New England Bed Bug Forum

Are bed bug problems going to go away in New York?

Make no mistake, the irritating little critters are still crawling all over the place. But new numbers obtained by NBC New York suggest the panic has subsided and the battle against the blood-sucking critters is headed in the right direction.

Complaints to the city’s Department of Housing, Preservation and Development are down 12 percent, from 9,029 in this fiscal year to date, compared with 10,241 for the same period in the previous fiscal year.

Violations against landlords are down 19 percent., from 3,559 to 2,893. And bedbug-related calls to 311 are down 17 percent, from 8,736 to 7,245. The fiscal year begins in July.

One Lower Manhattan resident, who asked not to be identified, recently hired a bug-sniffing dog to confirm that in fact, he and his wife do have bedbugs.

But he said that after researching what to do, they decided they don’t need to spend thousands of dollars or throw away their clothes. High heat dryers can treat the bedding. And a thorough cleaning and inspection can manage the rest.

The tenant added, “I liken it to a mosquito bite — which are nagging but it’s not the end of the world.”

Of course, not everyone feels that way.

You can still find thousands of New Yorkers creeped out by the tenaciously hungry insects, and other experts predict another bedbug boom this summer, following the mildest winter in years.

Still, for the first time in awhile, the numbers at least seem to be heading ever so slightly in the right direction.

It may seem that bed bug problems may go away in New York but, remember we had a mild winter and with temperatures on the rise, the bed bugs will be back for blood.

According to ABC News, an annual study is out that depicts our nations top 50 bed bug hot spots in the US for 2012.  New york City is still in the top 10 for bed bug infestations with New Haven and Hartford Connecticut making the list also.

And the winner of the top bed bug hotspot in the US for 2012 … is Cincinnati.  Chicago is ranked second, followed by Detroit, Denver and Los Angeles.  The report says L.A. moved from 25th to fifth on the list.

Here are the top 50 U.S. cities, ranked in order of the number of bed bug treatments.  The number in parenthesis is the shift in ranking compared to January to December 2010:

1. Cincinnati
2. Chicago
3. Detroit (+1)
4. Denver (+2)
5. Los Angeles (+20)
6. Columbus, Ohio (-3)
7. Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas (+43)
8. Washington, D.C. (-3)
9. New York (-2)
10. Richmond/Petersburg, Va. (+6)
11. Houston (-1)
12. San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, Calif. (+35)
13. Cleveland/Akron/Canton, Ohio (+1)
14. Boston (+4)
15. Dayton, Ohio (-7)
16. Las Vegas (-1)
17. Honolulu (+55)
18. Baltimore (-6)
19. Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville, N.C. (+9)
20. Philadelphia (-9)
21. Atlanta (+24)
22. Lexington, Ky. (-13)
23. Syracuse, N.Y. (+25)
24. Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (+27)
25. Colorado Springs/Pueblo, Colo. (+19)
26. San Diego (+13)
27. Seattle/Tacoma, Wash. (-3)
28. Omaha, Neb. (-11)
29. Buffalo, N.Y. (-16)
30. Pittsburgh (-3)
31. Indianapolis (-12)
32. Milwaukee (+6)
33. Charlotte, N.C. (+13)
34. Phoenix (+19)
35. Louisville, Ky. (-3)
36. Hartford/New Haven, Conn. (-16)
37. Grand Junction/Montrose, Colo. (+30)
38. Knoxville, Tenn. (+4)
39. Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo/Battle Creek, Mich. (-17)
40. Nashville, Tenn. (+15)
41. Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto, Calif. (+24)
42. Des Moines/Ames, Iowa (-13)
43. Salisbury, Md. (+46)
44. Albany/Schenectady/Troy, N.Y. (-23)
45. Cedar Rapids/Waterloo, Iowa (-22)
46. Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn. (-20)
47. Lincoln/Hastings/Kearney, Neb. (-17)
48. Salt Lake City (-8)
49. Charleston/Huntington, W.Va. (-13)
50. West Palm Beach/Ft. Pierce, Fla. (+6)

The Entomological Society of America’s Eastern Branch Annual Meeting will be held March 16-19, 2012 at the Hilton Hartford Hotel

“Bed bugs are coming back. Are you ready?” asks Dr. Changlu Wang, Rutgers University entomologist and organizer of the Bed Bug and Urban Integrated Pest Management symposium. Bed bugs have become problematic pests of schools, houses, apartments and other public spaces.

Noted bed bug researchers and educators will discuss innovative bed bug control and education methods developed by leading researchers and educators in a symposium to be held on Sunday morning, March 18, from 8:00 am-12:00 noon, at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Branch of the Entomological Society of America in Hartford, CT (see http://bit.ly/z3Lt2h).

Brown marmorated stinkbugs, first reported in Pennsylvania in the late 1990’s seem to be everywhere are everywhere we live, plus fields, orchards and vineyards. These insect emit a foul-smelling substance that can taint produce, and their feeding damages crops. Their growing populations have caused significant economic impact on agriculture.

Two symposia will discuss the latest findings on stink bug biology and trends in attempts to control these insects. “Managing Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Today and in the Future” will discuss the insect’s impact on vegetable crops and urban landscapes, and methologies to control it. This symposium will be held on Sunday afternoon, March 18 from 1:00-5:00 pm. A symposium on brown marmorated stink bug biology and crop impact will be held on Monday morning, 8:00-12:00 pm, March 19.

These symposia will headline the ESA Eastern Branch’s 83rd Annual Meeting, to be held March 16-19, 2012, at the Hilton Hartford. The three-day meeting will draw entomologists from northeastern and mid-Atlantic states and several Canadian provinces. Other symposia will feature papers on biological control, insects as vectors of human and plant disease, and detection of new and emerging insect pests. Graduate and undergraduate students throughout the eastern region will compete in oral and poster presentations about their research.

Growers, crop consultants, landscapers and other interested members of the public can attend the symposia with a half day ($40) or full day ($60) admission.

The meeting will include a free public program for all ages, “It’s a Bug’s World” (see http://bit.ly/xeTfIN). This event will be held on Saturday, March 17 from 10:00 am-3:00 pm at the Hilton Hartford. “Bug’s World” will feature informational displays, demonstrations and activities, and a pollinator talk and honey tasting with the 2012 American Honey Princess, Danielle Dale.

The full meeting Program

The Entomological Society of America is the largest organization in the world dedicated to the science, magic, and mystery of the world’s most abundant life form – insects. With more than 6,000 active members, the ESA helps to promote understanding of insects and solve world problems associated with them, including world hunger, disease prevention, and urban pest control. ESA is a 501c(3) not-for-profit membership society headquartered in Lanham, MD.

For more information about the Entomological Society’s program, or for a press pass, contact Faith Kuehn, Delaware Department of Agriculture at (302) 698-4587 or Faith.Kuehn@state.de.us. The Hilton Hartford is located at 315 Trumbull St., Hartford, CT 06103, telephone 860-728-5151.

PENN State -  As bed bugs continue to be a growing problem in apartment buildings, dorm rooms, hotels, hospitals and homes across the country, a new treatment method is proving to be effective and less disruptive for students at Penn State University.

Whole room heat treatment is changing the way they treat for bed bugs in campus residence halls, said David Manos, assistant director of housing at Penn State.

“Previously, once a case was confirmed, the room would be quarantined and it would be treated with combinations of chemicals and heat treatments for individual items. All clothing and bedding would have to be run through the dryer, and the student would be displaced for a minimum of 21 days. It was very labor intensive, typically one room would require 20-30 hours of time, as well as very disruptive to the student,” says Manos.

Last fall, John Parks of Parks Pest Control in State College and the Centre Region Bed Bug Coalition, approached Manos about an alternative treatment for bed bugs. Parks had recently purchased a whole room heat treatment unit with four heaters and Manos expressed interest in trying it out.

“With whole room heat treatment, the entire room and all contents are heated to 130 to 135 degrees Fahrenheit,” Parks explains. “Bed bugs will die instantly at those temperatures. We use remote thermometers that can be monitored on laptops to make sure all areas of the room reach the right temperature.” The heaters will automatically shut off at 140 degrees Fahrenheit, so no damage will be caused to the contents of the room.

Manos says it the new treatment method eliminates the use of chemicals to treat bed bugs completely and lessens the impact on students. “Typically the student can move back into the room within 24 hours, and they don’t have to move their belongings and treat everything separately.”

Depending on the degree of infestation, adjacent rooms will be inspected. Despite careful inspections by the housing staff and posted information about bed bugs and other educational efforts, bed bug cases at Penn State have almost quadrupled this school year, up from four cases last year to 17 so far this year.

“Without the new treatment program, it would have been very difficult to keep up. The collaboration between Parks and Penn State’s contracted pesticide control operator has resulted in big advantages to the students and the Penn State community,” says Manos. “There is no silver bullet for bed bugs; the best deterrent is still education. If barriers fail however, whole room heat treatments are vital to prevent the spread of bed bugs. It’s been the best answer at Penn State, and probably the best answer for the community.”

Information on effective bed bug management in multiple environments can be found at the Pennsylvania IPM Program’s bed bug resource web page.

Bed bugs are a very emotional issue that can easily cause psychological problems for people. Even people that have no bed bug infestation but, have had one in the past can suffer from a kind of paranoia about bed bugs.

A bed bug infestation can cause anxiety, among other emotional and psychological issues for weeks, months, and even years, depending on the person and the severity of the insect infestation.

Shame and embarrassment are also common among bed bug sufferers, mostly because of social stigma against bed bugs and other insects. It is a misconception that bed bugs are the result of poor housekeeping, and although it is rare for someone to transport bed bugs on their clothing that they’re wearing, it does happen. Education about bed bugs among sufferers, friends, family, employers and property owners can help alleviate this stress.

Nervousness, jumpiness and experiencing phantom itching and sensations are also common when a person thinks about bed bugs.

There are several ways to cope with the stresses and emotional problems of a bed bug infestation.

If you are being bitten by bed bugs, there are several things you can do to relieve the extreme itchiness.

You may want to try a cortisone cream or poison ivy cream to alleviate the itchiness caused by bed bug bites

Another way to battle getting new bed bug bites and sleeplessness due to middle-of-the-night feedings is to sleep with as much of your body covered as possible, which can mean wearing pants tucked into socks and long-sleeved shirts tucked into pants in bed.

Some people choose to find other places to sleep, such as with friends or family or even a hotel, while combating bed bugs, in order to get more restful sleep. But remember, leaving a home vacant without treating the problem will not make it go away. You should call in a fully licensed and insured bed bug inspection team that can come up with a program, whether it be chemical treatments or thermal remediation, to get rid of the bed bugs. When searching for the right “bed bug guy” look for someone who is compassionate to what you are experiencing. In my experience in dealing with people that have bed bug problems half of the battle is calming them down and letting them know that I truly care about what the are going through.

Reaching out for emotional support is an important part of the healing process when it comes to having a bed bug problem. Shame and embarrassment can often keep people from seeking that kind of care from loved ones. Do your best to find trusted friends and family to get love and support during this difficult time. Once educated about bed bugs, you may find that the people who care about you are more than happy to help you through it, by listening to you and even helping with the cleaning and laundering you have to do. Do not be afraid to ask someone for help in dealing with your bed bug problems.

Other sources of emotional support can come from a psychologist or other counselor, clergy and spiritual teachers.

It can also be helpful to take sick days or personal days from work in order to give your bed bug treatment efforts adequate attention to get the job done well.

Another way to cope with the stress and anxiety of bed bugs is to express yourself through art, writing, music, or even physical activity. So long as you are not harming yourself or others, there is no right or wrong way to express the feelings and emotions you have about your experience. You may also want to play a bed bug game as a way to relieve your frustrations.

If you can’t get the thought of bed bugs out of your mind and it is impacting your life drastically seeing a doctor is a sensible step in the process.

A new bed bug law is in the works in Iowa that would hold tenants responsible for reporting a bed bug problem in condo’s and apartments to their landlords and property managers in a timely manner or face fines .

LINN COUNTY, Iowa – Bed bugs are tiny critters that make your skin crawl.

Bed bugs are creeping their way into the Iowa legislature as landlords try to make tenants more accountable for an infestation.

House study bill 520 would require tenants to report bed bugs within a week of moving into a new apartment or within two days of discovering the bugs. If the renter fails to notify the property manager, they could be stuck with the cost of getting rid of the bugs. The bill is still being debated in a house subcommittee.

According to a study done by Linn County Public Health, it costs about $800 for one professional treatment of bed bugs.   A great way to help alleviate the cost of bed bug extermination is to use trained and certified bed bug dogs to pinpoint where the problem lies. Public Health also estimates the community spends tens of thousands of dollars a month killing these pests.

“A lot of times tenants will try to deal with the problem themselves, and then the problem gets out of control,” explained Marion Landlord and former President of Landlords of Iowa, Keith Smith.

Smith says that’s the reasoning behind a new bed bug bill backed by the Iowa Landlord Association. The bill tells renters they have two days to alert a property manager about a bed bug problem or risk paying thousands of dollars in pest control fees.

Linn County Public Health says it’s tough to put a time frame on bedbugs.

“I really think there needs to be a robust education training program with this,” said bedbug expert, Ruby Perin.

Perin says it can take two days or two weeks for a bite to show up on skin. The bugs can also hide in other areas of a home. A person could check their bed and see nothing, but still have an infestation.

“It’s very landlord based,” Perin said, “If I was a tenant moving in, I’d want some kind of certification this is bed bug free.”

A member of the Iowa Attorney General’s office, William Brauch, agrees saying he’s “never seen a bill this unbalanced.” But Smith says this is a study bill meant to start conversation about this problem.

He agrees education is a big part of the issue statewide.

“Yes, it’s expensive,” Smith said, “we understand it’s expensive, but the sooner you tell us the cheaper it is to be addressed.”

Bed bug issues in condo’s and apartments are not only the landlords problem, they are the tenants problem also. The quicker both parties can notify each other and work together to solve a bed bug problem, the quicker, less cost, and more thorough the bed bug extermination can be.  This new bed bug law may be considered in other state in battling bed bug problems between tenants, property managers, and landlords.

One of New York’s swankiest hotels, The Ritz-Carlton, has had some very unwelcome guests – bed bugs.

Hotel management confirmed it found the bed bugs in one of their rooms on Sunday following a complaint from a guest.

A worker at the hotel, where a midweek room can start at $695 and soar to $4500 for a suite, said that a guest in Room 1005 produced a specimen of the pesky bug, a wingless six-legged bloodsucker before checking out on Sunday.

Hotel management said it subsequently called an exterminator to rid the room of the creepy crawlers.

Guests in rooms next to the infested area, as well as those above and below it, were transferred to other accommodations and hotel workers received bedbug training, reports the Times.

‘Bedbugs are inevitable,’ said Scott Geraghty, the hotel’s general manager.

‘They’re brought in by guests and come in on luggage or things of that nature.’

He said the problem had been remedied.

A worker at the Ritz, Rosanna Polanco, a room attendant, told The New York Times she was asked on Monday to service the room next to 1005 but was not told about the bed bugs. She found out only when she encountered a worker from Ecolab Inc., a company that supplies cleaning products and pest elimination services.

‘He was the one who told me: ‘Be careful. There’s a lot of bedbugs in there,’ Polanco said, referring to Room 1005.

‘Management didn’t tell me. I found out myself.’

The Ritz isn’t the first New York luxury hotel to be paid a visit from the wingless, six-legged creatures.

Three people have separately accused the Waldorf-Astoria of harboring the critters– one woman even claimed the bites caused her some severe trauma.

Bedbugs have been found at a slew of Gotham landmarks recently. The Empire State building, Abercrombie & Fitch and the AMC Empire 25 Theatres all have had their problems.

One Brooklyn school was attacked by the bugs 31 times in 2011. And even the headquarters of the city’s Department of Housing isn’t safe!

With cold weather temperatures dropping and expected to hit the North-East, including New York and Connecticut harder in the coming weeks, people will likely have to continue to battle bed bugs through the winter, experts say, when most other insects are halted by the cold, bed bugs still thrive.

Bed Bugs are a domesticated insect, whereas they live inside and spend very little time outside.  The cold temperatures of winter have little affect on bed bugs when they are residing in a heated home or business.

Although both extreme heat and cold can be used to rid homes and businesses of bedbugs, heated dwellings will offer plenty of shelter to bedbugs as the seasons shift.

How Infestations Originate

It often seems that bed bugs arise from nowhere. The bugs are efficient hitchhikers and are usually transported in on luggage, clothing, beds, furniture, and other items. This is a particular problem for hotels, motels and apartments, where turnover of occupants is constant. Bed bugs are small, cryptic and agile, escaping detection after crawling into suitcases, boxes and belongings. The eggs are especially tiny and are usually overlooked. Acquiring secondhand beds, couches and furniture is another way that the bugs are transported into previously non-infested dwellings. Bed bugs also can be carried in on a person’s clothing or shoes, resulting in an infestation.

Once bed bugs are introduced, they often spread throughout a building. The bugs can travel from room to room or floor to floor either by crawling or via a person. Unlike cockroaches that feed on filth, the level of cleanliness has little to do with most bed bug infestations. Pristine homes, hotels and apartments have plenty of hiding places and an abundance of warm-blooded hosts. Thus, they are almost as vulnerable to infestation as are places of squalor, and it doesn’t matter what the temperature is outside.

Think about it, when it is cold outside the bed bugs have a nice, comfortable place to stay in your heated home or business.  They also have a good food supply – meaning your blood.

If you think you have a bed bug problem this winter in your home or business the best thing to do is contact a licensed and insured bed bug professional.

Bed bugs are one of the only animals on our planet known to get stronger by inbreeding.  A recent study has come to terms that bed bugs are fighting back against us humans by inbreeding.

New research on the bed bug’s ability to withstand the genetic bottleneck of inbreeding, recently announced at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) annual meeting, provides new clues to explain the rapidly growing problem of bed bugs across the United States and globally. After mostly disappearing in the US in the 1950s, the common bed bug (Cimex lectularius) has reappeared with a vengeance over the past decade. These stubborn pests have developed a resistance to the insecticides, known as pyrethroids, commonly used against them.

One of the newly discovered factors that appears to be contributing to the bed bugs’ effective infestation is their ability to establish new infestations through inbreeding. Coby Schal, PhD, and Ed Vargo, PhD, both entomologists at North Carolina State University (NCSU), and colleagues carried out two studies now under peer-review examining the genetics of bed bugs from three multi-story apartment buildings in North Carolina and New Jersey, and determined that there were high levels of relatedness within each apartment and very low genetic diversity within each building, indicating that infestations start from just one or two introductions of the insect. Being able to withstand a very high level of inbreeding — i.e., still produce healthy offspring — allows the bed bug infestation to expand to other apartments within the building.

Another study by this team confirmed this same conclusion based on a study of 21 bed bug infestations from Maine to Florida in the US, nearly all of which came from single rooms within homes. “Inbreeding gives bed bugs an advantage in being able to colonize,” said Schal. “A single female that has been mated is able to colonize and start a new infestation. Her progeny and brothers and sisters can then mate with each other, exponentially expanding the population. With many organisms, extensive inbreeding would cause serious mutations that would eventually bring about an end to the population.” He also noted that cockroach populations are also able to survive inbreeding.

A major strategic advantage that we might want to explore in this bed bug fight, and it may seem unproductive at this time, but may pay a huge benifit in the future is to introduce female bed bugs into the mix that do not have a resistance to any chemicals.  This would, in theory, create colonies of bed bugs that do not have any resistance to our extermination procedures or chemicals.

Until then, there is really only one proven and effective way to kill bed bugs and that is heat.

Bed bugs invade Tampa fire station: MyFoxTAMPABAY.com

Bed Bugs have invaded another firehouse, this time in Tampa, Florida.  Bed bugs have been spreading all around the US, invading homes, businesses, government buildings, and firehouses.  Makes you think why are bed bugs invading these fire houses?  Well one simple explanation is that when fire fighters go to a call in which a house is on fire the heat from the fire causes the bed bugs to come out and find a means of escape.  Bed bugs can easily develop resistance against pesticides, such as DDT but this is not possible against heat.  Heat, especially from a fire is a bed bugs worst enemy.

My thinking is that the bed bugs can feel the heat from the fire and escape on the first human body that is around.  That being a firefighter or his equipment.  Fire fighters need to be ever vigilant when going out on a call that they take precautions on returning to the fire station.

Fire fighters should launder their clothes before or as soon as these items are brought back into the fire station.  All equipment should be stored in a central location where it can be cleaned and inspected for bed bugs.  If bed bugs are present, any equipment that can be treated with heat should be done at this time.  Any equipment that is heat sensitive or can not fit into a heating chamber or dryer should be wiped down with rubbing alchohol.