Where bed bugs hide in the home — Vanessa’s student essay

Where Bed Bugs Hide In The Home?

Bed bugs are insects that feed on human blood, usually during the night. Adult bed bugs are generally the size of an apple seed, reddish-brown, and oval-shaped. Young bed bugs (Nymphs) are smaller than adults and a mix of white and yellow. Many individuals think that they are uncommon, but in contrast, they are in 1 in 5 American homes. That said, they can hide in many places inside someone’s home.

It is most common to discover them in places related to the bed such as the: bed frame, mattress, and box frame. But, these aren’t the only places they lurk. In fact, they have the potential to be in every part of a room. While the insects stay close to the human’s place of sleep or rest to consume blood during the night, they can spread to all throughout the home. 

It wouldn’t be uncommon in an infested home to find the insects in the walls of the home, in the carpets, and basically in any little crevice. It is also helpful to note they can be found in suitcases so it’s important while traveling to not bring your suitcase inside of your home, as you may be transporting the insects into your home as well.

So, now that you know that bed bugs in an infested home can be found all over let’s learn how to discover them. Start off by looking for actual bugs, eggs, or molten skin as signs of an infestation. Use a flashlight and something to scrape with such as a ruler on commonly infested areas such as around the bed. Once you’ve found an infestation you may wonder what to do next.

While there are ways to get rid of infestations DIY style, the most effective method would be to contact professional help. This professional help will require multiple treatments of the household that uses insecticide. This professional help can also be very costly which is why many families live through infestations and can’t afford to remove it.

In order to prevent the large cost and bloodsuckers from attacking you throughout the night let’s talk about some preventative methods. To start, make sure you are checking areas like talked about previously for the insects. Next, use heavy-duty protective mattress covers without holes. Finally, keep a tidy home (vacuum and remove clutter). These three ways will give you an advantage amongst others who are oblivious. A lot of what people fail to do is simply check at different places they are at, and then they bring an infestation home.

Even while taking preventative measures some families may still experience an infestation which is unfortunate. It is a very common issue in the US, so it is nothing to be ashamed of. It’s important to take it seriously, as you shouldn’t invite guests over without their knowledge of the infestation. You could potentially cause an infestation at your guest’s house if they bring the insects back to their home.

While bed bugs seem like an endless cycle there are many ways to prevent and get rid of them like listed above.

Author: Vanessa Wong

Winona State University

Student Scholarships

Every year Thrive Pest Control hosts an essay contest and the reward is a 1-year scholarship at a 4-year university in the United States. This blog post is one of those scholarships.