Continuing from Monday…
Another area where bed bugs like to hide is in the cracks and crevices of the metal frame of the bed. Bed bugs are so small that they can easily hide in the space the size of a screw hole.
The headboard is often a hotspot of bed bug activity once there is an infestation present. Bed bugs like to hide in areas that are not disturbed often. In hotels and motels, headboards are often bolted to the wall which makes it very difficult to look for bed bugs that may be hiding. The best way to look for bed bugs would be to shine a flashlight on the sides and from the top. Look for fecal matter, blood spots, shed skins, eggs, or live or dead bed bugs.
My personal experience in checking a hotel for bed bugs yielded a surprising result. I did not find any actual bed bugs initially, nor any shed skins in the bed or any other location in the entire room. While inspecting the bed, I did find in one small area of the seam some small black flecks that looked like cookie crumbs. I promptly grabbed my tweezers and gently ran them along the stitching in the area where the black debris was located. To my surprise, out popped 5 live bed bugs from inside of the mattress! The bed bugs that I removed varied in size and all were engorged which meant that they had recently received a blood meal.
Bed bugs are so resourceful that even that space, as small as the size of the stitching on the mattress, proved to be ample size for the bed bugs to enter the interior of the mattress. Any defect or tear in a mattress opens the door for easy access for bed bugs to hide and breed, and have access to their favorite meal…you!
Many people are quick to decide to throw away their mattress and box spring once bed bugs are discovered in their home. The current recommendations from the National Pest Management Association state that furniture can be salvaged with proper treatment by a licensed pest control professional. NJ pest control professionals recommend vacuuming the mattress and box spring, and then using a bite proof encasement which will seal any bed bugs inside, depriving them of a blood meal. Eventually they will die and your mattress will be salvaged.
For more information or help ridding your home of NJ bed bugs, contact a pest control professional in Monmouth Country, NJ.