Being in the pest control industry I just assumed that hotels, especially those in major cities with major tourist attractions, would keep their employees abreast about bed bug infestation issues.  What I have discovered is completely the opposite is true.  Not all hotels are informing their staff members of what bed bugs are, what theylook like, where they can be found in a guest rooms, or how they are transmitted from person to person.  This is quite disappointing as bed bug infestation numbers continue to climb in every city across the United States.

I recently made the decision to make a trip out of state to attend a singing convention.  Each year the contest is held in a different city, most of the time in the United States, but occasionally in Canada.  This year’s  destination was the city of brotherly love…Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

It should be noted that this particular convention occurs once a year and 10,000+ wonderful folks traveled from all parts of the world to attend the fantastic contest sessions and reacquaint themselves with friends near and far.  Because I decided to attend the convention late in the game, I was not able to go through the normal channels of dealing with the Convention Bureau and instead dealt with one of the convention hotels directly.  After checking “The Bed Bug Registry” to see which hotels had any reported bed bug infestation problems, I made contact with one particular hotel that appeared to be in the clear.

Prior to contacting the hotel, I knew that the hotel was a nationwide 5 star hotel chain as I had stayed at another site previously.  I contacted the hotel and was greeted by a kind staff member who graciously answered all of my questions and was even kind enough to grant me the convention rate, which was a considerable savings in comparison to their normal advertised rate.

Please check back on Friday for the conclusion.

Countries all over the world have bed bug infestations. Some of the major reasons are international travel, changes in pest management procedures, immigration and pesticide resistance.

A large number of bed bug infestations have been reported to government officials in New York City but the actual number of infestations is much higher since a lot of New York City residents don’t file a complaint with the government.

Once the little critters find a home in an apartment unit they can easily invade neighboring units. A lot of people have bed bugs but they don’t realize it because they don’t get a skin reaction to the bites. This can be a big problem in apartment buildings since people that don’t get a skin reaction don’t complain about bed bugs to the apartment manager which gives ample time for the bed bugs to invade other units. Also some people believe they have mosquito bites when they are actually bed bug bites.

Bed bug monitors are an important part of a comprehensive bed bug prevention plan.

A pest extermination company located in Manhattan claimed that the commercial market for bed bug treatments is growing three times faster than the residential market. Yes indeed, bed bugs are invading hotels, banks, hospitals, offices and perhaps even haberdashery shops at a fast pace. Restaurants are also having bed bug infestations. Retail shops are also having problems with the odious insects. They seem to be everywhere.

What can people do in their battle against the horrible bed bugs? Well, don’t put used furniture in your residence, especially the furniture dumped along roads. People dump the furniture not because they find it boring but often because it is infested with bed bugs.

Bed bug monitors are very effective at providing early detection that the little critters have invaded your residence. If you think you have a bed bug infestation hire the services of a bed bug pest control company that provides the services of highly trained bed bud detection dogs. They are superior to humans at finding bed bugs.

Groundhogs are adorably cute when you look at them from your kitchen window.  The trouble comes when they decide to set up their humble abode on your property.  Groundhogs spend their mornings and evenings feasting on almost two pounds of delicious vegetation each day.  Nice landscaping will not stand a chance against a groundhog invasion.  In a short while, they can nibble your plants to the ground.  Groundhogs are also carriers of rabies in New York, New Jersey and other parts of the US, so you need to be careful not to approach them.

Just recently, one Minnesota county was so fed up with the damage the groundhogs were causing to property owners, and their over population status, that they came up with an interesting and somewhat morbid solution to the problem.  This particular county put a bounty on the groundhogs head…well, actually their feet.  County residents were paid $2 for every two pair of groundhog feet that were turned into a local agency on one particular day.  Hunters spent the entire spring killing off groundhogs and collecting their feet to get ready for the big pay-off from the county.  I can’t even imagine bringing in a big sack of groundhog feet!  Yuck!

It just seems so much easier, and much more humane, to contact a licensed pest control expert who is trained in the removal of groundhogs instead.  If you have groundhogs tearing up your yard or garden and munching away at your landscaping, contact Stern Environmental Group today!  Our trained operators will humanely remove troublesome groundhogs from your property fast!