Urban Entomologists and the pest control industry have come a long way in understanding what works and how to prevent massive infestations of bed bugs in multifamily housing. In the early years of the resurgence in the U.S., infestations easily got out of hand because we didn’t have the tools, knowledge, and research on effective treatments. But now it’s not uncommon to hear "We know how to kill them, we just have to find them" from pest control technicians. Bed bugs are a cryptic pest (They hide well!) that’s why control remains so difficult.
Nonetheless, among the multifamily housing sites, StopPests has provided consultation and training to, some successes have been observed/recorded with respect to bed bugs.
The most important factor we’ve learned is having a well-written contract (or policy/protocols if treatment and inspections are done in-house). When bids are solicited for contracts, the scope of work needs to provide details with respect to monitoring, treatment schedules, multiple tools applied, and elimination confirmation. Bed Bug Central has an excellent example of a detailed RFP for Bed Bug Service. Keeping records is another absolute necessity. Both the contractor and the housing provider should track the frequency of the pest control treatments and track infestation levels to determine if treatments are effective. With good recordkeeping, we can see if treatments are successful or not and the red flag the units which need extra attention.
It’s obvious when any treatment did repeatedly show no improvement, the strategy needs immediate attention and a change. If care is not taken, people are over-exposed to chemical treatments without eliminating the pests. Moreover, a lot of money is being wasted in the process. Keeping records and reviewing them in regular meetings with contractors or the pest control team is also necessary to troubleshoot the control failures (and document successes!)
Another key to successful control is regular product rotation and using multiple tools, instead of just relying on one chemical pesticide. Bed bugs are highly resistant to the chemicals that are currently available to a variety of tools must be used. Non-chemical tools to consider adding to your protocols include heat, mattress encasements, laundry, steam, and vacuuming. If the contractor relies on chemicals only, the housing site staff can play a role in the non-chemical control. You don’t need a pesticide applicator license to run a vacuum!
The research by Drs. Changlu Wang and Richard Cooper clearly suggest the importance of proactive inspections*. As much as 70% of bed bug infestations could be missed if management only relies on the complaints of the residents. For various reasons some residents don’t report, which gives the pests ample time to spread through a home or even a building and get out of the hand, requiring multiple treatments over months and making the elimination of the pest very expensive. While visual inspections are a snapshot in time, using monitors is helpful in understanding the movement of bed bugs over weeks or months. If the contractor doesn’t use monitors, housing should take this on with research-backed monitors (not sticky traps).
An elimination confirmation protocol is as important as proactive inspections, monitoring, and varying tools. A home needs to be inspected numerous times after the treatment to ensure the elimination of bed bugs. At least 3 monthly inspections post treatment with no new signs of bed bugs are needed to determine if the treatment was successful.
Residents need accurate information and to be made aware of the necessity of reporting suspected bed bugs for an early treatment to be scheduled. Charging residents for treatment will discourage reporting and encourage ineffective self-treatment. The most important message for residents is to not take control into their own hands. Self-treating with over-the-counter pesticides pushes bed bugs further into hiding making control more difficult, and can unnecessarily expose families to pesticides.
Only a well-trained team should be allowed to do pest control treatments. Multifamily housing maintenance staff can be trained and licensed as an in-house pest control team. The advantages of an in-house team are many. Regular staff is familiar with the building and the residents. In-house teams can spend the time it takes to do effective and thorough treatments whereas the contractors may be more driven to get through dozens of apartments in one day. Sometimes bed bug control takes some one-on-one assistance, which an in-house team is better positioned to provide than an outside contractor.
With all this in mind review your bed bug policy, protocols, and contract and stop by StopPests.org for more information or contact us with your questions at [email protected].
* Wang, C., N. Singh, C. Zha, and R. Cooper. 2016. Bed bugs: prevalence in low-income communities, resident’s reactions, and implementation of a low-cost inspection protocol. Journal of Medical Entomology. Doi: 10.1093/jme/tjw018
Thank you for this useful article. I would like to add some more points on how residents can help prevent bed bugs by:
- Not using mattresses, beds, or other furniture that has
been discarded.
- Reducing clutter, which provides hiding places for bed
bugs making treatment difficult or impossible.
- Vacuuming and laundering bed linens and clothing on
a regular schedule.
Posted by: Rohit Makkar | 10/16/2019 at 06:25 AM