Introducing a 25(b) product into your service protocol

Michael Boyd

Sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite. As a child, I had to ask what bed bugs were. Today, however, pest management professionals (PMPs) are all too familiar with the recent increase in bed bugs. Customers are frustrated and just as fearful of the treatment as they are of the bugs.

Customers are hesitant to introduce pesticides to their families’ homes and bedding, but there are now alternatives. There has been incredible research in the use of natural, “green” products registered in the 25(b) category, considered minimum risk through the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

Introducing a 25(b) product into your service protocol will ensure proper rotation occurs to minimize the risk of bed bugs becoming resistant to traditional pesticide treatments. We must continue to educate our customers on the importance of starting a treatment plan as soon as possible. Customers will still need to follow all bed bug preparation protocols for service, such as washing all clothing, bedding and children’s stuffed toys, and double drying them at high heat and placing them in bags. They must all move all furniture 2 feet away from the walls.

In researching natural 25(b) products, I encountered many PMPs adding an all-natural dust to their liquid product, thus giving their treatment an often-missing residual effect. All of this means barriers to natural 25(b) treatments no longer exist.