How to Find Bed Bugs in Apartments

Anyone inexperienced with bed bugs will have little idea of just how intense an inspection it takes to find all the pockets of a bed bug infestation. Your initial inspection must be thorough, and you will need to return again after treatment and reinspect just as thoroughly.

Always check these potential hotspots:

Check the bed

Are you squeamish? Better wear gloves. Strip back the covers and look for blood spots on the sheets. Stand up the mattress. Remove the box spring and flip it over. There is no way to find bed bugs in a bed unless you do. Inspect both carefully. Check every seam.

A prime location for a bed bug is resting upside down on the underside of the box spring where the box rests on the bed frame. Look inside the box spring, too. Shine a flashlight through the gauze fabric on the bottom of the box spring. You may even have to remove the stapled fabric to inspect inside.

Also check the head board, if there is one, and look inside anything and everything that is stored under the bed. Bed bugs can hide inside shoe boxes, for example.

Strip back the covers and look for blood stains and bed bugs in seams	Stand up the box spring and shine a flashlight through the gauze fabric to find bugs inside	Be sure to check the frame where the corner and edges of the box spring rest
		Photos © Pinto & Associates

 

Check the rest of the bedroom

Bed bugs aren't limited to beds, and your inspection shouldn't stop there. Concentrate on furnishings close to the bed. Pull out dresser drawers and check inside the drawers and in crevices. Like cockroaches, bed bugs like to squeeze into narrow spaces. Look under televisions, stereos, and other equipment, behind pictures, in the crevice behind the baseboard, and even in stacks of clothing. Bed bugs are often found hiding in tack strips under wall-to-wall carpeting and behind baseboards. Be aware that bed bugs tend to crawl upwards. Also check drapes, wall decorations, and cracks in the ceiling-wall junction.

Check for secondary bed bug infestation in furniture throughout the residence

Photo © Pinto & Associates

Check the furniture in all rooms

Bed bugs hitchhike on clothing, purses, and the like from the bedroom into other rooms. Many people spend as much time on the couch or in an easy chair as they do in bed, so always check for a secondary bed bug infestation in living room and family room furniture. Remove the cushions. Check seams and crevices. Tip back the couch and chair and look underneath, particularly behind skirts and at the seams.

Take your time!

A thorough bed bug inspection in an apartment unit takes one to two hours. But it's the only way to be successful.

Next--Controlling Bed Bugs in Apartment Buildings--Part 1, Insecticides