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Work in an Office? Read This!

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Many people say that working in an office is one of the most safe things that a person can choose for a career but new research is suggesting that there are a lot of aspects about working in an office that can really hurt your health. One of them, is the likelihood of bed bugs being in your office. You may think it’s impossible but even the nicest buildings have been known to be infested from time to time.

 “YOUR SOFTWARE’S BUGS ARE NOTHING COMPARED WITH THE REAL-LIFE CRITTERS LURKING.”
Modern office workers have much bigger problems than a bad boss – or should we say smaller? From Google’s corporate offices to the bureaus of the Internal Revenue Service, even the most secure workplaces have fallen prey to increasingly brazen trespassers: bedbugs. A survey by the National Pest Management Association and the University of Kentucky found that 38% of extermination companies treated bedbugs in office buildings in 2011, compared with only 18% in 2010. The office environment is the ideal habitat for not only bedbugs but also roaches and other insects who thrive in the climate-controlled digs, feed on workers’ crumbs (or their flesh) and stretch their legs at night when all the humans go home (allowing them to survive longer undetected), says Orkin’s Baumann.

Even bedbugs, which need human blood to survive and normally come out at night while their targets are sleeping, will alter their habits in offices and bite people during the daytime. The office safari doesn’t end there: Occupational safety consultants like Towles have seen a range of wildlife invade the workplace, including birds, rodents, small snakes and even venomous brown recluse spiders, lurking in office drawers and file storage areas. “That’s called a bad day,” Baumann says.
And employees have more than bug bites and diseases spread by pests to worry about – experts report seeing workers shunned by their colleagues after an infestation is found in their desk.

Read more on how to prevent bed bugs at work here: http://bit.ly/1m5aC0m

Why Are Bed Bugs Back in Such a Big Way?

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Although bed bugs have been around for quite some time, there is a huge resurgence of these pesky creatures and many are wondering why. The answer is very simple but there are a lot of factors that play into it. Since humans are traveling at much higher rates and are living closer together in metropolitan places, bed bugs are able to infest more places through luggage and human hosts and go from one shared living space to another with ease.

Brooke Borel was a young science reporter when her Brooklyn apartment became infested with bedbugs. Three times. The experience showed her how much bedbugs can turn people’s lives upside down, and how hard they are to get rid of.

For her new book, Infested: How the Bed Bug Infiltrated Our Bedrooms and Took Over the World, she set off on a journey of discovery to find out everything she could about this vicious little critter that has plagued humanity since before we even had beds.

Talking from her (de-infested) apartment in New York, she explains the origins of the bedbug in bat-infested caves and why they’re on the rise today, pulls the curtain back on bedbug sex, and offers practical advice for those unlucky enough to become infested.

Picture of the cover of Infested by Brooke Borel
COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS 

Cimex lectularius, aka the bedbug, is one of the most repulsive critters on Earth. What attracted a nice girl like you to it?

Well, I had bedbugs in New York three times, starting in 2004. I’m a science reporter, and the second and third time, I became really interested in them and started writing short news articles about them. Reporting those, I realized there was an opportunity for a larger project because of the stories I was hearing from entomologists.

What attracts them to us?

They’re attracted to the CO2 in our breath and the heat of our bodies. Other blood feeders like the mosquito are attracted to some of the other hundreds of chemicals we emit, so it may be that they’re also detecting those. Bedbugs only eat blood, so they need us not to breed but to live.

These things are not just painful—they’re almost impossible to get rid of, aren’t they? Tell us about some of the extraordinary measures that people use.

If you’re following the instructions from a pest control operator, it still is a difficult process to go through. You have to take all of your laundry and bedding to the Laundromat and wash and dry it at high temperatures. You will also probably have to use insecticide sprays, although those are working less and less because the bedbugs have built resistance to many that we’re able to use in our bedrooms.

Free Things To Do in Phoenix Now!

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Who says that you have to shell out a lot of cash to have a great time by yourself or with the family this weekend? Arizona is a naturally beautiful state so there is always something to do outside but many people don’t realize how many free activities are offered in the metro Phoenix area in the vein of arts, music and entertainment. Here is a great list from the Phoenix New Times on thirty free things to do right now in Metro Phoenix.

Low on funds and high on FOMO? We can help with that. Phoenix is chock-full of free events worth freeing your schedule for, including movie screenings, open mics, and a good deal of art walks. Because saving money is always in season, here 30 free things you can do all year round.

Take in Some Free Art at the Museums

Free admission is standard at establishments like the Phoenix Airport Museum, ASU Art Museum, ASU Museum of Anthropology, Arizona Capitol Museum, and Shemer Art Center (though some accept and encourage donations). But visitors can also get complimentary access to Phoenix Art Museum from 3 to 9 p.m. every Wednesday and 6 to 10 p.m. on First Fridays; Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art on Thursdays; and Phoenix Children’s Museum from 5 to 9 p.m. on First Fridays.

Kill It in Karaoke 

At 9 p.m. every Thursday and Saturday night (except the first Saturday of the month) Apollo’s Lounge brings out the karaoke so you can belt out the classics. The adults-only event is free to participate. For details, visit Apollo’s on Facebook or call 602-277-9373.

Let Your Pen Do the Talking 

On the second Tuesday of each month, Practical Art invites Valley wordsmiths to share their work with Uptown P.E.N., which stands for poetry event night. The evening runs from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and features a first-come, first-served open mic opportunities as well as established poets reading their own prose. For details, visit www.practical-art.com or call 602-264-1414.

Walk the Art Walk

Metro Phoenix offers many opportunities to take in the arts. The Downtown Phoenix Art Walk runs from 6 to 10 p.m. on the first Friday of the month. The Downtown Mesa Art Walk goes from 6 to 10 p.m. on the second Friday of the month. The Downtown Chandler Art Walk happens from 6 to 10 p.m. on the third Friday of the month. The Scottsdale Art Walk runs from 7 to 9 p.m. every Thursday. The Sunnyslope Art Walk pops-up from 5 to 9 p.m. on the second Saturday of October and April.

Unleash Your Inner Geek

Throughout the year Nerd Nite Phoenix invites local to learn drink and discuss on a number of topics including superheroes, time travel, and government conspiracies. These beer-fueled brain teasers tend to change up their dates and locations so the best way to stay in the known is to visit phoenix.nerdnite.com or check out the Nerd Nite Phoenix Facebook Page.

Catch a Movie Under the Stars

Lawn Gnome Publishing is making every Tuesday night a mystery movie night. The free flick viewing begins at 7:30 p.m. in the backyard of the downtown bookstore. If you love surprises as much as you love watching films outside, visit lawngnomepublishing.com or visit the Lawn Gnome Facebook page.

Learn to Line Dance

Cash Inn Country is kicking up its cowboy boots from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. every Tuesday night with free line dancing lessons. Whether you’re gay, straight, or simply into country music, make your way to the Cash Inn for a complimentary cowboy-style workout. Visit www.cashinncountry.net for more information.

Put Pencil to Paper in Mesa 

Ready, set, draw. Pencil Fight is Lo-Fi Coffee’s monthly community drawing series that gives guests pencil, paper, and sharpeners for an hour of illustration and a chance to win prizes such as a $20 gift certificate to Arizona Art Supply. For updates and information, visit www.loficoffee.com.

Get Crafty in Chandler

At 6 p.m. on the second Monday of each month, Gangplank gets the creative community together for an evening of arts and crafts. Bring your knitting needles, glitter, glue, and other DIY material and get ready to mix and mingle with other crafters as you work your handmade magic. For details, visit CraftHackEV on Facebook.

Get to Know Your Local Hangouts

Support new and local businesses, meet your fellow Phoenix residents over food and drinks, and enter to win raffle prizes with the monthly event, Get Your PHX. Past Get Your PHX gatherings have visited Milk Bar, Rollover Donuts, The Newton, and the Lisa Sette Gallery. To stay in the loop with Get Your PHX, visit www.getyourphx.com.

30 Free Things to Do in Metro Phoenix Any Time

Grant via Flickr

Joke Around in Scottsdale

Stand Up, Scottsdale gives up-and-coming comics a chance to test our their new material with its weekly open mic night. The unexpected (or uncomfortable) laughs begin at 8 p.m. every Tuesday and run until everyone has had their chance to wow the crowd. For more information, visit standupscottsdale.com.

Make It a Movie Night at the Library 

Every Wednesday night, the Phoenix Public Library invites movie-goers of all ages to heal their hump day blues with a free film screening at Burton Barr Central Library’s Pulliam Auditorium. Film screenings start at 6 p.m. For the full schedule, visit phoenixpubliclibrary.evanced.info.

Tweak Your Mind

Every Wednesday CO+HOOTS invites the public to partake in Midweek Mindtweek, a free series that features lunchtime lecturers from experts in their field. Food trucks will set up in the parking lot so guests can get their midday fuel while learning new ways to better their career. For a look at who’s lined up to speak, visit cohoots.com.

Find Your Philosophical Side

Practical Art invites fellow philosophers and deep thinkers to discuss the big picture with its ongoing event, Socrates Cafe. The reflective rendezvous happens from 3 to 5 p.m. every first and third Sunday of the month. For details, visit www.practical-art.com or check out the Practical Art Facebook page.

Get Your Game On

Every third Sunday of the month, Firehouse Gallery is putting out the Pick-Up-Sticks, Scrabble, and whatever else it can find, for Game Day. The free affair runs from 2 to 5 p.m. Guests are encouraged to BYOB and BYO-games. For details and to see who’s coming, visit Firehouse Gallery on Facebook.

Mix and Mingle with Phoenix’s Movers and Shakers

Looking to network? Radiate PHX has you covered. The monthly series gives guests a chance to learn about the latest developments in downtown Phoenix as well as make connections with who’s who behind the city’s fast-paced growth. Radiate PHX’s dates and locations vary by month. To stay updated, visit www.facebook.com/downtownphoenix.

Read more at: http://bit.ly/1VSN9tF

Study on Bed Bugs in Shared Living Situations

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A recent survey that is the result of collaboration from the University of California, Colorado State University, New Mexico State University, University of Arizona and the University of Hawaii, has been released about how bed bugs behave in multi-unit or shared housing situations. There are several factors that contribute to the proliferation of infestations in these kinds of areas and it is important to understand what those factors are to prevent further infestation of others.

Bed bug management is especially challenging in public and subsidized housing environments, apartments, and other low-income, multi-unit housing (MUH) situations. In these environments, high rates of resident turnover, lack of economic and educational resources, ease of bed bug dispersal between units, and communication barriers such as literacy and language limitations may all contribute to chronic infestations. Researchers and policymakers recognize the need to address this challenging situation and to design valuable and timely extension and applied research programs in order to assist pest management professionals (PMPs) engaged in this work. Data on bed bug incidence and management approaches in the western United States are lacking as compared to those on the Eastern Seaboard and in the Midwest. To this end, several western urban entomologists and extension specialists have recently formed a work group with funding provided by the USDA’s Western Integrated Pest Management Center (WIPMC). The first task of the WIPMC Bed Bug Work Group was to assess the current prevailing bed bug management practices in use, the most challenging aspects associated with bed bug management in MUHs, and the self-reported needs of the industry that may improve bed bug management outcomes in these environments. An online survey was developed and distributed nationally (pctonline.com), regionally (via Work Group members’ websites and personal networks), and in California (Target Specialty Products client lists) to capture these desired data. A total of 114 individual PMPs completed this survey, with over 76% of these responses coming from the targeted western region (AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY), mostly from California (60% of total responses). Data presented are from all 114 respondents. Most (64%) PMPs represented small businesses (less than 20 total employees), but some (15%) hailed from large pest control companies (100 or more total employees). Though considered a very experienced group of pest management professionals (average experience in pest control industry was 22.7 years), most had only started managing bed bugs during the past 10 years (mean duration of bed bug experience = 9.6 years), thus reflecting the recent resurgence of bed bugs as key urban pests in the United States. The number of PMPs responding to the survey was low compared to the total number of licensed individuals within the region. Therefore, we caution PCT’s readers to consider that our results and findings may differ from other and future surveys on PMP attitudes, behaviors, and practices involving bed bug detection and management. A summary of responses to the survey is as follows:

PMPs’ Attitudes, Beliefs, Observations.

Most respondents (73%) believed that bed bug infestations had increased in 2014 as compared to 2013 while some (22%) believed that the levels of infestation had not changed during this period. This trend was stable when considering responses from different regions and states, suggesting that bed bug incidence may be increasing throughout the nation. Virtually half (49%) of all respondents considered summer to be the season with the most calls for bed bug services, while another large proportion (44%) reported no differences between seasons. It is unclear whether summer incidence may be driven by increased human travel, increased ambient temperature, or some combination of these and perhaps unknown factors. Though resistance to insecticides within bed bug populations has been a concern for some time now, the majority (57%) of respondents in this survey did not believe they had encountered resistance in the field. This was true even when considering data only from the Midwest and the Eastern Seaboard, where resistance in field populations has been reported as widespread. Furthermore, though insecticide resistance may be more easily recognized by those with the most years working in the field, the level of experience of respondents had no effect on this reported belief. MUHs, the focus of this survey, were considered by most respondents to harbor the worst (highest density) bed bug infestations, to be the most difficult locations in which to manage bed bugs, and to be the locations most often treated by their companies (96%, 65%, 74%, respectively) (Figure 1, above). Hotels/motels and shelters were also believed to harbor high-density infestations.

Read more at: http://bit.ly/1MAtjTf

 

Bed Bugs 101

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bedddThere is a lot of mystery surrounding bed bugs in the public eye. Not everyone reacts to bites the same way, it is difficult to get rid of them and there is a lot of misinformation out there. It is important to understand what bed bugs look like, how to prevent infestations, how to recognize infestations and to know when to call a professional service.

Bedbugs are flat, round and reddish brown, around a quarter-inch (7 millimeters) in length. The ones that typically plague humans are the common bedbug Cimex lectularius and the tropical bedbug Cimex hemipterus.

A few decades ago, bedbugs were somewhat of a novelty in developed countries. But since the early 2000s, infestations have become more common in places like the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Europe, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A 2013 study in the journal Nature Scientific Reports suggested that bedbugs have evolved ways to resist insecticides.

The creatures don’t have wings and they can’t fly or jump. But their narrow body shape and ability to live for months without food make them ready stowaways and squatters. Bedbugs can easily hide in the seams and folds of luggage, bags and clothes. They also take shelter behind wallpaper and inside bedding, box springs and furniture. The ones that feed on people can crawl more than 100 feet (30 meters) in a night, but typically creep to within 8 feet (2.4 m) of the spot its human hosts sleep, according to the CDC.

Bedbugs reproduce by a gruesome strategy appropriately named “traumatic insemination,” in which the male stabs the female’s abdomen and injects sperm into the wound. During their life cycle, females can lay more than 200 eggs, which hatch and go through five immature “nymph” stages before reaching their adult form, molting after each phase. [Infographic: Bedbugs: The Life of a Mini-Monster]

Read more at: http://bit.ly/1KpJLp1

Bed Bug PTSD

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4649749639_2992f9c638_oMany people do not understand the psychological toll that bed bugs can take on those living with infestations. Bed bugs attack you when you are at your most vulnerable, asleep in your bed. As common as the bed bug problem is, many people do not hear about the honest truth of what it is really like to live with these pests.

Right now, everything I own is in garbage bags piled up in the middle of my kitchen and bathroom and filling my shower. It’s been that way for a week and a half and will continue to be so for at least another week on top of that. If you live in a major city, you might know what’s coming. If not, welcome to the hell that is bed bugs.

This isn’t the first time I’ve had bed bugs. Nor the second. It’s the third, and this time it’s taken two visits from the exterminators to (hopefully) rid our apartment of the tiny beasts. Luckily we were able to catch the bugs early before they got a real hold on the apartment. Unluckily, that’s mostly because rather than mosquito-esque little bumps, my bites turn into hardened ping-pong ball sized welts that itch for over a week. So when we have bed bugs, I know pretty quickly. And each time everything goes into bags. I stop sleeping. I avoid furniture on the street. I refuse to enter libraries.

I used to joke that I had bed bug PTSD. There’s a certain kind of anxiety that the seemingly invisible biters incite. But in fact, it might not be a joke. Research is starting to show that bed bug infections can leave people with anxiety, depression, and paranoia. And that’s normal. In fact, it would be weird for you not to be freaked out, says Stéphane Perron, a doctor and researcher at the University of Montreal. “If you have bed bugs, and if you don’t care, that’s not a normal reaction. You should be worried. I would consider it a normal reaction to a stressor.”

Read more at: http://theatln.tc/1wf2on5

Why Killing Bed Bugs With Heat is Effective

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Bed_bug_(265_17)

As we have talked about in previous posts, bed bugs are extremely hard to get rid of. There are many different tactics that companies use to eliminate bed bugs but heat is proven to be one of the most effective and is where we get the name Arizona Heat Pest.

Do not let these parasites ruin your life. Do not let them invade your home. If they are already there, you need to take all of the steps that you can to dislodge them from this position and kill them all. Killing them with heat is simple and effective, making it one of the best tactics that you can choose.

The entire process will be broken down below, including what you need to do, how much it costs, and when you should use heat instead of a different method to eradicate them from your home. If they are making it so that your home is not the clean, relaxing place that it should be for you and your family, keep reading to learn how to get rid of them forever.

Killing them with heat simply entails getting the interior of your home up to a level of heat that they cannot survive. If you have ever been in a sauna, you know just how intense it can be. You know how it reaches every corner of the building, allowing no escape unless you exit the building altogether.

Since you cannot see all of the bugs or all of their eggs, you need this sort of a treatment since heat can hunt them down for you. There will be no need to locate their nests when your entire home has been heated up until it is a death trap for these bugs.

Click here to read more. 

Bed Bug Horror Stories

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In the business of bed bug removal, there isn’t really ever a dull day. There are constantly new places where they are popping up and new people that need to be helped but sometimes we get there after the problem has been going on for a while and there are some horrifying things that bed bugs are capable of doing if we let them run amuck. Check out an interview with a bed bug exterminator from Brooklyn and a few of his horror stories from working the job for many years.

In the past few years, have you gotten more calls about bed bugs or fewer calls? More. But the one thing I do see is that people are starting to raise their level of acceptance with these bugs. I’m finding them all over.

What does that mean, “raise their level of acceptance?” Well, when these were first starting, it was like alarms were going off. People were, “AAGH, I’ve got bed bugs!” Now it’s like, “Eh, I’ve got a couple of bed bugs.” It seems like they’re becoming a little more nonchalant, like an occasional roach or something.

So what’s the difference, in terms of threat level, between the occasional roach and a couple of bed bugs? Well, the occasional roach would be in your kitchen by a water source, eating your food and things like that. The few bed bugs would be eating YOU. They’re parasites. They feed off human blood.

How concerned should people be? If you just have a few, is it worth paying an exterminator hundreds of dollars? Why can’t you kill them yourself? When people try to self-exterminate, they’re not taught how to find cracks and crevices. It’s very small details you’ve gotta pay attention to when you spray. You tend to make them spread.

How is that? Because once a pesticide is close to a bug, they will cross it, and they’ll scatter away from it. If they leave you and they can’t go back there, they end up going for your outlets or a hole in your ceiling where a light fixture is or something, and they’ll spread to other apartments. Or if you had them in the master bedroom, they’ll end up spreading to one of the smaller bedrooms.

What’s the worst job you’ve gone on? Ok, for me, I’ve come across a lot of different ones, but probably the one that was most shocking to me was when I was going to a single-room-occupancy to do a general treatment, for roaches and things like that. When I walked in, the gentleman was sitting on his couch, and his wall looked like it was covered in spots. And I’m staring at it, because it looked unusual to me, and I’m wondering why these spots looked like they were moving.

And when I got a little bit closer, there were hundreds and hundreds of bedbugs covering his wall behind his couch. I looked at the guy; he was chewed up, there wasn’t a spot on his face that didn’t have a bite on it. I said, “Sir. Look behind you.” He said, “They’re cockroaches.” I said, “They’re not cockroaches, they’re bedbugs, and they’re eating you.”

Click here to read more.

Click here to get rid of your bed bugs in Arizona

Why is it so hard to get rid of bed bugs?

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Do you have a bed bug problem but it just won’t go away? Have you tried home remedies or maybe even other extermination companies but still have bugs? Are you left wondering, why is it so hard to get rid of bed bugs? Well, here is what makes it hard to remove them. Bed bugs are the perfect storm of characteristics that make them difficult to remove from somewhere once they have infested it.

First of all, bed bugs are small, flat, and adept at squeezing themselves into tiny spaces. They can hide in places we’d never think of looking for them, like behind loose wallpaper or under electrical switch plates.

To successfully eliminate an infestation, you’ve got to find and kill every viable bed bug, which is not an easy task.

Second, bed bugs multiply quickly. A single female can lay 500 eggs during her life, and within a few months her offspring can reproduce as well. A few individuals introduced to a new environment can increase exponentially. Depending on conditions, bed bugs can produce 3 or 4 generations in one year. Additionally, bed bugs reproduce most quickly in temperatures between 70*deg; and 82*deg; F, right in the range where most people keep their thermostats.

Bed bugs can go a remarkably long time without feeding, should no host be present to provide them with needed blood meals. Scientists have documented adult bed bugsliving up to 550 days without eating, and nymphs may last for months. So simply leaving an infested dwelling unoccupied for a few months in hopes of starving them out will do nothing to discourage the little freeloaders.

Just to make their extermination more difficult, bed bugs can sense chemical odors, and may avoid areas where cleaning agents or even pesticides have been applied.

Click here to learn more about bed bugs. 

Click HERE to get rid of them for good!

Bed Bugs May Carry Deadly Disease

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In recent years bed bugs have resurfaced in a big way. They are absolutely everywhere and they are extremely difficult to get rid of. Bed bugs can bite, they cause property damage and now a new study says that they may also carry a deadly disease. Bed bugs have always been viewed as harmless but more studies are showing that they are becoming more of a threat in the recent years, making it extremely important to get rid of bed bugs and the only way to ensure that they are gone is with a professional service. To get the best professional service that the valley has to offer, go to azheatpest.com  and check out our discounts page to get the best price!

As bed bug infestations have continued to crop up in firehouses, schools, movie theaters and homes across the country, a team of researchers is now warning that these proliferating pests could prove to be more than just an itchy, pricey nuisance.

According to a new study published on Monday, bed bugs are capable of transmitting a parasite that causes Chagas disease, an infection that in some cases can lead to cardiac or intestinal complications. The infection is found most commonly in Mexico, Central American and South America, but has been increasing its foothold in the U.S.

“There are a lot of people with Chagas disease, and a lot of bed bugs. They are in our houses, in our beds — and in high numbers,” said Michael Levy, a researcher at University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and senior author on the new paper. He also co-authored a report in January that found bed bug populations in Philadelphia are growing by 70 percent a year.

“But no one seems worried,” he added. “We always hear that the bugs don’t seem to be carrying anything.”

On their website, after lamenting that bed bugs “are resurging, causing property loss, expense, and inconvenience,” the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention goes on to offer some “good news” — “Bed bugs do not transmit disease.” The CDC declined to comment on the new study, which details a series of experiments that suggests bed bugs and mice are capable of transmitting Chagas disease to one another.

Read more at: http://pi.vu/66uF