With PMPs leaning heavily on pesticides for bed bug treatments, it makes good sense to watch out for resistance. In fact, a lot of PMPs are rotating products as a matter of course. Fortunately, there are plenty of products to choose from.
“We’ve seen resistance in the past and want to make sure it doesn’t compromise our treatment success going forward, so we stay ahead of the game,” said John Young of Speed Exterminating Company in Cleveland, Ohio. “We use a different product for the second application and, if need be, another for the third application.”
According to the survey, 37 percent of PMPs have implemented a bed bug resistance treatment protocol; 63 percent have not. Of those who have a resistance protocol in place, 90 percent include product rotation.
Amanda Forrestall of Pest-End, Plaistow, N.H., said it will be interesting to see if the past two years of people sticking close to home will affect resistance. “If people were self-treating, then we’re likely to see more product resistance in the next round of bed bugs. That could mean more callbacks,” she said. “On the other hand, we may find that one application works because the bed bugs haven’t been in contact with any product for a while.”
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