Researchers at Rutgers University recently found that carefully installing bed bug monitors in apartments containing low levels of live bed bugs can make a significant impact on keeping their populations down. These results give added value to the idea of using such devices, particularly in low-income housing where the cost of bed bug management often becomes prohibitive.
Let’s take a closer look at bed bug monitors and review some helpful tips:
- Bed bug monitors do not always have to be placed under the legs of beds. They also work well when placed in hallways and corners of rooms.
- Monitors must be maintained and inspected on a frequent basis. They can become dirty, or customers might move them to other location - the latter of which can actually help move bed bugs from one room to another.
- Monitors work well in libraries and other commercial facilities, but they should be used with discretion. When too visible, they can cause undue alarm in visitors who become concerned that there are bed bugs present.
- The presence of bed bugs does not necessarily guarantee that the monitors will collect any. You need to rely on your eyes and a flashlight as additional inspection tools.
- Dark monitors work well, and round ones tend to work better than square ones. Sometimes less expensive models work as well or better than fancier models.
Catching bed bugs on a monitor does not always tell you where they are hiding. You will still need to find harborage areas and treat accordingly.
- Using monitors can help solidify a customer or Pest Management Professional’s (PMP’s) case that a proactive stance is being taken in fighting bed bugs in a particular location. This can be useful when involved in litigation over bed bug management cases.
- In cases when you suspect insect phobia or delusional parasitosis, monitors can help verify that nothing is present.
- Some PMPs have taken the initiative to enhance existing bed bug monitors on their own. One example is inserting a small thermos into the center of a larger monitor. The cover is left slightly open, and dry ice is placed in the thermos. The dry ice emits carbon dioxide, which moves out of the container and down into the monitor. This attracts bed bugs from a greater distance away than the monitor can.
- Sometimes you will get lucky and a monitor placed in an unlikely location can catch bed bugs. This is what is called “making your own luck.”
Like any other tool, bed bug monitors require knowledge about how to use them. However, once you understand how they work, they can serve a valuable part of your arsenal of pest control devices.
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