Page 7 - 2ndQtr2022IPMA

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IPMA Scholarship

mattress encasements, installed Winners
pitfall traps, asked clients to wash IPMA is pleased to announce that
bedding and provided brochures Cadee Oldfield has earned one of the
for client education. In the second annual scholarships. She is associated
program, they did all of the same with Bosch Pest Control in Muscatine, IA
non-chemical options but also added and plans to attend Muscatine Community
silica dust applications to furniture and College in the Fall.
baseboards.

The non-chemical methods alone
completely eliminated bed bugs in
36% of the apartments and reduced
the total number of bed bugs by 89%.
In the non-chemical program plus
silica dust, bed bugs were completely
eliminated in 40% of apartments and
there was an overall reduction of 99%
of bed bugs. The bed bug numbers
declined more quickly with the
addition of silica dust. In apartments
with low levels of bed bugs, the The second winner is John Chambers,
researchers found it was possible to associated with BASF in Grain Valley,
eliminate bed bugs using only the MO. He plans to attend Johnson County
non-chemical methods. However, Community College in the Fall to pursue a
client communication is always key, degree in healthcare.
and the researchers hit a few snags
with residents. In one apartment,
the resident refused to accept they
still had bed bugs and removed the
encasement from their bed. While
significant reduction (98%) of bed
bugs did happen in this apartment,
complete eradication required the
cooperation of the client. Sometimes
the hardest aspect of pest control is
not the insects, but rather finding a
way to better communicate with clients
to encourage cooperation.

References:
Abbar, S., Wang, C., & Cooper, R. (2020). Evaluation of a non-chemical
compared to a non-chemical plus silica gel approach to bed bug manage-
ment. Insects, 11(7), 443. https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/7/443

IPMA Connection • 2nd Quarter, 2022 Page 7