[Back Talk]

MOLD IS FOR ME
Thank you for exploring the topic of mold in the January issue of PCT (Is There Gold in Mold?, page 82). Although it is an emerging area of practice for pest management professionals at this time, I appreciate the serious investigation PCT presented. Many other evolving practices will take place and as a practitioner of indoor and structural applications, I look forward to learning and doing more to improve the overall industry. The article was a pleasant experience about a sometimes not-so-pleasant subject. Obviously the subject is one where there is a great deal of confusion but with discourse and experience it is my hope that we as a collective group of professionals can put the subject into a proper perspective.

Chuck Severino
President
CVS Services Pest & Termite Control
South Coast Mold Assessment
Mission Viejo, Calif.

HARRY KATZ UPDATE
I know that you are constantly trying to improve PCT magazine but I do not know how you could improve on the December 2006 issue. Once I started to read it, I could not put it down. Even the ads are especially attractive.

I was naturally delighted to see another Katz on the front cover. (If our industry is not going to the dogs, as some used to say, it is definitely going to the Katz!)

This issue had very good coverage on the control of bed bugs. I’d like to add my experience with this perennial pest problem. In the 1920s, my mom did what she did in Russia in the 1890s — burn the bugs in each bedspring under the mattress with a candle. Then she would brush coal oil (kerosene) into the crevices of the bedstead. This gave us temporary relief.

In the BC era (before Carson) of the 1950s, after I discovered that the bed bugs were immune to DDT (H. Katz, 1957, Bed bug haven, Pest Control 12[1]:102), I was able to suppress the bloodsuckers to some extent with a combination of the desiccants, Silikil and diatomaceous earth. I dumped 2 tablespoons of the dust in the middle of a mattress under the sheet, and lifted the sheet to spread the dust. I also dusted it into the baseboard area.

While treating for bed bugs in a housing development in Pittsburgh, I found an exceptionally large bed bug. Thinking it may be another species, I brought it to Arnold Mallis at the Gulf Laboratories in Harmarville, Pa., and he mailed it to his friend Dr. R.L. Usinger in California. Dr. Usinger examined it and found it had the same chromosomal pattern as Cimex lectularius. He asked if I could send him live specimens. Unfortunately, I could not find more and lost a chance to have a strain of bed bugs named after me.

I am now living in my Florida habitat, recuperating from open heart surgery and other problems, but getting along well and especially enjoying the luxury of being able to read every page in Pest Control Technology.

Harry L. Katz
Deerfield Beach, Fla.

A FOND FAREWELL
I am retiring this month after 32 rewarding years in the pest control industry. For my entire career I have been happily employed by Orkin.

I want to use this “letter to the editor” to thank my company and all of the PMPs with whom I have been associated for a great time.

George Washington, in his “Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior,” wrote, “Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.”

Our industry has men and women of good quality. I am very proud to have been associated with you. All of you will hold a special place in my memories. Thank you.

Tom Diederich
Orkin Pest Control
Atlanta, Ga.