"Hey would you like to feed the bedbugs?"
A grinning man man excitedly offered us a white box about the size of a deck of cards as if it were a new iPod instead of a tiny cage full of live insects that feed on the blood of humans.
"See?" he said, rolling up his sleeve and putting the box on his bare forearm, "the warmth of my blood wakes them up."
We're thinking... who let this guy loose on the NRA Show floor?
The mad scientist turned out to be Robert Klein of APTIV whose line of eco-friendly insect control products had people buzzing around there booth like...
"Flies," Klein said. "Fruit flies. They get into your liquor, your salad, annoy your customers."
APTIV's products use no active ingredients (that's poisons, to you and me), and are made of the same materials used to package medicine. They're not bad too look at and completely safe to have around the food.
Sales are taking off for these green products, but it hasn't always been that way.
"Fifteen years ago we developed these products and we were laughed out of the stores," Klein insists, his bedbugs now napping on the table and safely away from our arms. "They said there was no need."
The time definitely seems to be right now. "We're having a hell of a show. It's been really, really good for us."
If you get tired of nibbling and feel like getting nibbled on for a change, or if you want to find out more about controlling pests and insects, head to APTIV's booth or one of the other pest control exhibitors at the NRA show.
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