Fact Sheet

NightStick FAQs

WHAT EXACTLY DEFINES THE BEDBUG NIGHTSTICK?

By design the NightStick was engineered to intercept and capture a hitch-hiking bedbug. The device is not intended to be a trap that captures and eliminates an already established infestation. A bedbug can be introduced and released to a clean room without any notice. The bug’s immediate mission is to search out and secure a safe harborage point as close to the human host as possible. This is where the NightStick begins and ends its mission. THe NightStick has been designed to attract and retain the hitch-hiking bedbug in several unique ways. It has been said that a successful business has to do with Location, Location, Location! The NightStick’s design is all about location, safe harborage and capture.

WHAT DOES THE DESIGN HAVE TO DO WITH A BED BUG INTERCEPTION?

The design and placement is the key to NightStick’s success as an interceptor. The NightStick’s main design utilizes several safe harborage points that the bedbug actually prefers over the normal harborage points located on a mattress and box spring. The top edge provides hundreds of protective bristles, dubbed as snuggle points. The face plate is smooth; the back side consists of rough groves that have been stamped on the surface of the NighStick. These groves are also inviting and provide preferred harborage. Proper installation will place the grooved surface against the cloth walls of the box spring. THe bed bug will find harborage between the box spring and grooved surface.

WHAT PORTION OF THE NIGHTSTICK ACTUALLY CAPTURES THE BEDBUG?

There is no perfect answer to bed bug capture and elimination. The NightStick was designed to do its best at providing preferred hosting harborage sites. The bed bug has the ability to react adversely to a sticky surface, especially in its adult stage. Therefore the NightStick provides two distinctly different types of safe harborage. The top edge. as well as the grooved surface has been designed as harborage points without glue. This provides the glue adverse bed bug with a safe harborage while making it easy for a visual inspection upon any complaint of new invaders. Scattered among the grooved surface is a maze of glue filled holes we call the moon walk. The chance of being caught within the moon walk increases greatly as the bug tries to navigate in forward and reverse motion throughout the maze of sticky perforated craters.

WHERE DOES THE BED BUG USUALLY GET STUCK ON THE NIGHTSTICK?

In several NightStick captures we were surprised to find at least a dozen unfed babies caught up in the glue all along the lower edge of the moon walk. Several 5th stage adults were among them. The clear and newly hatched babies were caught before they could get to their first human host. Being that the NightStick is hidden between the mattress and box spring, we believe that a female bed bug laid her eggs within the NightStick’s safe harborage points. The hatchlings were immediately caught up in the moon walk within minutes.

CAN THE BED BUG BE SEEN ON THE NIGHTSTICK?

The purpose of the NightStick is to make it easy to stop or spot a new invader, hotel staff and pest control technicians are provided with a simple effective first alert system. The dark body of the bedbug instantly stands out in contrast against the NightStick’s pure white color. Even the unfed light brown babies can be seen upon close examination. The bed bugs aggregate or fecal matter (small black dots) will also be visually present as a positive sign of infestation. The NightStick not only provides the bedbug with preferred harborage sites, but has the ability to capture the bedbug as it snuggles into place. The NightStick is always proactive and can actually become the tool that captures that single pregnant hitch-hiking bedbug, before she has a chance to lay her sticky little eggs in an obscure place.

IS THE NIGHTSTICK SUPPOSED TO REPLICATE A SLEEPING HUMAN?

The NightStick was not developed to trick a bedbug into thinking it has located a human host. The NightStick was developed for the sole purpose of providing an inexpensive first alert safe harborage system for each and every room. The device has been designed to attract and supply the bed bug with a preferred place to hide. The NightStick provides four felt target points infused with glycerin. The bedbug may be learning to associate this material with the human presence. The grooming materials that we use each day such as shampoos, body creams and soap each contain glycerin. We have chosen to use this material on the NightStick as an added benefit even thought the research is inconclusive at the moment. The glycerin infused pads are meant to provide a false lead, potentially directing a bed bug to investigate the nightstick during its search pattern for safe harborage.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD THE NIGHT STICK BE INSPECTED FOR BED BUGS?

Inspections can be done in any number of ways. Since the NightStick’s main goal is to intercept the newly introduced bed bug before it can breed or bite a patron, inspections can be made at any time. Many hotels will train their housekeeping staff to inspect the NightStick on a regular schedule while making up the bed. Others allow their professional pest control service to install as well as inspection during their monthly visits. The nightstick can also service as a visual check point in the case of a patron’s complaint.

INSTALLATION OF THE NIGHT STICK

The NightStick installs easily and discretely in or near the bed bugs favorite safe harborage sites on every bed. The kit for one bed includes 4 corner traps that slip in place between the box spring and corner protectors. For rail type beds, a section of the NightStick is slipped in between the rail and box spring on both sides. All other type beds require the nightstick to be inserted between the mattress and box spring directly at the head of the bed and both sides (on the underside of the skirting.) This prevents any interference when making the bed. The installation provides a midway safe harborage that will most likely become the hitch-hikers seclusion of choice. The kit can also be purchased using a single NightStick that would be placed at the head of the bed along with the four corner traps.

CAN THE NIGHT STICK ERADICATE A BED BUG INFESTATION?

The NightStick is not intended to eliminate an infestation. The device was designed to reveal, expose and even capture a bed bug prior to its proliferation.

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