IPM will supply professionial entomologists who are expert in locating blood feeding insects and recommending effective solutions.

Call for inspec­tion scheduling and fees.

Are bed bug com­plaints slowing down your most recent real estate deal?

Are your concerns that tenants moving in may bring bed bugs with them, and later claim they were already in the apartment?

Bed bugs are certainly back! They are causing property owners many dollars and interfering with long term leases and real estate transfers. Lea Christie, staff writer for CNN re­ports that for the past couple of generations of Americans, “Sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite” has been nothing but a cute little saying. But that was be­fore the insidious insect began staging a comeback worthy of Dracula.

Bed Bugs Increasing
Infestations have broken out in at least 43 states with the National Pest Management Association reporting a 500 percent increase in bed bug numbers since 1999.

You can have an infestation and not realize it. The young bugs are tiny, almost microscopic. The mature ones are the size of apple seeds. They can lurk in box-springs, mattresses, upholstery and also in picture frames, under moldings and in desks and dressers. These insects can go for a year without eating, but, once they start biting their victims may be plagued with several bites each night.

The internet has spawned a community bed bug blogs where tenants express their complaints about bed bugs in their apartments, and the reaction of the management company. Susan Jones, Ph.D. professor of ento­mology at Ohio State says that a thor­ough inspection of the premises is nec­essary. This inspection should concen­trate on the mattress, box spring and bed frame as well as cracks and crev­ices the bugs may hide in during the day or when digesting a blood meal. The latter sites include window and door frames, floor cracks, carpet tack boards, baseboards, electrical boxes, cracks in plaster and ceiling moldings.

The IPM Consortium will provide you with records of each inspection and also maintain a history of all your inspec­tions. You will be able to use these records as evidence that your apart­ments or other facilities were bed bug free before the tenants took residence.

As a matter of Public Health, rental furniture companies who sup­ply your tenants should also maintain signed and dated inspection reports of possible bed bugs infestation in their furniture, warehouse, and vehicles.

Mid-Atlantic Integrated Pest Manage­ment provides training for your staff to help them recognize evidence of bed bugs. We can also provide an steady stream of inexpensive educational media to keep the subject of bed bugs at the top of their awareness as they go about their routine cleaning. With our help, your staff will become your first line of defence against these insects.