Category Archives: Bed Bugs New York

A review of news and product information from industry suppliers.

Editors note: Suppliers and PMPs, if you have a bed bug-related news item or product youd like to have highlighted in an upcoming issue, please send a press release and a high-resolution photo to jdorsch@giemedia.com.

The year: 2008. The place: Nassau County, New York the Village of Hempstead in particular. As Nassaus assistant district attorney (ADA) for community affairs, Ren Fiechter wanted to address issues that most affected quality of life in Hempstead.

Conversations with community leaders revealed that bed bugs ranked high among issues that tenants often felt powerless to control. So Fiechter lost no time in convening a 60-member Bed Bug Task Force to help landlords and tenants better understand and manage this scourge. Task force members included Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann, community IPM coordinator for the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program (NYS IPM) at Cornell University.

Now, for nine years of focused leadership on the Bed Bug Task Force and his commitment to Hempstead and Nassau County as well as IPM Fiechter received an Excellence in IPM award.

Ren wasted no time in learning everything he could about bed bugs, said Gangloff-Kaufmann. Hes also just a thoughtful, friendly person. Those are attributes you need if youre going to bring together such an array of tenants, landlords, pest professionals and community agencies, then make it work.

The publics knowledge of bed bugs often is based on myths and misconceptions. Helping people get past these was among the most important issues the task force faced, said Bryan Matthews, director of environmental investigation with the Nassau County Department of Health.Myth number one? If you have bed bugs your house is a mess. Not so. Anyone, anywhere is fair game. Bed bug control requires a comprehensive approach and the involvement of community leaders is critical.

Ren is a shining example of how one person can serve and protect his community using IPM, said Jim Skinner, president of A & C Pest Management. Under his leadership over the years, the task force held public events that drew hundreds of people and promoted IPM as key to coping with this growing crisis.

Fiechter received his award on March 24 at the annual meeting of the Community IPM Coordinating Council.

Delta Five Systems offers a Telemetered Pest Monitoring System (TPMS) that provides early detection of pests, including insects and rodents. TPMS is a remotely monitored pest detection system that will alert pest management professionals the instant a pest is encountered. The lure-agnostic and placement-agnostic device maximizes PMPs ability to capture pests while minimizing cost, the firm says. Features include: Real-time alerts, including photos; discreet and compact; WiFi enabled; helps eliminate infestations; and proven 98% effective at capturing bed bugs and other insects before a customer/guest encounter, the company reports. For more information visit TheBedBugSolution.com.

The Bugo, a simple-to-use adhesive disc-shaped device that lasts up to eight weeks, is virtually invisible and acts as a barrier against bed bugs and as a detector to infestations, the manufacturer says. The Bugo disc sticks on the floor around the bottom of the bed legs to prevent bed bugs from getting into the bed. New from the manufacturer is the The Bugo Tape, a product for floor beds and beds with no legs. Each packet of The Bugo Tape is available in rolls of 32.8 feet, which is enough for one application around a king-size bed, the firm says. Like the original Bugo Discs, the tape acts as a barrier against bed bugs and as a detector. It is virtually invisible, lasts up to eight weeks and uses no pesticides. The Bugo Tape is easy to apply and discard, and it is available in soft floor application for surfaces such as carpets and rugs, or hard floor application for surfaces such as floor boards and tiles.

The Bugo is available through its distributors, which can be found on The Bugo website thebugo.co.uk/where-to-buy.

Bed Bug Fix, which eliminates and prevents bed bug infestations, is now scent-free, the manufacturer reports. Formulated to be 100 percent natural, non-toxic, non-flammable, non-staining, and used around children and pets, this product is approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration as Generally Regarded as Safe (GRAS). Its also approved as a 25b product by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and part of the U.S. Department of Agricultures (USDAs) BioPreferred program. Octopamine, the insects equivalent to adrenaline, regulates their heart rate, movement, behavior and metabolism. Bed Bug Fix targets and blocks octopamine neurotransmitter receptors, and kills on contact, according to the manufacturer. To place an order, call 800/825-9973.

P.E.S.T. Relief International embarked on its first disaster relief project in Kinston, N.C. in February. The Kennedy Home for Children was hit hard by Hurricane Matthew, and many of the homes were left vulnerable to flooding. P.E.S.T. Relief International responded to the call to partner with Bed Land located in Shallotte, N.C., to provide encasements for 48 new mattresses that were donated to improve the homes livable conditions.

A team of P.E.S.T. Relief Responders, including Marty and Cindy Jones of Prestige Pest Control and Kevin Yow with Seaira Global, visited the home to deliver and install mattress and box spring encasements which were donated by Mattress Safe.

P.E.S.T. Relief International was created for the pest management industry to bring comfort and relief to orphaned, abused, and at-risk individuals in-order to give hope and enable life-transformation. For more information, visit the organization at http://www.pestreliefinternational.com.

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Bed Bug News and Notes - PCT Magazine

Ad will collapse in seconds CLOSE June 22, 2017 06/22/2017 12:34 pm By Adam K. Raymond Share BUG.

OMG. EWW. WTF. BuzzFeed has bedbugs. Carole Robinson, chief communications officer for the company, sent an email to employees Thursday telling them to work from home because of the infestation at their Gramercy Park headquarters. Poynter has published that email.

Please be advised that bed bugs have been detected at BuzzFeed HQ at 111 East 18th Street. We are acting out of an abundance of caution and asking you to work from home tomorrow to give facilities the chance to deal with this in the fastest and environmentally safest manner. Fumigation will take place as soon as possible tomorrow.

The email goes on to tell employees that they can swing by until 11 a.m. to snag their laptops, but advising them against taking home items that are currently on the floor in the office.

The incident at BuzzFeed HQ is only the latest recent insect attack on a new-media property. Last week, bees swarmed the Vox Media offices in the Financial District.

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BuzzFeed Has Bedbugs - NYMag - New York Magazine

Waking up several times during the night with itchy skin, Mr and Mrs E (whose names have been withheld) have not had a good nights sleep in almost a year. They have tried everything from tossing out their belongings including bedding replacing the wooden bed with a metal-framed one, and flea bombing their subdivided apartment numerous times. But they still cant get rid of their unwanted intruders, bed bugs.

Watch Hong Kong is Disneyland for bed bugs video

Theyre getting desperate, because Mrs E is pregnant and due to give birth any day. On a visit to their cramped apartment in Cheung Sha Wan with Francisco Pazos, head technician of pest control company nobedbugs-hk.com, Pazos lifts the blanket and immediately sees the small dark insects crawling on the bed. Many more appear as he moves the mattress.

Judging by the amount of droppings, Pazos estimates there are more than a million bed bugs in the apartment, and classifies the case as an extreme infestation. The neighbouring apartments are likely to be crawling in them, he says.

Bed bugs (Cimex hemipterus) feed on blood, are arguably the most irritating household pests, and are indiscriminate lodgers. They can be found in all types of homes, clean or dirty, big or small.

Pazos next takes us to a luxurious, 3,700 sq ft Mid-Levels flat. One of two domestic helpers suspects the critters hitchhiked to Hong Kong with her employer when he returned from a trip to the mainland. The parasites have since spread to all of the bedrooms.

Bed bug infestations are on the rise - and the pests are hard to kill

Hong Kong is on the verge of a major bed bug epidemic, Pazos warns. There are only two types of households in Hong Kong: those who have bed bugs and those who will have bed bugs.

The Spanish expert, who has dealt with the pests for more than 10 years, says the city is a Disneyland for bed bugs because the high population density and small, cluttered homes are perfect breeding conditions. Seams of mattresses, crevices in furniture and cracks between floorboards are all ideal hiding places for bed bugs.

Pazo says his team receives more than 500 phone enquiries a month. They visit some districts more frequently, such as Tung Chung and Ho Man Tin, but Pazos says this is not a reflection of how severe the problem is in these areas. Rather, middle-class families in these neighbourhoods are more likely to have the financial means to pay for treatment. The cost ranges from HK$1,500 to HK$18,000, depending on the type of treatment, size of the home and the level of infestation.

The resurgence of bed bugs is a worldwide problem. They were almost wiped out in the 1960s through use of the pesticide DDT. The pesticide was later found to have wide-ranging harmful effects, and was banned worldwide in 2001 under the Stockholm Convention. Since then, the critters have made a comeback.

We experienced a sudden reappearance around 2000, followed by rapid population growth, mirrored across most of Europe, the US, Canada and Australia, says Dr Richard Naylor, an entomologist from University of Sheffield, in northern England, who studies the bloodsuckers behaviour.

One theory about the spread of bed bugs in Hong Kong is that they are imported from the mainland, where migrant workers dormitories and trains have spread the pest rapidly across the country. Shenzhen has a large immigrant population and many factory dorms, where bed bug infestations are often reported. Considering its vicinity to Hong Kong, the risk of bed bugs spreading from Shenzhen to Hong Kong is high, says Dr Changlu Wang, an entomologist from Rutgers University in New Jersey.

New York, with a population density comparable to Hong Kongs, suffered a mass infestation in 2010, when bedbugs were reported in hotels, shops and cinemas. City authorities had received more than 8,000 complaints in 2008 alone.

Sleeping in McDonalds better than in a bug-infested bed at home, says Hong Kong McSleeper

Statistics on the number of homes affected are difficult to obtain because many sufferers are too embarrassed to report the problem. There is a stigma surrounding bed bugs. People believe that they are associated with dirty places, which isnt true. But because of this, people tend not to talk about the problem, Naylor says.

Some people may be aware of the problem because not everyone reacts to their bite.

Cheung (who didnt want her full name revealed) took her eight-year-old son to two doctors when he developed rashes on his skin. One doctor laughed off the suggestion the rash could have been caused by insect bites.

Our youngest son was being eaten alive and was misdiagnosed by two different doctors, who put him on antihistamines for several weeks, Cheung says. The drugs made him drowsy but his rashes just got worse. The cause was only discovered after another of Cheungs sons got rashes from bites, and they did some online research.

The easiest way to tell if you have a bed bug problem is by looking for droppings pin head sized black dots normally found on bedsheets, Pazos says. Another way is to blow hot air from a hairdryer into the corners of a wooden bed, which will flush them out. They are typically brown and flat, and up to 4.5mm long.

Bed bugs possess many qualities that make them hard to get rid of. Containing an infestation is notoriously difficult due to how quickly they grow and reproduce. An adult female bed bug can lay about 25 eggs a week. The life cycle from egg to adult takes about six weeks, which means if a single female bug finds its way into your bed, it can keep on laying fertile eggs, and by the time its ready to mate again, its own offspring will be reaching maturity, Naylor says.

This ability to inbreed means they can mutate, and produce stronger detoxifying enzymes that can break down insecticides. They can grow a thicker protective exterior that prevents insecticides from harming them.

Modern populations of bed bugs now have widespread resistance to every major class of insecticide, Naylor says. So its not surprising that people are struggling to control the insects using conventional insecticides.

Most of Pazos clients have already tried terminating bedbugs with flea bombs or by employing pest control companies, to no avail. [Flea bombing] is the worst thing you can do, Pazos says. They feel uncomfortable and will stop feeding for a night or two, but they will come back when they are hungry. It only makes them more difficult to kill because they hide deeper inside the walls.

Pazos has found another way of combating bed bugs that he says has been particularly effective. He uses an amorphous silicon gel powder, which he dusts on every surfaces of an infected apartment, and kills the insects by dehydrating them. It is completely harmless, he says. To prove his point, a colleague dips his finger in the powder and slips it in his mouth. (Not all types of silicon gel are non-toxic, Pazos stresses.)

Another, more expensive, method, is to raise the temperature of an apartment up to 60 degrees, which Pazos can do using special equipment. It is almost like a sauna, he says. Bedbugs die when the temperature reaches about 48 degrees, but Pazos maintains the heat for three hours so it penetrates walls, furniture and mattresses.

Pasoz shows how the heat treatment works, on a visit the cluttered flat of an elderly couple in Shau Kei Wan. It was one of the worst cases he had seen. When he first visited, the bed bugs, which are normally inactive in daylight, were crawling on the floor. The elderly man, who suffered the most, had thrown out the mattress and was sleeping on plastic sheets to prevent bites.

I wanted to cry seeing how my old man suffered, his wife says.

Its been five weeks since Pazos and his team first visited the flat. They have since done one heat treatment and applied the silicon dust three times. Like a detective on the hunt for evidence, Pazos lifts up the wooden bed panel and, bingo, he finds fresh bedbug droppings.

Despite rounds of chemical warfare and turning up the heat, Pazos job is not yet done.

Tips to deal with bed bugs

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Is Hong Kong on the verge of a major bed bug epidemic? We talk to ... - South China Morning Post

AUGUSTA, Maine A Maine man, apparently angry he didnt qualify for assistance, slammed a cup of live bedbugs on the counter of a local municipal office, releasing about 100 tiny pests, the Kennebec Journal reports.

The man went to the code enforcement office in Augusta on June 2 to complain about bed bugs at his apartment.

Hed showed the cup of bedbugs to a manager at his new apartment building and the manager told him he couldnt live there and had to leave. So the man, whose name was not released, returned for the second time that day to the August City Center to ask for help.

Thats when he was told he did not qualify for assistance.

He whipped out a cup (full of live bedbugs) and slammed it on the counter, and bam, off they flew, maybe 100 of them, City Manager William Bridgeo told the newspaper.

The man allegedly yelled, Theyre your problem now!

Some of the bugs landed on an employee on the other side of the counter. The incident forced officials to close the city office for the rest of the day as exterminators were called in to kill the bugs.

It is not known if charges will be filed.

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Angry man denied assistance releases 100 bed bugs in city office - New York's PIX11 / WPIX-TV

MANCHESTER The Henry Wilson School is currently dealing with a bed bug issue that officials first learned of on May 23.

A letter sent to parents before Memorial Day weekend explained that since a bedbug was discovered the school has been working with the Manchester Health Department.

School officials said a treatment plan is in place and that the situation would be monitored. The treatment plan was put in place in 2011 to address bed bugs in Manchester schools and is modeled after New York Citys protocol.

Officials said the school was treated over the holiday weekend.

Students returning Tuesday were given plastic bags to place their backpacks and other belongings in to avoid bringing any bugs home. A bedbug information sheet provided to students can be found on the Health Department website.

The Health Department did not recommend that the school close.

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NH elementary school remains open despite bed bug problem | NH1 - NH1 News