LEARN ABOUT THE REPRODUCTION CYCLE OF BED BUG

A bedbug becomes an adult from is about 21 to 32 days depending on the temperature. A female bed bug will be capable to lay eggs after mating at this stages.

The temperature in their environment controls how quickly bedbugs mature. For instance, in an area where the temperature is between 70 and 80 degrees and blood for feeding is plentiful, female bedbugs may mature within a month and begin laying eggs about 32 days after hatching according to the University of Kentucky.

Bed bug eggs take approximately 6 to 21 days to hatch. Hatched eggs are called nymphs. A nymph is not able to reproduce until it has fully matured. A single female bed bug can mate with any of her offspring after a nymph has fully matured.

Scientists debate this point, but evidence suggests that at normal room temperature, about 23 degrees Celsius, bed bugs can only survive two to three months without a blood meal.

After mating, females lay white, oval eggs (1/16" long) into cracks and crevices. An individual bed bug can lay200 to 250 eggs in her lifetime. 

The average length of a typical bed bug’s life span from egg hatch to death in a laboratory environment, with ideal conditions, is 6 to 12 months.

Recent studies suggest that bed bug development times also can vary with different bed bug populations. When three strains of bed bugs were compared, the time from egg to adult ranged from 35 to 40 days.

Quoted from PCT online  a statement saying “You may need to rethink your criteria for declaring an account “bed bug-free.” Residual bed bug populations can remain alive in protected harborages for months after treatment, or while furniture is in storage, or during an extended period while rooms or structures are unoccupied. “

“Vacating an infested room, or even an entire apartment so the bed bugs can “die out,” is not a feasible strategy for pest management professionals. Bugs won’t die any time soon and are apt to migrate to a new location where they can find new hosts.”

“Industry practice seems to be to wait seven to 10 days after bed bug treatment, than evaluate the success of the treatment. This doesn’t take into consideration temperatures at the account. Bed bug eggs at cool temperatures can take up to 21 days to hatch, long after you’ve declared the account bed bug-free.” 

If you're seeing a single bed bug, kill it by spraying insecticide or pick it and throw it on the toilet and flush it or on the sink. Call a local professional pest control exterminator in your area for bed bug control treatment.

HANTAVIRUS IS NO DIFFERENCE TO THE COVID-19 SYMPTOMS

DEER MOUSE & THE HANTAVIRUS

The deer mouse is the primary carrier of the specific Hantavirus which cause HPS or Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome. This mouse can be found in the same locations as rats and house mice. Infected rodents will not show symptoms of the disease, but they shed the virus in saliva, urine and feces.

There is a high possibility of death for people infected with the Hantavirus. People working or living in areas infested with rats or mice, should be aware of the hazards of contacting this disease and take safety precautions.

HPS is a respiratory disease which begins with one or more symptoms similar to those of the covid-19 virus or flu. These symptoms include fever, severe muscle aches, headache, cough, nausea, diarrhea and feeling tired. The first symptoms appear from 1-6 weeks after contact with the virus. A person who develop a respiratory illness within 45 days of the last potential exposure to the virus should immediately seek medical attention.

A person may get HPS by inhaling airborne particles of urine, droppings or saliva from infected rodents, their nests or droppings and the touching the person's nose, mouth or eyes. Mice infestation is a no joke which cannot be neglected and has to take action to resolve the mice problem. Call your local pest control company if you're seeing a mice activity in your home or workplace.

 

Cockroach Infestation, How They Spread?

Cockroach Infestation, How They Spread?

Cockroach infestation is a headache for a residential condominium because, they spread and multiply so fast within few weeks. The infestation happens when the startup or first stage of contamination is neglected because the tenant might not reported earlier the situation until the population is in the uncontrollable stage before it was properly treated by pest control professionals. 

When  the infestation of cockroach is already spread from unit to unit, then it is highly recommended to place the reported   infected units and the perimeter units into a cockroach monitoring program until it is confirmed clear.

The monitoring program is a monthly  or  bi-weekly inspections of the treated units and the perimeter units or the entire building. 

Treatment of all the units in a building without a proper monitoring program is a waste of time and money for residential rental owners. Units that don’t have signs is not supposed to be fully treated unless it shows a signs of cockroach activity.

Cockroach full treatment price is a full treatment price which has a big difference in a monitoring or inspection price. Placing a unit that has no cockroach activity into full treatment is against the rules of a thumb of what we call Integrated Pest Management.  It is like firing a bullet to a blind spot which no enemies.

Proper monitoring with proper treatment, the lesser resistance of the insects to the chemical used for the treatment and the most important is the cooperation of the tenant to keep their place in good sanitation which plays an important role in Integrated Pest Management. 

If the the sanitation level of the rental unit is poor, then the management should take immediate action to correct it. 

Reporting a unit that has a poor sanitation level is another issue which will be discussed in other article to learn why it is important in rental units.

Solving a cockroach problem is not an overnight solution. It is supposedly a continuous monitoring and not a onetime or 2nd treatment then forget it until a new reported infestation then treatment again then forget it. 

If your building is under a monthly program for mice control why not putting it into a program for cockroach regular monitoring and inspection? specially the multi rental unit buildings. 

Don’t wait that the cockroach claimed and took over all the inside walls of your building, because when this happens, then expect cockroach sightings will never end.

 

 How Important Is The Turnover Spray For Rental Units?

Renters or tenants in a rental units are in and out. You don’t know what bugs they left behind when they move out. You also don’t know what will happen when the new tenant’s brought when they move in.

There are some case that we experienced from a tenant of a rental condo that they found cockroaches after few weeks they stayed in the unit. Obviously when we do our investigation  during the treatment that the unit was already infested by roaches from the previous tenant which is not reported.

The headache that a property resident manager mostly encountered in cases like this some new renter file a complaint to replace their new furniture that were contaminated with bugs. Some cases the new tenants claimed that all their furniture were all brand new when they move in to the pest infested unit.

Some rental properties save themselves by having a “TURNOVER SPRAY” or “TURNOVER INSPECTION AND TREATMENT” from a pest control professional to make sure no bugs or cockroaches before a new tenant move in.

This practice will keep the rental unit away from any liabilities in case a new tenant brought bugs that they might pass on to the rental unit owners.

The report from a licensed pest control company is a legal document that can be used in court in some cases like this. A report that will tell that the unit has been cleared from bugs before the new tenants moved in.

There are also other cases we encountered about mice and that will be discuss to our next post.