Should I vacuum up bed bugs?

Yes, you should vacuum up bed bugs as part of integrated pest management, because vacuuming physically removes live bugs, nymphs, eggs, shed skins, and fecal matter from mattress seams, box spring cracks, headboard crevices, and nearby furniture, providing immediate reduction and evidence, though vacuuming alone will not eliminate infestation because many bugs hide deep in cracks that vacuum cannot reach. To vacuum effectively, use vacuum with strong suction and crevice tool attachment, vacuum mattress seams, piping, tufts, zippers, box spring edges and staples, bed frame joints, headboard screw holes, baseboards, and nearby furniture joints within 5 to 8 feet of bed, moving slowly to catch bugs. After vacuuming, immediately seal vacuum bag or empty canister contents into sealed plastic bag and dispose outside, as bugs can crawl out of vacuum, and wash vacuum tools with hot water. Vacuuming should be done before professional heat treatment and repeated regularly, daily for first week then weekly, to remove newly hatched nymphs. Combine vacuuming with other methods such as encasing mattress and box spring in bed bug proof encasements that trap bugs inside and starve them over 12 months, using interceptor traps under bed legs to catch bugs, washing bedding and clothing on high heat for 30 minutes which kills all stages, and professional heat treatment heating rooms to 120 to 135 degrees that kills 100 percent including eggs.