Bed Bugs 101: Bed bugs have been known to crawl up to 30 feet at night to feed on people. Therefore, it is rare that a bed bug infestation is limited to only one bedroom. After feeding, bed bugs will almost immediately retreat back to their hiding place to lay eggs and sleep. Many bed bugs will hide in or around the bed for convenience. However, some will likely be hiding in walls, furniture, drawers, outlets, etc... The ClimbUp monitors above will trap bed bugs as they climb on or off the bed. If you find one, then immediately contact an exterminator.

While bed bugs are large enough to see with the naked eye, they are very skilled at hiding where you won't see them. A trained professional is recommended since finding every bed bug and hidden egg is required to eliminate an infestation. Encasements and monitors will foster early detection so that you are only looking for a few bed bugs. An infestation that goes undetected for weeks or months will be extremely difficult and costly to eliminate since bed bugs will be embedded throughout the home.

The reason that a bed bug infestation can go undetected for weeks is that many people do not react to bed bug bites initially. Everyone has different sensitivites to the bites. Some people will itch right away, some people will itch a few days later and some people will not itch at all until the bites become very frequent. When two people share a bed or bedroom that is infested, it is common that only one will notice itchy welts even though both people are getting bitten each night. For this reason, bed bugs frequently get misdiagnosed.

If anyone in your household (or building, if you share walls with other units) has slept away from home or bought furniture in the last few months, then there is a risk that bed bugs could be present. Encasements and monitors are the most cost effective way to determine if bed bugs have been introduced into a home.