that is completely missed by this article.
Firstly, the overview states, "You can identify bedbug infestations by noting reactions to bedbug bites." The fact is that sometimes bedbug bites are very noticeable, and sometimes they are not. Bedbug bites often don't show up for weeks or months. The real problem is not only the concern of getting bitten, but of actually bringing them home, where they can also cause an infestation. Use of an early detection product like Catchmaster BBEDS is key.
Joel Stein thinks bedbugs are funny, harmless little creatures. He thinks the thought of an infestation is worse than an actual one. In his Time article, Stein makes fun of his wife, who asks him to "strip naked as soon as I walked in the door upon returning from my last business trip, and it was not to have sex."
