Mark

Bed bugs can be difficult to find as they often hide away during day light hours and 3 out of 4 people show no sign of bites until the problem gets quite established.

In the next 6-8 weeks there can be little or no signs, but the earlier a bed bug infestation is detected, the quicker the can be treated- and most importantly is key to stopping the bed bugs from spreading  from room to room. Bed bugs are hitchhikers and are easily carried to other living areas in the house or property.

In the first 2-4 weeks it is almost impossible to find any traces of a bed bug infestation visually, it really down to sheer luck.

If you have taken a good look and checked for bed bugs, but still suspect you may have a bed bug problem, be it you are getting bites, or have recently stayed somewhere that you know has a bed bug infestation, bed bug sniffer dogs can detect a bed bug or eggs from the same day that they arrived.

So for peace of mind and quick accurate detection contact Trust K9 the bed bug specialist to find out about our bed bug detector dogs.

Take bed bugs seriously and get your life back- these are one guest you don’t want!

When people use bed bug sniffer dogs, they are putting their trust in the dogs to detect bed bugs.  Bed bug dogs are a great solution for finding early infestations, for example if you have just come back from a holiday; or need to search a large area.

Bed Bug Sniffer Dog at Work

Trust K9 have spoken to more and more pest controllers who are buying and training bed bug sniffer dogs. So how do you know which bed bug dog company to go with?

Trust K9, as far as we are aware, currently have the largest team in UK and bought the first NESDCA certified dog to the UK.

Anyone who works with dogs will understand that it takes a lot of training to become a great sniffer dog team for both the dog and the handler. The dog and the handler need to build a bond, and so our sniffer dogs live with their handlers.

The dog and handler will work together for a number of months in training so that they learn how each other behaves and acts.

A good bed bug sniffer dog team will work in partnership with each other to produce the best results.

So why is this important?  If the handler has had no sniffer dog training or has not spent sufficient time to read the dog, the dog may give subtle indications or behavioural changes that the handler will not pick up on.

To see our great bed bug sniffing team in action please call us to arrange an appointment.

In my last blog I spoke about Bed Bug Heat Treatment, and why use Heat.  Today I will focus on:

Methods of delivering bed bug heat treatments

There are several differing methods for generating the heat needed for an effective bed bug treatment. These are:

1) Direct Heat i.e. space heaters. 
These are usually propane burners that have a naked flame and fan that heat up the room.

Space Heater

Whilst highly portable these are limited to the size and number of rooms that can be treated. Also the use of naked flames has an inherent risk of scorching. There is an alternative system that uses an enclosed flame and exhaust vent making it much safer and is good for high rise flats or individual hotel rooms.

2) Blown Air Heat
These systems avoid the risks of naked flames by using an external heat source and pipe the hot air in to the building. This has limitations as the flexible ducting used to move the air in to the building can lose heat in winter limiting the achievable temperature in the treated area. Also this type of heat has very restrictive high limitations.

3) Hydronic Heat

Hydronic Heat as used by TrustK9

This system uses an external heat source to heat a liquid and then pumps the hot liquid into the building via insulated rubber hoses and then through a heat exchanger where an integral fan draws air through a radiator matrix which heats the air in the room. The advantages of this system are:Flexibility, it allows for multiple rooms to be treated at the same time and with added inline pumps can attain considerable height. Controllability, with flow and return temperature monitoring and thermostatic controls the heat in the treated areas can be controlled very accurately.

Less affected by external temperatures, as the system can run up to high temperatures and has insulated hoses the ambient temperature is much less of an issue than with the blown air system.

As with any system there are disadvantages, the main disadvantage of this system is the weight as it is a very heavy duty system and as such the components are fairly heavy. This is a problem for the team rather than a fundamental flaw that effects the treatment.

With all our customers we would advise that they ask for as much information regarding the purposed heat treatment as possible and make sure that whichever company and method you are going to use is fully insured. Trust K9 offer a 6 month guarantee on our Heat Treatments.

Till next time
Sleep tight  Pete

Heat is heat! Right?
Our customers will have often called other companies to try to get the best price for a bed bug heat treatment, and here at Trust K9, we always take the time to explain the advantages and disadvantages of the various types of heat treatment that are available.
Firstly, it is important to understand the principle behind heat treatment for bed bugs.

It is quite a simple idea really; unlike mammals insects are incapable of regulating their body temperature, so if you can take the temperature to either the extremes of hot or cold this will have a fatal effect of the insect. It would be impractical if not impossible to lower the temperature of a property sufficiently to kill all the bugs and eggs without causing significant damage to the building. So that leaves heat!

So how hot is too hot?
All insects have their own thermal death point dependent on their size and density of their carapace. The thermal death point of the temperate bed bug (Cimex lectularius) is around 46 degrees Celsius. At this temperature all stages of bed bug life including eggs start to die.

What are the different types of heat treatment?
There are two main types of heat treatment, structural heat and pod/tented heat. These types of heat treatment can then be split down according to the method used to deliver the heat.

Pod/Tented heat.

Heat pods/tents are used to heat up the contents of the room whilst the remainder of the

Example of a Heat Tent

room is unaffected by the heat, meaning that an effective bed bug treatment will still require the use of chemicals to eliminate the bed bugs that are in the fabric of the room which can take up to 5 weeks and in some cases repeated chemical applications. Whilst this type of heat treatment is not as effective for use in the home or hotel it can be excellent for treating suitcases when returning from travel or treating your belongings if you are moving from a shared house or fully furnished flat.

Structural Bed Bug Heat Treatment

Structural Heat Treatment

As the name suggests structural heat treatments will heat up the whole room including skirting boards and light fittings (areas that are very popular with bed bugs). This enables the effective treatment of the property with the option of having a chemical free treatment. This is the option used by Trust K9.

Next week I will be covering ‘Methods of delivering heat treatments’

Till next time
Sleep tight
Pete