“Bedbugs bring big business to Milford exterminator” |
| Bedbugs bring big business to Milford exterminator Posted: 12 Feb 2011 09:12 PM PST Jeff Klein feeds his colony of bedbugs by exposing his bare forearm through a mesh. Klein uses the bugs to train dogs to sniff out the pests.Keith R. Stevenson/Pocono Record  February 13, 2011 "Good night. Sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite" is a common, timeworn rhyme uttered by many parents to their children. But bedbugs also have become the top target of Shohola resident Jeff Klein, who has tailored his A3 Superior Pest Control business in Milford around the worrisome insect. "Everything has tripled in the last three years," said Klein of the problem, which first regained public attention 10 years ago, as it did during the mid-1900s. From his office at 201 Water St., he commands three crews, of four workers and a crew chief each, that tackle bedbug problems. His business also includes 16 technicians and three office personnel. They've had jobs in the Mid-Atlantic region from Connecticut to Washington, D.C., treating residences, apartment buildings, college dorms, camps, hotels and bed-and-breakfast inns, with a concentration in the Philadelphia-to-New York City radius. "I went from one call every two months on the residential end to 50 to 60 calls a week," said Klein. His company goes from detecting bedbugs with two certified, trained dogs to treating an outbreak with a ThermaFume treatment, both introduced by his company over the past two years. Klein, who in January earned associate certified etymologist accreditation, appeared on CBS New York news during a report on the problem. NBC New York also has devoted ongoing coverage from when bedbugs were first discovered in Abercrombie & Fitch and Victoria's Secret stores in New York City as well as in apartment buildings. NBC in one report reflected Klein's sentiment that the problem has tripled in recent years. The dogs, named Bella and Li'l Bit, were trained at J&K Canine Academy in Gainesville, Fla., which specializes in this area as well as preparing dogs for searches of illegal drugs, bombs and even skin cancer. It costs $1,000 to train a dog, and they have to be recertified in Maryland every year. There are two types of training: One detects only living bedbugs with viable eggs and the other type can find living and dead ones. Klein said bedbugs can infiltrate a living space for three months before they are even detected as they usually range in size from the head of a pin to a little smaller than a ladybug when fully grown. "A lot of people don't even know they have them, which is why canines come into play," Klein said. "A proper inspection by a technician is about 20 to 30 minutes per room with 35 percent accuracy. A dog can inspect a whole house in 15 minutes with 95 percent accuracy, which is proven in several studies, because (the bugs) hide in cracks. That's their best defense." Passive monitors, placed under the legs of beds to capture them, have limited reliability to detect them. Some detection equipment costs up to $700 but yields low results, Klein said. Once bedbugs are detected, some companies use chemicals like pesticides in three treatments that can be dangerous to pregnant women, people with illnesses and children. In most cases, bedbugs' enzymes can handle the chemicals. And they often just deflect the problem and not solve it, pushing bed-bugs to other areas or to other apartments in highrises. They travel 30 feet in six minutes, Klein said. They are "avid hitchhikers" which can be "carried" to other places on luggage and clothes and can infiltrate a library if someone who has them returns a borrowed book. Cryonite only kills bugs who are sprayed directly, and some can scatter from it. Klein said "bedbugs" actually is a misnomer because they breed anywhere it is warm, not just beds, and can multiply by the thousands in a thin crack where a sheet of paper barely fits. Klein's heat treatment in a typically sized home is completed in 10 to 16 hours and starts slowly, drawing the bedbugs to that area, and then rises to 140 degrees in the living space, which would kill all bedbugs and prevent eggs from hatching. The insect starts to die at about 113 degrees, Klein said. His company uses fans to circulate the heat faster. Klein said many of the calls are from worried residents because of sightings or bites; he assures them that there are no health dangers. "The biggest thing is the financial and the psychological effects," said Klein. Although he can use other chemical methods requested by clients, Klein said the heat treatment needs only one usage that can be completed in any building within two days. For information, call 570-409-0385. 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