New Study on Bed Bugs Reproduction

Before I delve into the new published study on Bed bugs, I wanted to let our readers know that Bed Bugs Canada blog is going to be a weekly review of items in the news for Bed Bugs. This format will let us review the current breakthroughs, best practices and our own experiences with Bed Bugs and bring them to light for those that need the information. Bed Bugs Canada is a published blog by Steve's Pest Management a professional Pest Management company in the forefront in the battle against Bed Bugs.

The new study presented at the 13th Congress of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology, revealed that female bed bugs prepare in advance for the onslaught of the violent copulation to avoid getting sick.

Male bed bugs puncture the abdomen of female bed bugs with a bacteria laden injection of sperm, and it was unknown till know how the female bed bugs knew when to ramp up their immune system to deal with this threat. The feeding/breeding cycles of bed bugs are inherently linked the study found. If Bed bugs were fed irregularly, the female most likely died from the copulation, whereas if a consistent food source was available on a regular schedule, the females were able to produce antibodies at the appropriate time, 1-2 days before the regular feeding.

This study shows that any measure that interupts their regular feeding pattern will help control the breeding cycle. In this way, proper bed encasements and Climb Up Interceptors(tm) seem to be a perfect in preventing bed bugs their proper meal.

Tune in next week for another review of the latest on "Bed bugs".

Full article available at sciencemag.org.

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Generating bed bug control

Yup, we finally have our 100 Kilowatt generator up and running! This unit has already proven invaluable for some of our larger jobs. We can now bring 400,000 BTU's to your home and destroy all your bed bugs with heat.

Nightwatch proves it's worth

As this bed bug pandemic continues to spread we have found our Nightwatch units to be very useful. We have supplied many units to apartment complexes and hotels so that they can check units between occupants. The triple action of heat, pheromone lures and CO2 has proven to be very effective in identifying a bed bug infestation, The main thing to realize is the bed bugs don't all emerge every night and therefore the Nightwatch should be set up for a minimum of three nights but preferably seven nights.
So if you suspect bed bugs, install a Nightwatch and wait for the results. If there are no bed bugs caught, then the skin irritation can be caused by fleas, dry skin, delusional parasitosis or other non bed bug related irratants.

Total heating apartment units

We have started using total heat units pumping out 31,000BTU and have been very successful. Actually, more successful than I thought was possible after hearing some negative reports in the past. The heat draws the bed bugs out of the wall when it reaches 95 and shortly afterwards kills them all at 120 degrees. This is the perfect tool for hotels that need to be sure all bed bugs are dead in a unit that bed bugs were found in. the main disadvantage is they draw 47 AMPs so you need a huge portable generator if you are doing large rooms.

Cryonite Treatment

Well we have started work with Cryonite. The product shows good results for contact killing of bed bugs but we have noticed a lack of penetration of cloth surfaces, which is a definite disadvantage when treating beds, sofas, etc. There does seem to be a need for this product for electronics and other areas sensitive to liquids or dusts, since the Cryonite goes from a solid to a gas. the unit itself is slightly bulky and heavier than we would like. I would have to say not one of my favorite or main control products but definitely another tool in the tool chest for our war on bed bugs!

ONPHA Toronto Conference

Scott, Stefan, Al and I provided a bed bug management booth at the ONPHA conference on November 19th, 2010. We were very happy with the response and positive feed back about our work and our programs. ONPHA is being proactive on their bed bug management programs and positive results are sure to follow!

Chicago Bed Bug Summit

We just returned form the Chicago Bed Bug Summit and it was quite the experience. Too bad there were only a few Canadians but we represented well. We returned with new total heat units and a new Cryogen treatment system for freezing. I was heartening to see that the industry has turned to dusts and heat, the products I have promoted for many years but only now are being embraced as THE answer for bed bug control. We will be tessting the Cryogen and total heat units and I'll post the results. Sleep Tight