Bed Bugs in Schools – Is it or isn’t it?

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The person responsible for pest management decisions in your school or child care facility should be able to identify bed bugs, as well as understand their life cycle, habitat needs and how to prevent or remove them. But all of us should do ourselves a favor and learn about this pest.  With ever-increasing incidences of bed bug infestations, knowledge is your number one key to prevention.

Bed bugs are small insects that feed on blood. They prefer to be active at night and to hide out in dark, narrow crevices or creases during the day, but daylight (or keeping the lights on) won’t prevent bites if they’re hungry.

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Hatched bed bug eggs on fabric of a box spring. Photo by Gary Alpert, Harvard University, Bugwood.org

Bed bugs have an incomplete metamorphosis (three stages – egg, nymph, adult) meaning they don’t pupate. Once an egg hatches, that tiny bed bug is going to need to eat. Before that first meal, it is semi-transparent, pale and the size of a poppy seed.

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Bed bug adults, nymphs, frass on fabric. Photo by Barbara Bloetscher, The Ohio State University, Bugwood.org

Nymphs look like miniature adults and as they grow, they molt (shed their “skin”- their exoskeleton) until they are full-sized adults. For this reason, cast skins are a sign of infestation.

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Mixed life stages on nickel. Photo by Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University, Bugwood.org

Both males and females eat blood meals. In all cases, their excrement gives them away–look for dark droppings or stains. Unfed bed bugs are flat; rounded ones have had their meal.

bed_bug_adult

Adult, nymphs and blood spot (feces). Photo by Gary Alpert, Harvard University, Bugwood.org

Bed bug identification is key. Don’t confuse them with other small insects found in the home:

Carpet beetle

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Adult and larva- black carpet beetle. Photo by Clemson University – USDA Cooperative Extension Slide Series, Bugwood.org –

Spider beetle

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American Spider Beetle Photo by Pest and Diseases Image Library, Bugwood.org

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Whitemarked spider beetle. Photo by Joseph Berger, Bugwood.org

cockroach nymph

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American cockroach nymph. Photo by Gary Alpert, Harvard University, Bugwood.org

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Oriental cockroach nymph. Photo by Clemson University – USDA Cooperative Extension Slide Series, Bugwood.org

We hope this has improved your bed bug ID skills. For more on bed bugs in schools, as well as homes, visit the New York State Integrated Pest Management program website!

 

 

 

Calling all Child Care Centers!

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Completing this 10 minute survey will help the NYS IPM give you the best information about how to prevent or handle pest issues .

Completing this 10 minute survey will help the NYS IPM give you the best information about how to prevent or handle pest issues .

Although pests and pest management are a tiny part of what you think about each day in a child care business, when pest activity occurs (such as ants in food, mouse droppings in toy bins, head lice on children, or a wasp sting), pests can become the #1 top priority of the day.

The New York State Integrated Pest Management Program’s mission: helping you prevent pest problems and reduce or eliminate pesticide use. After all, pests and pesticides both pose greater risks to children, with their rapidly growing bodies, than they do to adults. But to really meet your needs, we’d like to ask a favor — help us plan for new programs and materials that in turn will help you deal with the issues and situations at the top of your must-solve list.

A postcard was sent to all child care centers asking for you to complete a 10 minute survey that will help Cornell plan for new programs and materials that in turn will help you deal with the issues and situations at the top of your must-solve list. Participants will be entered into a drawing for one of many free on-site trainings by a Cornell University pest-management expert.

Didn’t receive or misplaced your post card? Contact Joellen Lampman to request the survey web address.

Bed Bugs in Schools – Don’t Panic

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bed_bug_adult

image: Gary Alpert, Harvard University, Bugwood.org

The EPA recently hosted a well-attended webinar on Bed Bugs in Schools. For many school administrators, it has been a non-issue. After all, we aren’t supposed to sleep in school. Childcare facilities are at a higher risk, and we’ll speak directly to that in another post.

Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) are drawn to the presence of blood through our carbon-dioxide breaths and warm bodies, and will happily move through a building to find us. That includes finding their way from room to room, or apartment to apartment, through walls. Luckily for us, students and staff are rarely ‘in the right place at the right time’ for bed bugs. Luckily for them, they like to travel in our belongings.

Bed_Bug_LifeCycle

A student or staff member who has bed bugs at home can inadvertently bring them to school. If you think this is a problem tied to family income or a home’s cleanliness, think again. Given the mobile nature of our society, bed bugs are happy to find a blood meal in any home.

The webinar’s presenters,

  • Dini Miller, Virginia Tech’s Urban Pest Management Laboratory
  • Susan Jennings, EPA Public Health Liaison
  • Marcia Anderson, EPA Center of Expertise for School IPM

emphasized a few key points. First and foremost was don’t panic!

If you find a bed bug in school, please understand there is a big difference between an incident (finding a bed bug) and an infestation (finding multiple bed bugs…likely including females). All bed bugs eat blood meals, but  an egg-producing female begins an infestation when she finds food and shelter (resting humans and their blood, and a nice dark crevice or fold in upholstery). An infestation tends to be hidden within a few feet of the food source, such as headboards, box springs, wall sockets, and inside upholstered furniture.

Want to know more? Read Bed bugs are Back!

Just as in any aspect of integrated pest management, your first challenge is to identify the pest, and that means capturing it. Bed bugs are often misidentified and the last thing you want to do is create a problem where there is no problem. There are different ways to collect a specimen. Grab it in a tissue and place the whole thing inside a lidded jar, an empty prescription container,  zipper-slide storage bag, or disposable coffee cup with  a lid. (for examples, see one of our illustrated guides.) You can use tweezers or sticky tape as well. Adults are about the size of an apple seed. Warning. Bed bugs move fast.  If you haven’t already done so, immediately contact the person in your school or district who is in charge of pest management. Place the sealed bag or container in a freezer (keep it there at least 30 minutes).

You do have someone who makes pest management decisions, right?

What about your pest management protocol or policy? Does it have a decision-tree for dealing with bed bugs?

If you don’t have a written policy on bed bugs or other pest control decisions, you are setting yourself up for problems. Let’s remedy that. Stay tuned. the NY State Integrated Pest Management program has been at this for many years, and we’ve created or gathered the resources you need. Throughout January, we’ll focus on increasing your knowledge of this pest.

Here’s another resource: Preventing and Getting Rid of Bed Bugs Safely, from the NY City Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene.

 

 

 

 

Safe Sports Fields Management website

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Are you struggling with bare spots, weeds, and grubs in your athletic fields? There is a new resource to help!

Safe Sports Fields ManagementThe Safe Sports Fields Management website brings you the latest best management practices for managing sports fields and resources for all who care for and use sports fields.

For the grounds manager, there is information on such topics as:

  • soils
  • grass varieties
  • routine care including assessing the field, mowing, fertilizing, overseeding, and more
  • pests
  • synthetic turf

The website goes beyond the basics, however. There are sections specifically for coaches and athletic directors, whose decisions can greatly impact the turfgrass quality and safety of the fields. Administrators are not left out, with their own page highlighting risk management. Not to be missed is the the video of Cornell Turfgrass Extension Specialist Frank Rossi’s presentation on Duty of Care.

Sports Field Management Schedule

General seasonal management schedules are available for high, medium, or minimal management fields serving spring, fall, spring and fall, or year round sports.

A highlight of the website is the inclusion of management schedules. These schedules, divided by field use and expectations, provide clear guidelines for the minimum management practices that must take place to maintain safe fields. The schedules can be used for not only for planning, budgeting, and scheduling, but are also valuable communication tools useful for justifying the need for resources.

The site was developed by the Cornell Turfgrass team with input from Cornell Cooperative Extension colleagues and sports turf grounds managers from across New York State. Funding was provided by the Community IPM Initiative of the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program to support New York State schools in implementing the Child Safe Fields Playing Act.

Updated EPA Website: Healthier Schools for Healthier Kids

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OCTOBER IS CHILDREN’S HEALTH MONTH!

Children are not little adults – they are still growing and developing. We need to take special precautions to keep them safe

…a great reminder from the EPA’s newly updated Healthy Schools website.  They hope to provide a more user-friendly site and have added a “School Bulletin Board” where you’ll find all the news regarding healthy school environments.

Here’s the link:  http://www.epa.gov/schools/

new website epa

The EPA has ten regions, as you can see on the map, but the Healthy Schools website is intended for nationwide use.  To find out more about your regional office and those leading the efforts toward improving the learning environment for your children, here’s the contact information: http://www2.epa.gov/aboutepa#pane-4

epa region map