Finding bed bugs during the day will require ample daylight, a flashlight, and a magnifying glass.
Most bed bugs hide away during the day, so you will most likely find them in tight, dark places waiting until their human host gets to bed.
Check the seams of your mattress, pillowcases, box springs, bed frames, and headboard. Look for reddish bloodstains, dark fecal stains, bed bug shells, and bed bug eggs. Use your magnifying glass as they may be too small to spot for some people.
Where do bed bugs hide during the day?
Bed bugs usually hide out during the day, but not because they are strictly nocturnal. They just prefer going out at night because that is when their human host is asleep which allows them to feed in peace. If their human host works in the evening and sleeps in the daytime, the bed bugs will learn to adjust and come out during the day to feed.
When bed bugs do hide out, they like dark and hard to reach places. The easiest place for them to hide is underneath your mattress. When people change their sheets, they usually do not bother checking the bottom of their mattress, so the bed bugs are rarely disturbed.
Bed bugs hide in the seams of your mattress and bury themselves deep in the gaps of the piping.
Bed bugs also like hiding out in the furniture, specifically in the cracks in the wood. The furniture they target are the ones close to your bed, such as bedside tables, bookshelves, and dressers. The sturdy furniture keeps the bed bugs and their eggs safe while still being close enough for them to traverse when they need to feed.
Bed bugs can also hide out in your baseboards and in the cracks on your walls. They can also be found in your carpet, but less likely because it can be disturbed quite a bit when people walk on it.
These places are what bed bugs prefer because they are dark and secure while still being close enough to their food source. The longer these hiding places go unnoticed, the bigger their colony will become.
Are bed bugs active during the day?
Bed bugs are typically less active during the day. This is especially true in households where the people who live in it have traditional nine-to-five jobs. This means those people sleep during the night. The bed bugs know that when their hosts sleep, they move a lot less, making feeding on them easier and safer.
When bed bugs are hungry, meaning they have not had a blood meal for more than a week, they will not hesitate to come out during any time of the day to feed.
If bed bugs have a constant food source, bed bugs will spend most of the day digesting their food.
How do I find bed bugs during the day?
Before anything, prepare the tools you are going to need. Use a flashlight and a magnifying glass to see the small bugs and their eggs clearly. If you do not want to touch the bed bugs, you can also choose to wear gloves while inspecting your bed and belongings.
Inspect your mattress
The most obvious place to start when trying to find bed bugs during the day is your mattress. This is where the majority of bed bug infestations live, because they want to be within six feet of where their human host sleeps.
Wear your gloves before starting your inspection. Remove the sheets and place them in a plastic bag. Make sure you seal the bag properly and wash the sheets in the washing machine later.
Check the piping of the mattress, this is where bed bugs squeeze into the gaps. In homes with full blown infestations, you may not even need to flip the mattress to see evidence of a bed bug infestation. In severe cases, you can instantly see blood stains, fecal matter, bed bugs shells, and even dead bed bugs.
If there are no signs on the sides and top of the mattress, flip the mattress carefully and look for evidence. They might be in the seams and corners near the edge, and less likely in the center of the mattress.
It is entirely possible to not find any live adult bed bugs, because they may have scattered quickly when they felt the mattress being moved. But if there are fecal stains, blood stains, molted shells, these are already telling of the level of infestation you currently have.
Inspect your furniture
As mentioned above, bed bugs also like to hunker down in the furniture close to your bed. If you just brought these bed bugs home with you and you placed an infested item on top of your bedside table, the bugs may choose to set up shop there first before finally figuring out that the bed is closer to the food source. Wooden furniture has cracks and corners that bed bugs like to crawl into.
Do not move any of your furniture into another room, inspect them right where they are to lessen the possibility of further spreading the bugs.
First, inspect the outside of the piece of furniture. There might be bugs in the cracks between the leg and the furniture.
If the piece of furniture has drawers, remove all of them and inspect each one closely. Do not forget to check the bottom of the drawers. Look at the gap where the drawer was and use your flashlight to take a better look.
If you can, flip the piece of furniture upside down. This is where most bed bugs will be, so be prepared for them to scamper to find a new hiding place once they realize they are in danger.
Do this to all of the furniture in your room that are within six feet of your bed.
Inspect other furniture in your home
It is possible that bed bugs stake claim to other furniture around your house. Specifically, ones where they know their human host spends a lot of time lounging in, such as couches, futons, recliners, and daybeds.
If you like to take naps on your couch, you might want to inspect it because you may have transferred bed bugs to it from your bed.
If the couch cushions are removable, take them out and remove the covers. Place them in a plastic bag to wash later.
Check the area where the cushions were, especially the gaps and corners where bed bugs may squeeze themselves into.
Flip the couch upside down to properly inspect the bottom. This dark area is a bed bug favorite.
Conclusion
You can find bed bugs during the day by thoroughly inspecting your bed, mattress, boxspring, bed frame, head board, and pillows. Inspect the furniture close to your bed that are within six feet. If you like to take naps on your couch, inspect it as well. Make sure you have ample light and to use a flashlight and a magnifying glass, if necessary.
While looking at all the nooks and crannies of your belongings, be on the lookout for adult bed bugs, eggs, blood stains, fecal stains, and old bed bug shells.
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