Where they actually are
Bed bugs live within a couple of metres of where a person sleeps, and they hide in seams and cracks rather than in the open. Mattress piping and label seams, the bed frame joints and slats, the headboard and the wall behind it, the bedside table, the skirting nearest the bed, curtain hems, and the seams of an upholstered chair somebody sits in at night. In a heavier case they spread outward to sockets, picture frames and wardrobe joints.
The signs are small: dark spotting on the mattress seam, shed skins, and bites that mean less than people think, because reactions vary and some people show nothing. The inspection looks for the physical evidence rather than the bites, because that is what tells us the extent and where the treatment has to reach.

