Pests We Treat - Bed Bugs Take Refuge Under The Bed Frame in Ocean Township, NJ

Recently, I went on a service call for homeowners in Ocean Township, NJ, who had contacted Cowleys after spotting an apparent bed bug on one of their pillows. 

Bed bugs are small, brownish parasitic insects that feed on blood, and have a preference for human blood. They bite exposed skin, usually when we are sleeping or resting. The adults have flat bodies about the size of an apple seed; however, after feeding, their bodies swell and become a reddish color. A single female can lay hundreds of eggs, each of which is about the size of a speck of dust, over her lifetime. Immature bed bugs, called nymphs, shed their skins five times before reaching maturity, and require a meal of blood before each shedding. Bed bugs have astonishing reproductive rates. Under favorable conditions, the bugs can fully develop in as little as a month and produce three or more generations per year! 

Those who find themselves with bed bugs often ask how these bugs were able to find their way into their home. The answer is that they don’t come in by themselves. We bring them in! Bed bugs are expert hitchhikers. And they can be anywhere just waiting to hitch a ride into your home — from your best friend’s house to the park you take your children to, or even the motel or hotel that you booked for your vacation the other night. 

Since the bed bug was spotted on a pillow, I started my inspection in the bedroom. When it comes to pest infestations, it’s essential to perform a thorough and detailed inspection before treatment. This helps us to identify the pest we dealing with, how they are gaining access into the home, and determine the best treatment method.

I carefully and slowly pulled back the bed sheets so I would not flick off the bugs. Sure enough, I came across a few bed bugs hiding under the pillow. At first, the infestation seemed to be light. However, I then flipped over the wooden bed frame. There were bed bugs infesting the entire frame — some were even hiding in the screw holes! 

I continued inspecting the bedroom and found even more bed bugs in the recliner and the sofa. Needless to say, this room will require a comprehensive treatment. First, I thoroughly vacuumed all of the infested areas to remove the bed bugs and their eggs. Next, I applied a dual-action direct contact liquid residual on the bed frame, mattress, sofa, and all the cracks and crevices throughout the bedroom. Bed bugs have a very thick wax coating on their skin, and this residual is able to break down their thick coating and then seep into their body. The bed bugs then carry this residual back to their colony and in no time at all, the bed bugs are eliminated. 

I placed a bed bug mattress encasement, a tightly woven fabric case, over the mattress and box spring. This blocks any other bed bugs from using the bedding as a harborage site, and bed bugs already there cannot escape, and soon die inside. As an added level of security, I inspected the rest of the home for any additional bed bugs. Fortunately, the infestation stayed localized in the bedroom. I scheduled a follow-up inspection to monitor the bed bug activity and apply additional treatments as necessary.