Bed bugs are a worldwide scourge report New York and New Jersey pest control professionals.   It does not matter where you live or where you frequent, bed bugs can be joining you along the way.  A restaurant in Hawaii, a ritzy hotel in New York City, an apartment complex in upstate New York, public schools across the United States, and college dorms are the latest to report the bloodsuckers making their presence known.

Stern Environmental Group always strives to offer bed bug products to pest control professionals and consumers that will aid in detecting and killing these blood thirsty tenacious pests.  We are proud to announce a new product called Bed Bug Blue.  This promising product will be available next week for pest control professionals and soon after for consumers as well.

Bed Bug Blue is a fecal spot testing device that will detect if bed bugs are present.  This promising detection device will help hotels, motels, airlines, and all types of businesses be able to immediately tell if the spots they find are indeed from bed bugs and not other types of pests.  The testing process is fast and easy.  Using a special solution and special paper, a simple swab on the paper will turn blue when blood is present in the fecal matter.  Consumers will also benefit from this new product as they will immediately know if bed bugs, or another type of blood consuming insect, are present in their home.  Take a look at this video to see how this cool product works!

Watch for an announcement from Stern Environmental Group when this innovative product is available for pest control professionals and consumers.

Continuing from Monday…

The dog handlers have said that they do attempt to use a second dog when the first dog is a positive hit for bed bugs.  They have not however taken the time to do a visual inspection for the bed bugs themselves, which is recommended whenever possible.  What makes the UNL bed bug problem different is that other college campuses that have had bed bugs only have had infestations in five dorm rooms.  Having a college with 94 infested dorm rooms (and counting) is astronomical by comparison!  There are 3,256 dorm rooms on the entire campus. As the numbers are averaging out now, there will be on average 376 dorm rooms that will be infested.

The University’s position on the bed bug outbreak is amazing.  A spokeswoman said that despite the false positives “the responsible thing to do is to treat the room anyway,”  Bartling said. “What’s the alternative? Nobody wants anybody to get bedbug bites.  The strategy is to get ahead of them and identify them before they start biting.”  You may read the article here.

Although considered to be a fairly new tool to pest control professionals, bed bug sniffing dogs are considered to be very fast and accurate at detecting bed bugs in all types of environments.  Like other working dogs, bed bug sniffing dogs train for many months prior to working with their eventual handler.  They become certified only after passing rigorous tests.  For a bed bug sniffing dog, every day is a work day as they must find bed bugs as a means of working for their food.

The University has vowed to search each of the campus housing units for bed bugs.  Reports are that they are a quarter of a way through their search.  It will be interesting to see how many rooms end up being infested with bed bugs.

Update:  Additional information just reported…there are now 124 dorm rooms that have positive hits for bed bugs by the bed bug sniffing dogs at the campus!

The battle against bed bugs has been in full force since students returned to the University from winter break.  First believing that the students must have brought the bed bugs back to campus with them, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln does not likely think that is the case any longer because of how wide-spread their bed bug problem is on campus.

The latest numbers being reported by Inside Higher Ed on February 20, 2012, reveals that the University of Nebraska has 94 dorm rooms with bed bugs hiding inside.  The cost of eradicating the bloodsuckers continues to rise with each passing minute.  Reports are that to date the University has spent more than $150,000 on eradication procedures.

The University has engaged the services of five bed bug sniffing dogs, four of which had to be brought in from other states because there is only one bed bug sniffer dog in the Lincoln, Nebraska area.  Each dog costs the school between $800-900 each day.  The University is reporting that the dogs have only been through about one fourth of the school to date.  The treatment of each bed bug infested room costs the University $1000 in addition to the cost of the dog.  You may read the article here.

Some pest control experts are questioning the results of the bed bug sniffing dogs that are being used at the University.  Jeffrey White is a renowned Entomologist and Technical Director of BedBug Central.  He was just recently hired to showcase his expertise about pests on the Animal Planet cable television show “Infested” as well.  NonpareilOnline.com reported on February 20, 2012, that Jeffrey White is questioning the accuracy and results of the bed bug sniffing dogs that have been used at the University.  He is concerned that the dogs are giving “false positives.”

Please check back on Wednesday for the conclusion.

There are several types of insects that resemble bed bugs in how they look and how they behave.  Unfortunately for homeowners, the discovery of strange bugs creeping around their home, especially in their bedroom, can result in panic and sleepless nights.  Homeowners are discovering that many insect species mimic bed bugs as they awake with what appears to be bed bug bites.  It takes a NYC or NJ pest control professional to properly identify the type of pest that is causing the problem for proper pest control measures to ensue.

Chimney swift bugs are often mistaken for the common bed bug in New Jersey homes.  They look extremely similar, but do have some different indicators that should be noted.

• Bed bugs are typically nocturnal, unless an infestation is raging out-of-control in a home.  Chimney swift bugs are often seen crawling on the walls of homes during daytime hours.

• Bed bugs are not able to crawl on slick surfaces because of their “claws”.  Chimney swift bugs are often found creeping around in bathtubs and sinks.

• Bed bugs are a year-round pest.  Even though bed bugs can abstain from feeding for extended periods of time, they will not do so if a blood meal is readily available.  Chimney swift bugs will emerge during the summer months only.

• Chimney swift bugs live in wall voids and chimneys.  Treating your home for bed bugs is insufficient.  Using mattress encasements and other types of bed bug products won’t help with chimney swift bugs.

• If you have treated for bed bugs but the insects continue to reoccur, there is a good chance that you have chimney swift bugs instead of bed bugs.

Commonalities between bed bugs and chimney swift bugs:

• Both insects seek out blood as a food source.

• Both attack their victims at night.

• Bites from both insects are intensely itchy.

• Both require the help of a licensed pest control professional to properly identify and eradicate.

• Both types of adult bugs are a little smaller than an apple seed.

It is important to remember that bed bugs are not seasonal pests.  They will not die down in cold winter months as other pests do.  Proper identification and treatment can be achieved by hiring a knowledgeable NY or NJ pest control professional like Stern Environmental Group.

Continuing from Friday…

House Study Bill 520 presented to the Iowa legislature presented by the Iowa Landlord Association has several problems in its midst that are not being addressed.

They are asking that tenants be required to notify landlords of bed bugs infesting their rental property within seven days of moving into said property or two days after the bugs are discovered or suffer the consequences of paying for pest control services.  Here’s the rub…

• Bed bugs are elusive creatures that hide in cracks and crevices.  Tenants may not know that they have bed bugs because they might not see actual bugs, or evidence of an infestation until weeks or even months into an infestation.

• In multi-unit buildings, bed bugs will travel in between units to receive their blood meal.  A tenant can search endlessly for the source of a strange bite but never find any bed bug.

• Bed bugs don’t wear GPS units!  Bed bugs can live within the walls between two units and bite both renters, yet never actually reside in one particular apartment unit.  In this case, which tenant would be responsible for the infestation?

• Many people are not educated about bed bugs in this day and age.  Years ago, bed bugs were a part of everyone’s everyday life.  Nearly eradicated from America’s landscape in the 1940’s, unless you are of the older generation, bed bugs are a new phenomenon.  Despite their massive resurgence in the United States, many people in America still do not have the proper education to avoid, recognize, and definitely not treat these tenacious bloodsuckers.

• Bed bug bites can resemble other types of bug bites.  Additionally, they can take anywhere from one day to weeks for the allergic reaction to appear.

• Research has shown that about 50% of the people who are bitten by bed bugs suffer an allergic reaction to the bite wounds.  Reactions can vary from person to person.

• Because bed bugs bites are so new on America’s landscape, many physicians misdiagnose bed bug bite as another skin condition.

• A landlord providing certification that a rental property is bed bug free would be helpful, but it would not prevent bed bugs that existed in other units from infiltrating the newly rented unit.

Education about bed bugs is the key to avoiding being a victim to their bloodsucking ways say NY and NJ pest control professionals.