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.
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