NJ pest control experts report that all stages of bed bugs reach certain death when they are subjected to temperatures over 113 degrees.  Stern Environmental Group offers the perfect solution to killing bed bugs on personal property.  The PackTite Portable Bed Bug Killing Heat Chamber is available in small and large sizes.  Use the small one for killing bed bugs and their eggs in backpacks, luggage, blankets, coats, toys, or other sensitive items.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln recently underwent a massive bed bug infestation problem in many of their student dorm facilities.  It has been reported that they spent over $300,000 ridding the campus of the bloodsucking pests by utilizing several bed bug sniffing dogs and heat treatment.  Not wanting to have bed bugs plague the facilities again, the University bought eight PackTite units that will be used to treat luggage, backpacks, and other small items that are brought in by students who have gone home for weekends and holidays as well as incoming students.

The PackTite Portable Bed Bug Killing Heat Chamber is an invaluable tool in helping curtail bed bug infestations.  Hotels will benefit from having a unit on site.  If a guest happens to find bed bugs in their room, the hotel can kill any bed bugs that have hitched a ride in their luggage or personal belongings in a matter of hours, causing minimal disruption to the guest.  The PackTite Closet is a perfect solution for hotels as its larger size allows for more air and heat circulation.  Any bed bugs or their eggs will not stand a chance in this unit when the temperature reaches 120 to 140 degrees.  It has been proven to kill all bed bugs, in all life stages, in just two hours!

You can find both the large and small size PackTite Portable Bed Bug Killing Heat Chamber at Stern Environmental Group.

Squirrels are cleaver critters.  They are fun outdoors as they romp around and scurry up a tree but the problem comes when they decide that your home would make a suitable home for their family.

Squirrels are well-known for their ability to gain access to attic areas of homes.  Because of their small size, ability to climb with ease, and graceful agility, squirrels are a difficult pest to keep outdoors.  Despite their fear of humans and pets, squirrels are perfectly happy living in the attic of your home!  Attics provide the perfect shelter area for squirrels and plenty of space for a female squirrel that is looking for a place to raise a young family.

Squirrels often gain access to the attic via the roof.  Depending on the type of roof you have, squirrels may chew or claw their way into the attic area.  Squirrels are excellent jumpers.  You can help prevent squirrels from gaining access to the roof by keeping tree branches trimmed back at least eight feet from the roof.  Squirrels also gain access to the attic via the attic venting units.  To keep squirrels out, it is important to cover any attic holes with heavy gage wire screen.  Be sure to attach the screening on all corners as well as in the middle section so that squirrels cannot shimmy their way in between.

Squirrels that have made an attic their home will cause serious and costly damage to New Jersey homeowners report NJ pest control experts.  Squirrel feces and urine carry bacteria that are dangerous to humans, so it must be carefully removed from the premises.  Squirrel fecal matter is an open invitation to other squirrels to enter the attic as well.  Like other rodents, squirrels constantly gnaw on a variety of substances to ground down their oversized teeth.  This constant gnawing has resulted in electrical wires being chewed and exposed, and at times, serious fires have erupted.

A New Jersey pest control professional can help get rid of all types of unwanted rodents and wildlife that have invaded your home.  Call Stern Environmental Group for expert services.

Continuing from Monday…

• If a unit is suspected to have bed bugs, but no bugs are found, O/As should continue to re-inspect the unit/s for several months.

• When bed bugs are found in a unit, that unit, as well as the units surrounding it, must receive treatment for the pests.  Treatment can be in the form of heat, freezing, using mattress encasements, vacuuming, steaming, and interception devices.

• O/As may ask for financial help from HUD to treat bed bug infestations in a dwelling.  O/A’s should submit a request via the “Reserve for Replacement” or “Residual Receipts” accounts at HUD.

• O/A’s can help keep the incidents of bed bug infestations low by offering tenants bed bug mattress covers, monitoring devices, or other detection tools.  The O/As may not charge a tenant for the use of any of these products.

• To protect the building, O/As may voluntarily offer to inspect a tenant’s furniture before they move in and inspections of luggage when a tenant returns from a trip out-of- town, and inspection of any used furniture before it is brought into a building. The O/As may not charge a tenant nor can they require a tenant to be subjected to any of these services.

• Tenants that have had a bed bug problem at a previous residence cannot be denied residency based upon that history.

• The cost of bed bug eradication cannot be passed along to the tenant.  The O/As must incur the costs associated with the bed bug infestation or ask for financial assistance from the “Reserve for Replacement” or “Residual Receipts” accounts at HUD if necessary.

• Tenants should immediately report any bed bug sightings to the O/As so that treatment can commence before the infestation spreads throughout the building.

• Tenants should expect the O/As to perform treatment within 5 days of calling to report the bloodsuckers.  If not possible, tenants should be kept aware of when the pest control professional will provide treatment.

• Tenants must cooperate with all bed bug treatment efforts and OA’s can offer assistance free of charge if needed.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) performs many functions.  They are the gatekeeper of policy information, clarification, announcements, and procedure decisions. They also provide useful information for residents, property management personnel, and pest management professionals on managing bed bug infestations.  Recently developed policy changes give stricter rules as to how bed bug infestations must be handled in HUD Insured and Assisted Multifamily Housing building/units/homes throughout the United States.

Despite the fact that bed bugs are not known to spread disease, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) consider bed bugs to be a “pest of significant public health importance.”

Three new notices that must now be followed have been released by HUD.  Here are some of the interesting highlights from Notice H 2011-20.

• Owners and Management Agents (O/As) are encouraged to develop and follow an Integrated Pest Management Program (IPM).  The goal is to prevent bed bug infestations as well as have a program in place when there is a bed bug infestation occurrence.

• O/As should consider a tenants complaint of bed bugs to be an urgent matter.  Tenants should be contacted within 24 hours by the O/As and an inspection of the property should occur within a reasonable time period.

• O/As should inspect a dwelling to determine if bed bugs are present using a variety of detection tools such as bed bug sniffing dogs and visual inspections.

• The O/As should have the affected unit inspected within three calendar days by a licensed pest control operator, or keep documentation as to why those services could not be completed within the recommended time frame.

• At the minimum, any unit above, below, and on both sides of the suspected bed bug infested unit must also be inspected for bed bugs.

Please check back on Wednesday for the conclusion.

Being told by a New Jersey pest control professional that your suspicions are correct…you do indeed have bed bugs sucking your blood while you sleep is unnerving!  For people who are new to the bed bug battlefield, learning what must be done to a home in preparation for an exterminator to arrive for treatment can be a very overwhelming.

When bed bugs are present every piece of bedding must be washed in hot water and then dried on the hottest temperature setting.  All bedding must then be placed into super-sized Ziploc storage bags or sealed in plastic trash bags.  Bed bugs can be lurking anywhere, so each piece of clothing and linen item must be laundered, or at the minimum, run through the dryer on high heat for at least 20 minutes to kill any bed bugs and their eggs.  Each mattress much be carefully vacuumed to ensure that all bed bugs and their eggs are completely gone.  All clutter must be discarded, or vacuumed, checked for bed bugs, and bagged or placed in plastic totes to receive the optimum results.

People who find themselves with a bed bug infestation problem often become frustrated when they are told by a NJ pest control professional that they must live out of plastic bags.

Stern Environmental Group understands the stress and time that it takes to prepare for bed bug eradication.  As such we offer the Bed Bug Concierge Service. This specialized service allows for a crew to enter your home in preparation for the exterminator.  The Bed Bug Concierge team will remove all clothing, clean items with alcohol and seal in plastic, empty all drawers and wrap in plastic, shrink wrap all upholstered furniture and bedding, and vacuum carpets.  Personal items are then removed for off-site fumigation and storage until your home is bed bug free.  You may also choose to have our Mobile Bed Bug Heating Trailer bake your personal belongings so that your items are returned to you the same day.

You can trust the Bed Bug Concierge Service team at Stern Environmental Group to take the utmost care of your personal belongings at all times.  Call us today to find out more information about this incredible service.