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Even Stubborn Bed Bug Accounts Can be Solved
20 Jul, 2009 By: Mark Sheperdigian Direct To You: Bed Bug BusinessWe have come to accept that a follow-up visit or three is part and parcel of bed bug work, but what do you do when the follow-up visits drag on for months? When a bed bug account has chronic activity beyond what we can reasonably expect, there are only two possible reasons:
1. They are living through your treatments; or
2. They are being brought in between treatments.
How can we troubleshoot a stubborn account?
The first step is to characterize the population and review the pattern of activity. On the subsequent visits, are we finding a mixed population? Just adults? Late-instar nymphs? Early-instar nymphs? Where are we finding the bed bugs? Are they in areas where we have had activity before? Are they in new areas where we previously had not found bed bugs?
If they lived through your treatment, they are likely to be in the same areas you found them before. If you are relying heavily on pyrethroids — and many pest management professionals are — you may need to be concerned about resistant populations. You may be dealing with a resistant population if mortality is low. Keep in mind, however, that recent studies have suggested that even resistant bed bugs will die when contacted directly by pyrethroid products.
The use of tank mix synergists is an excellent way to reduce the effects of resistance. This is also a great reason to use vacuum cleaners and steamers as part of your treatments.
If you are not using pyrethroids, remember that many non-pyrethroid products also work slowly.
For those accounts where new bed bugs are constantly being brought in, you may find them in unexpected areas. Bed bugs freshly brought in may also harbor in the same areas you treated last time because they respond to the odors and chemicals left behind by the previous bed bugs.
Here are some things to determine:
• Are there dead bed bugs present? If so, it is reasonable to assume the products you are using are working even if it is slow. It is not uncommon to have an account where you do not find any live bugs, but there are always dead bugs in specific areas. It just might be that you have not yet unearthed the bed bugs — but you have treated the nearby cracks and they are getting dosed as they come to and fro. It is essential to remove by vacuum the dead bodies you find so that all the dead bugs you find next time will be new activity.
• Are occupants still being bitten — and if so, at what frequency? If the occupants do not react to bed bug bites, you may have a difficult time determining exactly when the bed bugs are gone. Those people sensitive to bites can tell exactly when and where the bites occur. As disappointing as it is for the victim, the information can help you understand the situation. We know that bed bug nymphs only feed between molts, so a single nymph or a few isolated nymphs will result in a bite or two with a week (or weeks) in between. When you return to such an account and perform an exhaustive inspection, you are likely to find one or two immature bugs, or even none. One or two immatures can be impossible to find on your own, but a well-trained dog and handler can help out immensely.
• Where are the occupants sleeping? One fundamental of bed bug hunting is to start where the people sleep. Complex items such as recliners or hide-a-beds should receive your attention immediately. This is especially true when you have a lingering problem and you find dead bugs, but never live bugs. You will find people who sleep in recliners as their back problems have kept them out of beds. Hopefully, you will have identified such people before you are trying to solve a problem.
Approach a difficult bed bug problem with the same tools you use to solve other problems: knowledge of the pest biology, a thorough inspection, and patience.
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