The Bed Bug Combat Manual

By Paul J. Bello

KNOW THY ENEMY – 181 pages of easy to read tips, guides, photos and insight from a true expert on bed bugs. A practical resource for those who find themselves in the position of having to deal with bed bugs. This book features an extensive collection of techniques and methodologies that can be used right now. Includes appendix with 201 common bed bug FAQs, a travelers survival guide, guides to hiring a bed bug professional vs. DIY, preparing for bed bug treatment, canine inspection and much, much more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Sep 30, 2011
• ISBN: 9781491845202

Paul J. Bello

Having begun his career as service technician in 1976 Paul Bello has over thirty years experience in pest management. He began his education in entomology as a pest control technology student of Dr. Austin M. Frishman at SUNY Farmingdale and graduated from the University of Georgia in 1979. He also holds an MBA in accounting from Adelphi University. He owned and operated a pest management firm, has served as technical director for large pest management firms and has followed the footsteps of his pest management mentor having appeared on National Geographic Television, been interviewed for various television news stories and appeared in newspapers and print media. He launched his pest management consulting practice in 2006 and has assisted many clients resolve bed bug problems including pest management firms, hospitality facilities, property management companies, healthcare facilities, health departments, municipalities and others.

Book preview

The

Bed Bug

01_CoverPhoto.tif

Combat Manual

Paul J. Bello

AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2014 Paul J. Bello. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,

or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 01/14/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4670-3646-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-4520-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011916696

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

23179.png

Contents:

Foreword

Why This Book?

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Appendix 1

Appendix 2: Pesticides

Appendix 3

Appendix 4

Appendix 5: Acknowledgements

Photos: Unless otherwise noted, all photos presented in this book were taken by the author under field and laboratory settings.

Cover Photo: These bed bugs were photographed as they were found hiding along the mattress ticking of a bed bug victim. In this photo we see an adult bed bug at center right and several bed bug nymphs of various ages. Note that recently-hatched first-instar bed bug nymphs are those that are yellowish-tan in color, having not yet enjoyed their first blood meal. Recently fed first and second instar nymphs appear with engorged abdomens and red with blood. There are also third and forth instar nymphs present in the photo that are not engorged and appear to be in need of their next blood meal.

_BG_bedbug.tif

With great appreciation,

Back in 1975 I sat in a Topics in Biology seminar class like any other freshmen not knowing what the future would bring or what career path to take. As fate would have it, that class would serve to chart my course toward the world of entomology and professional pest management. As I look back it is clear that he has had a positive effect on my life as he has on countless others. While I am proud to have founded the

Dr. Austin M. Frishman Endowment Entomology Scholarship at Purdue University, I know I can never thank him enough for what he has given me. Thanks Doc !

Imagine sharing the table with a jar of live bed bugs, the feeding of bed bugs on Thanksgiving morning, tanks of live cockroaches in the house and strangers at the front door with jars of pests to identify. That’s what it’s like at our house. Thanks to my mom and dad, my wife Mary Ann and sons Nicholas and Anthony for putting up with all the bugs and chaos that surrounds a pest management professional these many years !

Foreword

By Dr. Austin M. Frishman, Ph.D., B.C.E.

AMF Pest Management Consulting

Years ago I began work as a pest control technician in the Catskill Mountains of New York for a small pest control company servicing commercial and residential accounts. At that time, bed bugs were a common pest problem, but they didn’t receive the media attention and public scrutiny they do today.

Solving a bed bug problem at an account was a relatively simple matter back then, largely due to the tools that the pest control industry had available at that time. The chemicals used to kill bed bugs included very effective products such as organo-phosphate spray concentrates as well as lethal cyanide gas. In some instances, we simply placed a proper number of buckets containing water in suitable locations within the structure. We then would quickly drop cyanide gas eggs into the water, working our way out of the structure. Once the gas eggs contacted the water, the cyanide gas would be released, resulting in a totally effective fumigation treatment.

As other products became available, they were used by the pest control industry. Liquid concentrate sprays containing organo-phosphate active ingredients such as dursban, diazinon and others were applied as base board sprays. These products were very effective against bed bugs, with usually just one treatment application required to take care of a bed bug problem. These products were so effective that by the late 1960s, bed bugs were no longer a pest of concern to the industry, and almost no bed bug work was being done.

By the late 1990s and the turn of this century, the pest management industry in the United States began to receive bed bug calls again. The number of calls started out to be few and from a variety of isolated locations. Over time the problem continued to grow, and by 2010 pest management firms in every major city and every state had been battling bed bugs.

The bed bug resurgence was recognized as such a significant problem that one of the pest management industry’s primary manufacturer suppliers undertook a major project that included conducting bed bug training sessions and the production of a bed bug training video. Over the course of two years, sixty meetings were held across the United States, and a video was produced under the sponsorship of Bayer Environmental Science.

One of the keys to the success of these meetings and the video was that BES retained Paul Bello to coordinate the meetings and produce the video. Paul is a former Pest Control Technology student of mine when I was a professor at the State University of New York Farmingdale campus. He has an eye for detail, extensive practical industry background, and experience in pest management, which made him a valuable asset to the success of the project.

Currently bed bugs are a huge problem to the industry and the public for a number of reasons. Bed bugs are efficient hitch-hikers. International travel is a concern, and we simply don’t have the same tools the industry had available in the 1960s. The general public is unaware of bed bugs, which allows the insect to go undetected for extended periods of time and allows them to be transported by the unknowing public.

The pest management industry is well versed on cockroaches because cockroaches have been the focus of industry study for many years. By comparison we are not as well educated and experienced with bed bugs as we are with cockroaches, but we are catching up thanks to the efforts of industry leaders.

When it comes to bed bugs, Paul possesses the unique quality of extensive hands-on field experience compiled over time, with a great educational background in urban entomology. These two qualities, along with his ability to successfully communicate, is a winning combination. This is the right book published at the right time by the right person. The industry and the public will definitely benefit by reading its contents.

Austin M. Frishman, Ph.D., B.C.E.

President

AMF Pest Management Consulting

April 2011

FowardBelloFrishman.tif

Photo: Dr. Austin M. Frishman & Paul Bello collaborate during filming of the Innovations In Pest Management video produced by Bayer Environmental Science in 2006.

Why This Book?

Welcome. If you are reading this book, it is assumed that you have serious concerns about the prevention and control of bed bugs. You may be facing a current bed bug situation or preparing yourself for doing so in the future. You may be using this book as a training or reference guide for your service technicians, but it’s possible that you may not be a pest management professional industry member. No matter your specific concerns, this book is intended to provide you with useful and practical information that you may use to better prepare yourself to take certain actions and make better decisions opposite your bed bug situation needs.

This book will present useful and practical information about dealing with bed bugs successfully. It is not intended to replace or displace well-written and more extensive texts or references already present within entomology and the pest management industry. This book is intended to be a practical resource for those who find themselves in the position of having to deal with bed bugs. The book offers practical information with techniques and methodologies that can be used right now.

This book was written in response to many discussions and numerous requests received for information, guidance, and assistance in dealing with bed bug situations. Previously infrequent, numerous requests for assistance are now received each day. An effort was made to provide useful information in a concise and interesting manner as well as to provide additional references and resources that would benefit the reader.

In recent years I have come to know bed bugs as a formidable and worthy adversary. However, practically speaking, they are after all just bugs. Bed bugs have no grand plan or master strategy with which to battle humans. Despite their recent widespread success, a host of bed bugs have never convened to hold a Human Summit in Washington DC or anywhere else to hammer out an improved infestation plan or feeding strategy to be implemented against humans as we humans have held numerous bed bug conferences, seminars, and meetings these past few years.

Bed bugs are not clever or smart. No, they are in fact just bugs, but they are efficient and effective parasites that are difficult to detect and difficult to control, and they continue to spread at a surprisingly increasing rate such that people across the country and globe need help. If they defeat our control efforts, it is through their biology, behavior, and capabilities, not because they have outsmarted us or our control strategies.

One important and possibly overlooked aspect of bed bug control may be what I consider to be the human factor. That is the toll taken, in various forms, upon people by bed bugs. Bed bugs are an equivalent-opportunity infester, and it’s likely that if we have not experienced a bed bug infestation ourselves, that we know someone who has. Thankfully thus far, bed bugs have not been implicated by research in the transmission of disease; however, the effects upon people associated with bed bugs can be significant.

While many pest professionals involved with bed bug work have observed the wide variety of deleterious effects bed bugs have manifested upon people, there are some sites and field observations that will be forever engrained in our collective memory. And to be sure, many of us have observed deplorable circumstances of the human condition made even worse due to the presence of bed bugs.

It is in consideration of the many professionals of the housing, hospitality, public health, and pest management industries, and especially the bed bug victims themselves, I’ve worked with in recent years that this book has been written. My hope is that the information presented herein will more rapidly facilitate an end to the bed bug-related suffering being endured by these people. With this in mind, best wishes are extended to the reader to use this book well in your quest to deal successfully with your bed bugs !

Yours in pest management,

Paul J. Bello, President

PJB Pest Management Consulting, LLC

Page%205%20replacement%20photo.tif

Photo: Paul Bello donated his time and coordinated an effort of a volunteer team of pest management professionals to assist a shelter located in Atlanta with an existing bed bug problem. The effort was also made possible through the generous support of industry suppliers including Actisol, Atrix Vacuums, AMVAC, Bayer Environmental Science, Catchmaster, MGK, and Oldham Chemical & Equipment.

Author’s Note: There seems to be some confusion as to the correct spelling of bed bug. Is it bedbug or bed bug? Is it bed bugs or bedbugs? As this issue arose during the editorial phase it seemed worth looking into. While dictionaries indicate that the use of bedbug or bed bug may be equally correct, entomological references and a dictionary of entomological terms indicate that bed bug is correct. A colleague pointed out that assassin bug, kissing bug and stink bug are all two words so it would seem that bed bug is the most correct and the form used within this book.

Chapter 1

The History of Bed Bugs and Their Recent Resurgence

As this is being written one wonders, why waste the reader’s time with a history lesson on bed bugs? After all, what folks really want are answers to their bed bug questions and viable guidance on how to prevent and eliminate bed bugs from their dwellings. However, even though it may take a few minutes to go through some bed bug history, it is beneficial to build a foundation of knowledge so that you will be better informed about bed bugs. A broad understanding will serve to build the proper bed bug-hunter mind set needed to successfully deal with bed bugs. Let’s at least take a quick look at basic bed bug history.

Bed bugs have been around a very long time, thousands of years, and logic dictates that they existed well beyond the boundaries of recorded history. References indicate that early entomologists hypothesized that bed bugs may have evolved from related insects that fed on bats. These bugs began to feed upon man when our ancestors lived in caves. These insect pests evolved as ectoparasites, parasites that feed on the body surface, and have been associated with man ever since. Insect pests that feed in a similar fashion are fleas and mosquitoes.

Bed bugs may be traced back to references of the ancient Greeks of about 400 BC, nearly 2,500 years ago. The Romans were pestered by bed bugs and consumed bed bugs in liquid mixtures as an antidote for snakebites and other illnesses. It is believed that bed bugs came to North America on ships along with European colonists. Early writings from the mid-1700s indicate that bed bugs were abundant in the English colonies but were not present nor associated with Native Americans of the time.

The phrase sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite is related to the days when wooden bed frames were constructed with ropes fashioned in a net-like matrix and tightened to support the sleeper’s body. Sleep tight refers to the tightening of the ropes of these Old-World-style beds. Don’t let the bed bugs bite well, that kind of speaks for itself, doesn’t it?

1pt1%20Rope%20Bed.tif

Photo 1.1: A medieval-style rope bed from the Middle Ages.

Photo source: Google images.

Usually, bed bugs hide within their host victim’s dwelling and come out to feed while the host is sleeping. For the most part, this occurs at night. An awakened host might simply and easily squash the bed bug, so it is in the bed bug’s best interest to feed on sleeping or otherwise incapacitated hosts. If not, our cave-dwelling ancestors would have killed bed bugs off thousands of years ago, and the need for this book and others like it would never have existed.

Man has gone to great lengths in dealing with bed bugs. In the 1930s people would place the legs of their beds in bowls containing various liquids, such as soapy water or even kerosene, to prevent bed bugs from biting them as they slept; however, it was observed that bed bugs might climb the walls and ceiling to simply drop down upon the sleeping victim. Early exterminators of the nineteenth century used powders, pastes, and other formulations containing ingredients such as pyrethrum, arsenic, mercury, phosphorus, and other compounds with which to kill bed bugs.

1pt2%20Cyanide.tif

Photo 1.2: From the 1940s through the 1960s, bed bugs were exterminated by using chemicals including toxic cyanide gas and DDT. Photo courtesy of Dr. E. Gerberg.

Another efficacious treatment conducted in the more recent past involved the use of cyanide gas. Yes, the same gas used for capital punishment in gas chambers. Lethal cyanide gas was released by dropping cyanide eggs into buckets of water or placement of cyanide discs strategically within the structure. When I was a technician, we used cyanide gas pellets (eggs). We ran from room to room with the pellets, working our way out of the house, Dr. Austin M. Frishman said during the Bayer Environmental Science bed bug seminar meeting series. Back then when a house had bed bugs, they had a lot of them. I used to strip down outside so I wouldn’t bring any home, he said, recalling his days as a pest control technician back in the sixties.

1pt3_cyanide_treatment%20.tif

Photo 1.3: Lethal cyanide gas treatments cleared bed