GETTING TO GRIPS WITH BED BUGS IN NEWQUAY
Persistent bedbug problems have been overcome at a substantial seaside hotel in Newquay, Cornwall. But only after the most thorough, systematic treatment of all
50 bedrooms in a programme requiring a good 15 man days of professional time in two separate visits.
Although treated locally on several occasions previously, the hotel had never been able to completely get rid of its problem, explains Steve Ivell of Manchester-based environmental service specialists, Pestproof Ltd who took on the challenge in late 2006.
"We took advantage of the hotel's winter closure to take the rooms apart and treat them one by one," he recalls. "All the bedding and soft furnishings were removed and thoroughly sanitised. We then took out every drawer and detached every headboard, wardrobe and fitting, treating them all – together with every crack and crevice in the place – with Demand CS (lambda-cyhalothrin).
"At the same time, we accessed the bases of the beds and thoroughly treated inside every frame. We also treated all the corridors of the two floor building. And we opened every light fitting and electrical socket and dusted them with Ficam (bendiocarb)."
The initial programme took a three-man Pestproof team three full days to complete. Then, after the hotel took-in guests again over the Christmas period, the team returned in February to repeat the treatment every bit as thoroughly. Altogether, they spent five days on site in what Steve Ivell describes as a major belt and braces operation.
"We gave the hotel a 12-month guarantee and being more than five hours drive away in Manchester we certainly didn't want a call-back," he points out. "With no claim on the guarantee whatsoever, our efforts have clearly been worthwhile.
"As well as treating every possible harbourage, I put our success down to the micro-encapsulation of the Demand CS – like the Empire 20 we relied upon in the past. Apart from giving the best possible insecticide dispersion, this made the treatment far more effective on difficult surfaces like wood and fabric and ensured it remained active in and around potential harbourages for three months or more.
"From the increasing amount of bedbug work we are being called upon to do, we've come to appreciate how important both extended activity and thorough treatment are in controlling a pest that can survive in cracks and crevices without feeding for several months," Steve Ivell insists. "In Liverpool last year we actually had more jobs tackling bedbugs than cockroaches. This just goes to show how much of a problem they are becoming in many areas."
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