Bed Bugs Are Back
Local man heads regional pest control company, By David Hulse
MILFORD — It’s only January and this may be the most uncomfortable article you’ll read all year - it’s all about bed bugs and a Shohola man who makes his living hunting them down.
Jeff Klein is the CEO of A3 Superior Pest Control LLC, which does pest control in the Middle Atlantic states, between Washington DC and Connecticut, but bed bugs are where the action is of late. In a bad economy, it’s an expanding market, with reports of infestations all around the country.
Due to the rapid growth of a bed bug epidemic and need for effective treatment, Klein’s company expanded its thermal, or “heat treatment” division, ThermaFume. In December, A3 invested in five new heat units—500,000 BTUs—which will allow them to remediate a five-story building in two days, according to company publicity.
So why seek publicity in Milford? Milford and Pike County don’t have big bed bug problems now, Klein said in a Friday interview, but “it’s just a matter of time,” he said.
Klein, who has been in the pest control business for 13 years, said beg bugs which were mostly eradicated in the US after WWII by DDT use, have come back from other continents, stronger than ever. They’ve developed resistance to the older, stronger pesticides, and “laugh at” the newer “greener” pesticides now in use in the US.
“They are a problem in urban areas and they travel with people in clothing, luggage, auto upholstery when they leave the cities,” he said. “They’re the world’s best hitchhiker,” he added.
Pale in color, a bed bug turns a mahogany color after feeding.They will hide under screw heads and in any crack as wide as a sheet of paper. Active in early morning darkness, they carry an anesthetic that prevents victims from feeling their bite. They can bite through the fabric of cushions and clothing. They live up to a year and lay up to 500 eggs in that time.
Klein, who has is an Associate Certified Entymologist. was invited to attend the November Congressional Bed Bug Forum in Washington, DC, where industry leaders discussed a bill which will assist states with the inspection of hotel rooms for bed bugs. Klein said there have been “outbreaks” when seasonal populations arrive at children’s camps, summer homes and apartments, but nothing in the schools or other high density commercial buildings in the Milford area.
He said experts say the type of world-wide outbreak ongoing now will last 10 to 20 years and there isn’t likely to be a cure-all pesticide. Klein said the companies that fabricate those chemicals specialize in agricultural uses, where a huge market exists. Development and testing costs for new products are also prohibitive, and the bed bug is low priority.
“It’s a nuisance pest,” he said. Bed bugs have not been found to carry disease, they only give you the creeps. Aside from their bites, they leave an acrid smell when they’re present, and emit a noxious odor when individually disturbed.
They make people crazy. Homeowners trying to rid their homes of bed bugs have destroyed them. Klein spoke of one man whose home burned down, after wiring insulation melted as he tried to use kerosene and propane heaters to kill beg bugs. More commonly, families have cancelled events, vacations, holiday dinners and get-togethers.
Bed bugs in the bedroomKlein’s company uses high heat - 125 to 130 degrees - to rid apartments and homes of bed bugs. The cost is $1.50 to $2 a square foot for larger buildings, $3 to $4 per sq. ft. for most homes. The cost is prohibitive for many people and society is going to have learn to deal with bed bugs in other ways, Klein said. For example, hotels need to separate clean and dirty bedding better and mattress stores need to transport new bedding separately from old ones they haul away.
“The key is education. People need to know what they’re dealing with,” he said.
MILFORD — It’s only January and this may be the most uncomfortable article you’ll read all year - it’s all about bed bugs and a Shohola man who makes his living hunting them down.
Jeff Klein is the CEO of A3 Superior Pest Control LLC, which does pest control in the Middle Atlantic states, between Washington DC and Connecticut, but bed bugs are where the action is of late. In a bad economy, it’s an expanding market, with reports of infestations all around the country.
Due to the rapid growth of a bed bug epidemic and need for effective treatment, Klein’s company expanded its thermal, or “heat treatment” division, ThermaFume. In December, A3 invested in five new heat units—500,000 BTUs—which will allow them to remediate a five-story building in two days, according to company publicity.
So why seek publicity in Milford? Milford and Pike County don’t have big bed bug problems now, Klein said in a Friday interview, but “it’s just a matter of time,” he said.
Klein, who has been in the pest control business for 13 years, said beg bugs which were mostly eradicated in the US after WWII by DDT use, have come back from other continents, stronger than ever. They’ve developed resistance to the older, stronger pesticides, and “laugh at” the newer “greener” pesticides now in use in the US.
“They are a problem in urban areas and they travel with people in clothing, luggage, auto upholstery when they leave the cities,” he said. “They’re the world’s best hitchhiker,” he added.
Pale in color, a bed bug turns a mahogany color after feeding.They will hide under screw heads and in any crack as wide as a sheet of paper. Active in early morning darkness, they carry an anesthetic that prevents victims from feeling their bite. They can bite through the fabric of cushions and clothing. They live up to a year and lay up to 500 eggs in that time.
Klein, who has is an Associate Certified Entymologist. was invited to attend the November Congressional Bed Bug Forum in Washington, DC, where industry leaders discussed a bill which will assist states with the inspection of hotel rooms for bed bugs. Klein said there have been “outbreaks” when seasonal populations arrive at children’s camps, summer homes and apartments, but nothing in the schools or other high density commercial buildings in the Milford area.
He said experts say the type of world-wide outbreak ongoing now will last 10 to 20 years and there isn’t likely to be a cure-all pesticide. Klein said the companies that fabricate those chemicals specialize in agricultural uses, where a huge market exists. Development and testing costs for new products are also prohibitive, and the bed bug is low priority.
“It’s a nuisance pest,” he said. Bed bugs have not been found to carry disease, they only give you the creeps. Aside from their bites, they leave an acrid smell when they’re present, and emit a noxious odor when individually disturbed.
They make people crazy. Homeowners trying to rid their homes of bed bugs have destroyed them. Klein spoke of one man whose home burned down, after wiring insulation melted as he tried to use kerosene and propane heaters to kill beg bugs. More commonly, families have cancelled events, vacations, holiday dinners and get-togethers.
Bed bugs in the bedroomKlein’s company uses high heat - 125 to 130 degrees - to rid apartments and homes of bed bugs. The cost is $1.50 to $2 a square foot for larger buildings, $3 to $4 per sq. ft. for most homes. The cost is prohibitive for many people and society is going to have learn to deal with bed bugs in other ways, Klein said. For example, hotels need to separate clean and dirty bedding better and mattress stores need to transport new bedding separately from old ones they haul away.
“The key is education. People need to know what they’re dealing with,” he said.
