Bed bugs for PMPs

What you should do and what you should really think twice about.

20 years ago, the pest control industry used to routinely treat all the units turning over in apartment buildings. We took care of roaches, fleas, and other crawling insects. Not only did it cut down on pests, it prevented the bed bug outbreak we are seeing today. Bed bugs did not just come out of nowhere. The problem is exploding but it has been here all along as a dirty little secret in lots of hotels, motels, and apartment buildings. It is out of control now because so many effective pest control materials have been banned and because so many hotels, motels, and apartments no longer have routine maintenance.

Property management professionals should work with pest control professionals to set up monitoring, education, and prevention programs.

Passive monitors that can be checked in units on routine periodic inspections to keep the problem manageable if it occurs - remember, most people are not aware that they have bed bugs or that they are being bitten for months or longer - more than enough time to share their problem with others.

Education so that maintenance and housekeeping know what bed bugs look like and what to do if they spot them.

The one thing we don't recommend is treating the units yourself. Bed bug control can be expensive, although preventative work in vacant units is not. Call us to treat into the wail voids around electrical and plumbing outlets to make it harder for bed bugs to move through the building and no odor, no fume sprays that can least for up to six months and help control the spread of bed bugs.

Do not use cedar oil products to control bed bugs. Why? We use Best Yet by Cedarcide ourselves. We use it tiny amounts on live bed bugs - less than 2 ounces in the avergae 2000sq. ft. home. It has virtually no residual but it has a lot of odor. Asthma and other breathing reactions can be a direct result of strong odors.

If there are bed bugs, they can live up to 4 months in a heated environement without feeding - far longer than the two or three days of residual you get from cedar oil.

If there are bed bugs is smells so bad that if you use it throughout a unit, on the bed, on the walls, on the floors, etc. - you open yourself up to potential liability which can be much greater than any amount of pest control ever performed at your property.

If there are no bed bugs present during the time it takes you to turn over a unit, cedar oil does not last long enough to kill the bed bugs your new tenant will bring in.

Make sure and check out the links to bed bug info on the upper left side of this page.

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Bed bugs pictures.

Pictures of bed bugs #1

Bed Bug

This is a slightly enlarged picture of a female after feeding. She is very dark and bloated.

Pictures of bed bugs #2

This picture is about twice the actual size of the bed bug. It might be hard to tell but the dark spot in the middle is actually deflated.

Bed bugs pictures, but also a video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxkT5_bJ3xk

Pictures of bed bugs #3

While this is fairly close to actual size, in our experience the egg and first instar nymphs can be as much as half the size represented here.

Pictures of bed bugs #4

The last of our bed bugs pictures shows two egg capsules below the g in Safeguard and two fecal deposits. One large and one small.