In this episode, Jeff will discuss a Holiday Bed Bug Charity he has been working on.  For more information regarding "Taking the Bite out of the Holidays", please visit http://www.bedbugcentral.com/holidays/

In this episode Jeff will discuss the benefits of using Diatomaceous Earth for bed bug control.  DE is a dust that is made from crushed fossils.  This is a very popular dust when treating for bed bugs and research has shown that it can be effective against bed bugs.  If applying DE, you want to make sure that you follow all label directions very carefully as, even though it is viewed as a very "green" and low toxicity product, it is still a pesticide.  Also, there are many different forms of DE on the market (food grade, pool filter, pest control, etc…) and you want to make sure you choose a DE that was specifically manufactured for use with pests.  Research has indicated that some of the other forms of DE may be ineffective for bed bug control. 

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In this episode Jeff will discuss a new product on the market called the Bed Bug Patch.  This product claims to increase your repellency to bed bugs by placing a patch on your skin that releases Vitamin B1, or thiamine.  This vitamin has long been rumored to increase your repellency to insects by decreasing the amount of carbon dioxide that your body releases.  While research needs to be conducted on the theory of B1 as a bed bug repellent, previous studies on the topic have demonstrated that B1 is not an effective mosquito repellent and bed bugs are attracted to many of the same cues that mosquitoes respond to.  Therefore, the scientific findings that B1 is not an effective mosquito repellent makes us question the manufacturer of the Bed Bug Patch's claims that it will improve a humans repellency to bed bugs.  Based on studies showing that B1 is not an effective insect repellent, you should probably keep these studies in mind in regards to your expectations when purchasing this product until studies are completed to demonstrate otherwise.

In this episode Jeff will discuss what people should and shouldn't do after a bed bug treatment has been performed in their home. Viewers have submitted several questions that have asked what they can and cannot do after a bed bug treatment has been performed so that they can avoid deactivating any pesticides that have been applied. The truth of the matter is that is a question that is best answered by the pest control company who performed the treatment. Without knowing what the company applied and where they applied those pesticides, it is impossible for anybody to comment on what you should do other than the pest control company who performed the work. If you have bagged and laundered clothing you can either choose to live out of those bags until the bugs have been declared eliminated or unload those bags and put the clothes back if evidence was not noted in the closets or dressers. Please be aware that if you choose to unload those bags that if the closet or dresser is found to have evidence, you may have to launder the clothes again. That being said, bed bugs are not typically found on the clothes in closets and dressers so typically you can put the clothes back after they are laundered. But please remember, before you do anything you should always contact the company who performed the treatment.

In this episode, Jeff will discuss what the typical recommendations are for bed bug treatment that most of the pest control industry is requiring and what Bed Bug Central's position is on preparing for bed bug treatment.  Please remember that regardless of the information provided in this episode, you should also follow what the pest control company is asking you to do for bed bug treatment.  Typical bed bug preparations include:  emptying dressers and closets and laundering all clothing contained within those areas, stripping the beds of their bedding and laundering those items and standing the beds on end.  Most pest control companies require you do perform these tasks because there may be a bed bug in personal clothing and the pest control company cannot treat those items with pesticide.  By laundering them you kill any bugs associated with those items and if you strip the bed and stand it on end, it makes the treatment easier the day of treatment.  Bed Bug Central's position on bed bug preparation is to clean your home so that the pest control company treating the home can move freely in the house.  Outside of cleaning the home, we will ask you to empty closets and dressers only if we find evidence in those areas.  Emptying dressers and closets and laundering all of those items because there may be a bug contained within them we feel is unnecessary and an unfair amount of work when finding bugs in these areas is only common in very high level infestations (only about 10% of bed bug infestations).  We also don't want homeowners/renters to strip the bed and stand it up because we want to see the infestation as it was originally and performing these tasks will distribute bugs into unpredictable locations.  Please remember that this is Bed Bug Central's position on bed bug preparations and you should always follow whatever your pest control company is asking you to do.

In this episode, Jeff will discuss Hot Shot No-Pest Strips and Nuvan Prostrips. These strips are very similar to each other in that they use the same active ingredient, dichlorvos or DDVP, in the same percentage and are to be used in similar settings.  The difference between the two products is that bed bugs is listed on the Nuvan Prostrips label which makes it available for use in states where the pest is required to be listed on the directions for use.  These strips primarily fit into bed bug control plans in that if you have a bag of belongings that you cannot treat with pesticides and cannot launder, if the items in that bag are listed on the label as able to be treated by this pesticide, you could place a strip in that bag treat the belongings for bed bugs.  Recent research indicates that belongings should be left for at least two weeks, and maybe more, to be effective against bed bugs and their eggs.  Please be aware that research found that bed bugs survived in certain items even when you left them exposed to Nuvan Prostrips for more than two weeks.  These products provide you with another option to treat items you cannot launder or treat for bed bugs.

In this episode Jeff will discuss the differences in bed bug treatments when the infestation is in a stand-alone, single family house vs. an apartment vs. a townhouse or condominium.  From a treatment perspective, the manner with which a pest control company treats bed bugs shouldn’t differ depending on a structure.  For the most part, the way a company treats a bed in an apartment shouldn’t differ from the way it is treated in a house.  Where these treatments start to differ is when you start to consider surrounding unit concerns.  In a stand-alone, single family home, surrounding units aren’t a concern.  In an apartment, the property management will need to be involved in order to gain access to the surrounding units to make sure that the known infestation wasn’t caused by one of the surrounding apartments.  In condominiums, townhouses and row-homes, this process can become more complex due to the fact that the surrounding homes could be owned by different people and different management companies and they may not be interesting in allowing you to inspect their home.  If that is the case, and they do have bed bugs, it may be almost impossible to eliminate the bugs in the known infestation if they are originating from a surrounding unit that the pest control company is unable to address.
Related Links:

Bed Bugs 101 – Surrounding Units

Chicago vs. Bed Bugs

New Jersey Apartment Association

Related Links:

Episode 32:  Packtite Portable Heating Unit

Episode 5:  Hot-Shot No-pest strips

Episode 28:  Bed Bugs in Cars

Episode 22:  Nuvan pest strips