Visit our New Online Store!

We've recently launched our brand new online store with intentions of providing people with a trusted venue to help deal with all aspects of bed bug-related issues. We're kicking things off for the store by featuring a range of different Protect-A-Bed products that have patented zipper technology and have been safely designed to keep you completely bed bug free. Currently, items like mattress encasements, box-spring encasements, and pillow protectors are up on the site. We'll be continuing to add new products that encourage bed bug safety and detection so drop by and check us out soon.

Also, we will be offering free shipping on UPS Ground and same day delivery in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens on orders over $200 that are received before noon on weekdays.

M&M Environmental Quoted in the NY Daily News

Today's Queens section of the New York Daily News questions the latest update for the on-going battle between workers and bed bugs in their office environment in the Long Island City Access-A-Ride location. The writer, Joseph Kemp, has been following this story for quite some time and reported last year that this office's bed bug problem has been persisting since all the way back to the summer of 2008.

Kemp consulted with our M&M Environmental technical director, Tim Wong, for today's article to help determine whether or not the action of the exterminators that NYC Transit hired could be considered adequate. Apparently, after identifying that bed bugs were still present in the office, the company waited a a longer than recommended amount of time before beginning their extermination. The article reads,

Waiting a week to begin killing the bedbugs after canines tracked their location was a major flaw, said Timothy Wong, a pest control technical director at M&M Environmental.

"It must be treated 24 to 48 hours after the dogs come in," he said, "especially with a commercial premises like this where there's heavy traffic, a lot of electrical equipment and no control of the environment."

It's very important to act quickly and efficiently once presence of bed bugs have been identified, regardless of whether it is in a home or an office. This way the solution of the problem being eradicated will happen sooner and not later.

Bed Bugs in Contemporary Pop Culture + Insect ID Services

Residing on two opposing sides of the pop culture spectrum, bed bugs made appearances in both The New Yorker and The Onion this week alone. The piece in The Onion was (gasp!) a farce about Joe Biden bringing in a, "...discarded recliner chair," into the white house which resulted in an unaccounted for, "...series of red welts on his arms." This common New York-centric practice is something many of us have obviously retired recently in the wake of this current bed bug scare.

Far on the other side and found in The Talk of The Town section of The New Yorker, Meribah Knight's recent article discussed Carolyn Klass's soon to be retired insect ID lab at Cornell. According to the article, Carolyn Klass,

"...for the past thirty-eight years has been Cornell University’s diagnostician for insect pests."

For a fee of $25 you can send her your samples and she'll tell you what you've stumbled upon. Coincidentally, this is also a service that we offer at M&M Environmental - but you can send in or bring your samples by in person, free of charge.

Our entomologists and bug experts that we have on staff will be able to identify the species and genus of your sample, and help provide answers about your mysterious new roommate's origin. We'll also soon be launching a function of our web site that will allow you to upload photos of your samples to send them our way at the simple click of a button. All free of charge.

NYSPMA Winter Conference and Trade Show

January was certainly an exciting month in the world of bed bug-centric meetings and conferences (yes this world does exist).

Mid-month, friend to M&M Environmental Lou Sorkin hosted the monthly NY Entomological society meeting at the American Museum of Natural History and you can see our write-up here. Then this past Friday, the New York State Pest Management Association hosted their Winter Conference and Trade Show with a number of industry guest speakers and experts.

The first speaker, Dr. Stephen Kells, delved deep into the discussion of using heat as a bed bug treatment option. Next up was yet another friend to M&M, Attorney Timothy Wenk, who shared his presentation on bed bug litigation and contractual obligations. Much of what was covered in his presentation can also be seen here in our two interviews (for landlords & tenants). Tim's discussion included information on negligence lawsuits between landlords and tenants, where judgments have been based on an analysis of either parties behavior, depending on whether it could be deemed "reasonable" or not.

Later on, Jeff White of Bed Bug Central shared a presentation on the comeback of bed bugs, citing "resistance and a lack of public awareness" as possible explanations. Jeff also compared different bed bug monitoring devices like ClimpUp and NightWatch, concluding that though there are a variety of monitoring tools out there, you have to figure out which the right one is for your particular situation. The booths were populated mostly by industry vendors and suppliers, including fumigation professionals Bed Bugs and Beyond.

Lou Sorkin's New York Entomological Society Meeting

No New York Entomological Society meeting would be complete without the wise musings of Mr. Lou Sorkin, our favorite man who let the bed bugs bite.



Lou's presentation in last night's meeting gave a detailed history on bed bugs, reasons for their newly apparent increase, facts about biology and behavior, and finished with a discussion about how bed bugs may be linked to health-related issues.



He included three guest speakers like Vajra Kilgour from the Metropolitan Council on Housing who shared news of alarming increases to her housing hotline about bed bug-related calls, Catherine Grad of Grad & Weineaub, LLP who discussed the legal havoc bed bugs can reek on disputes between tenants and landlords, and another brave soul who shared her current first hand testimonial on dealing with these pesky critters.

Vajra shared news about a legislative piece she is involved with, reinforcing the reality that when push comes to shove, laws really can make a difference. Catherine's discussion highlighted the extreme importance of cooperation when it comes to building-wide bed bug issues, stressing the importance of tenants granting access to their landlords during times that their units need to be serviced by a PCO.




Even in brilliant color, bed bugs will forever be frightening.

A Lesson in Etiquette: House Guests and Bed Bugs

Bed bugs? Style? Two contrasting ideas not likely to ever be paired together. Unless of course you happened to catch today's Style Column in the Washington Post. Here author Carolyn Hax answers a letter from a reader that poses a question of etiquette: How does one deal with house guests when bed bugs have already made themselves comfortable in your home?



Adding an extra dose of drama, this particular letter is from a woman complaining about the behavior exhibited by her "strong-willed" daughter-in-law who had a thing or two to say about the bites she woke up with during her home stay with the in-laws...

Bed Bugs: A Sensation on National Geographic Channel

"An exposed limb is like a flashing sign for an All-You-Can-Suck buffet."

Wow, National Geographic Channel - you really went there! Mixing bed bug facts with history, this video explores the behavioral habits and tendencies of bed bugs.

"Like a safecracker opening a vault, the bed bug finds the prefect spot to hit the blood bank."

Watch it and learn more here.