[Bed Bug Supplement] How to Inspect for Bed Bugs

Editor’s note: The following has been excerpted from “Bed Bug Handbook: The Complete Guide to Bed Bugs and Their Control,” a comprehensive bed bug reference book written by Lawrence Pinto, Richard Cooper and Sandra Kraft.

A  bed has layers and layers of hiding places for bed bugs. Working from top to bottom: 1) decorative throw pillows, stuffed animals and other personal items on top of the bed; 2) bed clothes, consisting of bedspreads, duvets, sheets, pillows and cases, blankets; 3) mattress cover; 4) mattress; 5) bed skirt; 6) box spring; 7) and finally the frame. Each seam, each hole, each crevice provides bed bug hiding places.

WEAR GLOVES. A bed is a most personal space, and you will be touching fabrics that have been in intimate contact with people, and which may be stained with dried blood or other bodily fluids. Have a good flashlight and a hands lens or other magnifier so that you can detect eggs, first-stage nymphs or tiny shed bed bug skins.

FINDING BED BUGS IN A MATTRESS. Strip back the covers and look for blood spots on the sheets. Stand up the mattress. Bed bugs can find many hiding places in a mattress, particularly in more expensive “pillow-top” mattresses which have many extra seams and thread holes.
When inspecting the mattress, you will need to flip it and move it into different positions in order to access all bed bug hiding places.
Be sure to check the following sites:

• Both sides of the piping (beaded seam) around the perimeter of the upper and lower side of the mattress, paying greatest attention to the four corners as well as the two ends of the mattress (head and foot of the mattress);
• Under the folds of the pillow-top portion of the mattress;
• Under fabric lifting straps, buttons, labels, corner protectors and other attachments to the mattress;
• Inside any rips, tears, holes and other damage;
• Inside the needle holes of seams (where you are mostly looking for eggs and first instar nymphs).

INSPECT THE HARDWARE. During the early stages of an infestation, bed bugs are much more likely to be found on, under or in box springs than on the mattress. The more recent the infestation, the harder you are likely to have to work to find the bugs. Conversely, if you find evidence of bed bugs on the mattress you are likely to run into much greater numbers when you get to the box spring. For this reason you must exercise great caution when inspecting the box spring to avoid inadvertently dispersing bed bugs.

INSPECT BEFORE REMOVING. The most likely areas of infestation will be similar to those discussed for the mattress, but also include the space beneath the plastic corner guards. Next, remove the box spring and rest it on its side. Move the box spring into different positions in order to adequately check all areas.

The first place to check as you remove the box spring is the underside where the box rests on the bed frame, which is a primary bed bug clustering site in infested beds.

Always look inside the box spring. You may sometimes get away with simply shining a flashlight through the gauze fabric on the bottom of the box spring, but to do a proper inspection, you really need to remove the gauze dust cover that is stapled to the underside of the box spring. But be careful when removing the dust cover to prevent eggs and bugs from being flung about as the gauze comes free from the staples. Take your time! Eggs and bugs may be found along staples, in the holes created by staples, along or under the edges of the box spring where the fabric is attached to the underside of the box spring, in natural crevices associated with the wooden framework and anywhere inside of the box spring.

As with the mattress, check all seams, folds, handles, rips and other hiding places in and on the box spring.

Closely examine all cracks and crevices of the bed frame, especially if the frame is made of wood (bed bugs favor wood or fabric over other materials).
Be sure to check the legs and wheels, and inside hollow bed posts.

Remove the wood slats if the bed frame is so equipped, and inspect cracks, splits and holes for bed bugs and eggs. If the slats are bolted in, remove the bolts and inspect the holes. Check the cut ends of these slats for eggs.
If the frame is equipped with spring coils, check them carefully.

Check the headboard and the footboard, if the bed is so equipped, and the space between the headboard and the wall.

Disassemble platform beds and other beds supported on wooden box frames, and check the undersides and all hidden areas, especially cracks and crevices for eggs.

Also, always inspect anything and everything that is stored under the bed. Bed bugs often hide in items there. Shoe boxes stored under the bed, for example, are often heavily infested.

INSPECTING SPECIALTY BEDS. Specialty beds present special challenges to bed bug inspections and control.
Waterbeds. These beds cannot be effectively inspected unless they are drained, a major undertaking. Waterbeds come in two styles:

• Hard-sided, with a water-containing mattress, typically made of vinyl, sitting inside a rectangular frame of wood resting on a plywood deck that sits on a platform.
• Soft-sided waterbeds consist of a water-containing mattress inside a rectangular frame of sturdy foam, zippered inside a fabric casing, which sits on a platform atop a much-stronger-than-normal metal frame.
  

Both types typically include heating pads and safety liners. Waterbeds contain numerous hiding places that are inaccessible because of the weight of the mattress, which can vary from 200 pounds up to 1,800 pounds (90-800 kilograms) depending on size and style. Draining the bed, inspecting it, refilling it and reheating the water is a major undertaking. Large beds may need to be out of service for an extended period until the bed bugs are eliminated.

Futons. In the United States, the term “futon” generally refers to a combination of frame and a foam/batting filled fabric mattress that converts from a couch or chair into a bed. The frame usually includes wooden slats, with numerous joints where the slats attach. Each of these joints must be inspected carefully since they are prime bed bug hiding places. Some futons have hollow metal tubing where bed bugs hide. Many futon mattresses have a removable zippered cover which should be removed for the inspection.

Adjustable Beds. These beds may be adjustable by mechanical means, as are many hospital beds, or through air pressure, as are adjustable air beds or air diaphragm beds. Adjustable beds come in a variety of types, styles and levels of complexity. Be sure to inspect the hoses, controls, removable top cover, accessible chambers, pumps, pistons, motors and all other potential bed bug hiding places.

HOTEL HEADBOARDS. In hotels and motels the first place that bed bugs typically become established is behind the bed’s headboard. Beds are made up on a daily basis, thus there is a great deal of disruptive activity associated with the mattress, so the mattress is not a good bed bug harborage. The area behind the headboard, however, offers an environment that remains completely undisturbed, but sits immediately adjacent to the blood meal (the hotel guest).

Headboards in hotels and motels are usually screwed or bolted into the wall, or at least hung on some type of fitting. Physically remove the headboard and inspect the headboard assembly and the wall behind it. Pay special attention to screws and to empty screw holes, and to the wooden spacers used to separate the headboard from the wall. If a mounting bracket is present, you may need to remove it for proper inspection. 

Cooper is technical director, Cooper Pest Solutions, Lawrenceville, N.J. Pinto and Kraft publish Techletter (www.techletter.com), a biweekly training letter for professional pest control technicians.