News & Notes

Smitter Donates Bed Bug Treatment to Struggling Family

John Koval, president of Smitter Pest Control, Grand Rapids, Mich., helped bring some Christmas joy to a struggling family by providing it with a free bed bug treatment.

The Michigan family has five children, including an 8-month-old girl recovering from heart surgery. Making matters more challenging, both parents are out of work and the family is struggling with finances. A hospital caseworker, concerned about sending the girl home to the family’s bed bug-infested home, contacted several local pest control companies looking for help.

Koval agreed to provide a free treatment.

“I thought of my four-month-old daughter at home, and how difficult it would be to not see her at Christmas, and my heart told me to go and do the job,” Koval said. “The little girl is really sick and I wanted to make sure she made it home for Christmas so she could spend it with her family.”

Koval provided the family with a list of preparation tasks that he said they did a great job completing, and Koval performed an inspection and clean up, followed by a conventional pesticide application. Koval said he estimates it would have been a $1,300 to $1,500 job that Smitter provided free of charge.

“The nurses at the hospital banded together and raised money to pay for it, but we did not accept it. I told them to use it for something else,” Koval said.

Smitter Pest Control was founded in 1939 and Koval is the company’s third-generation owner. — Brad Harbison

Reliable Corporation Offers Steam Cleaning System

Reliable Corporation has introduced the new Brio 500CC Steam Cleaning System, which includes the Brio 500CC, equipped with a 25-piece high-performance multi-purpose accessory kit to clean and sanitize a multitude of surfaces. The 5-bar working pressure produces consistent volumes of high-pressure steam to eliminate bed bugs, the manufacturer reports.

The system uses EMC2 Technology, which prevents scale build-up and delivers pure steam. The Continuous Steam System (CSS) Technology provides a simple refill convenience for when the water level is low (no need to stop cleaning during time-consuming tasks). Modeled after a Reliable commercial unit, the Brio 500CC is equipped with a 25-piece, high-performance, multi-purpose accessory kit to clean and sanitize a multitude of surfaces with just water.

Learn more at www.reliablecorporation.com/Products/Home-Steam-Cleaners/Brio-500CC-Steam-Cleaning-System.

P.E.S.T. Relief International Begins to Serve

Andrea Hancock, an owner of Mattress Safe, recently launched P.E.S.T. Relief International. This non-profit organization is for professionals in the pest management industry to empower, sustain and transform the lives of the destitute and the defenseless, Hancock says.

Mattress Safe is partnering with P.E.S.T. Relief International to bring comfort and relief to orphaned, abused and “at-risk” individuals through safe shelter, nutrition, physical and emotional health, and spiritual enrichment.

Learn more about the P.E.S.T. Relief International organization by visiting

Hancock says P.E.S.T. Relief International is partnering with the pest management industry and Mattress Safe to make shelters and orphanages a safe and sanitary place to sleep. This charitable organization also offers assistance through the provision of mattress protection, feeding programs and support for children’s homes.

The current focus of P.E.S.T. Relief International is in the United States and Honduras. Future plans include having a presence in other parts of the world.

Mattress Safe is a leading manufacturer of USA-made bed bug certified mattress encasements and protectors.

Terminix: Top 15 Cities Where Bed Bugs Bite

Terminix recently released its sixth annual ranking of bed bug-infested cities. For the first time in four years, Philadelphia was outranked by Detroit, which stole the top spot. Rounding out the top 15 bed bug cities in the United States are (last year’s rankings in parenthesis):

1. Detroit, Mich. (4)
2. Philadelphia, Pa. (1)
3. Cleveland-Akron, Ohio (15)
4. Los Angeles, Calif. (14)
5. Dayton, Ohio (-)
6. Chicago, Ill. (5)
7. Columbus, Ohio (8)
8. Cincinnati, Ohio (2)
9. Dallas-Forth Worth, Texas (7)
10. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, Calif. (-)
11. Denver, Colo. (12)
12. Toledo, Ohio (-)
13. Oklahoma City, Okla. (-)
14. Baltimore, Md. (9)
15. New York, N.Y. (3)

“We’ve seen a steady increase in bed bugs since the 1990s, which has been influenced by increased international travel and infestations left untreated,” said Paul Curtis, manager, technical services at Terminix. “Most of the cities in our top 15 are big tourist and business destinations, making travelers even more at risk for encounters with bed bugs — whether it’s on the plane, at their hotel, in a movie theater or riding in a taxi. The name ‘bed bug’ is deceptive, as these pests can thrive just about anywhere.” The list of top cities for bed bugs was created by compiling inbound lead data from the more than 300 Terminix branches across the country. The rankings represent Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) with the highest volume of calls from Jan. 1 to Dec. 17, 2015.

Bed Bugs Top NPMA’s List of Most Searched Pests in 2015

The National Pest Management Association (NPMA) says its most searched pest in 2015 was, you guessed it, bed bugs.

“Bed bugs continue to cause significant problems across the country due to their uncanny hitchhiking abilities and elusive habits,” said Cindy Mannes, vice president of public affairs for NPMA. “So, it makes sense that people are looking for information about them. No one wants to encounter bed bugs and they certainly want to find out how to protect themselves from an infestation and how to get rid of them, fast.”

NPMA analyzed the top 100 pages per session on its consumer website, www.pestworld.org, from Jan. 1 through Dec. 14, 2015, to determine which pests generated the strongest content interest within the United States. The following pests were identified as the most searched in 2015:

1. Bed bugs
2. Spiders
3. Stinging insects
4. Cockroaches
5. Ants
6. Stink bugs
7. Mosquitoes
8. Ticks
9. Termites
10. Rodents

BedBug University E-Learning Offers Insight Into Monitoring Programs

BedBug University, one of the nation’s leading educational source for bed bugs, has expanded its educational training to include a three-part e-learning module for pest management professionals, including the firm’s monitoring program.

The online training series designed for pest control individuals and businesses features bed bug biology and behavior, treatment tools and protocols, as well as the importance of monitoring. The online training accompanies the other hands-on training that BedBug University already has to offer, including the four-day Boot Camp held in Lawrenceville, N.J., and the two-day roadshow courses that they offer across the country.

One of the three 30-minute modules focuses on monitoring, which informs pest professionals on specific measures to help detect and eliminate bed bugs through the use of monitoring tools. As illustrated in the e-learning, monitoring programs are important to early detection and elimination through various techniques and tools.

One important tool in a successful monitoring program is an interception device (traps used to capture bed bugs). “Interception devices are certainly the most effective detection tool on the market, but the industry just hasn’t embraced them yet. Only about 50 percent of the industry uses them and they need to recognize just how effective and powerful they are as a control tool,” bed bug expert Dr. Richard Cooper said. “They’re just as important as chemicals, if not more important. By recognizing the role that interceptor traps play in the control of bed bugs, we can effectively reduce the amount of pesticides applied for the control of bed bugs.”

Jeff White, director of innovation and technical content of BedBug Central, agrees with Cooper that the industry needs to understand the importance of these devices, especially within multi-family housing units.

Within the e-learning series, pest control professionals can learn exactly how to effectively implement interceptors into their monitoring programs as well as see the potential revenue by establishing a successful monitoring program.

Pest control companies can purchase the BedBug University e-learning series for individuals or multiple employees through an annual site license. More information regarding the e-learning series or other educational training can be found on BedBug University’s website at