A lawyer meets her clients at a local Starbucks instead of in her office. A once-popular person is shunned by his friends.

Do these people have some kind of contagious disease? No. They have bedbug infestations. And once you have an infestation, you not only have to deal with how to get rid of bed bugs, but you also have to deal with the social stigma that many people attach to having them.

You can avoid these problems through early detection, which is the best form of bed bugs control. If you detect the pests early, you can treat them early — before they get out of hand.

Active bedbug monitors provide an excellent form of early detection. The devices are called “active” because they have moving parts and often use something that has to be replaced.

The monitors, though, aren’t an alternative to bed bug treatment. What they do is alert you to the presence of the pests. Deciding how to get rid of bed bugs is another matter, which might require the services of a pest control professional.

Many active bedbug monitors are available for you to buy at reasonable prices. Here are three popular ones.

NightWatch™ Bedbug Monitor

NightWatch™ Bedbug Monitor attracts hungry bedbugs by mimicking a person sleeping. The monitor consists of simple components:

• A base that has a built-in heating unit and a timer
• Two ramps with built-in wells that you attach to the sides of the base
• A pack that contains a chemical that attracts bedbugs
• A CO2 cylinder
• An electric cord

Operating NightWatch Bedbug Monitor is easy:

1. Set the timer to your current time.
2. Attach the ramps to the base.
3. Put the chemical pack on the heating unit.
4. Screw the CO2 cylinder into the base.
5. Plug in the cord.
6. Turn on the monitor.

At 10:00 p.m. the monitor turns itself on. The heating unit warms the chemical which, together with the CO2, attracts the bedbugs. The pests climb up the ramp and fall into the well. Once inside, they can’t get out. The device shuts off automatically at 6:00 a.m.

NightWatch Bedbug Monitor can detect both existing and first-time infestations. It can trap full-grown bedbugs as well as immature ones. You have to replace the chemical pack and the CO2 cylinder periodically.

BB Alert® Active

BB Alert® Active attracts bedbugs by mimicking human body heat and respiration. The device consists of two parts: a base that’s coated with glue and a replaceable activator. A row of needles, which simulate human hair, surround the base.

To operate BB Alert, you break open the seal of the activator to expose it to air. The activator begins to create heat and moisture. Then you put the activator over the base.

The activator attracts hungry bedbugs to the monitor. They go between the needles onto the gluey surface, where they get stuck.

Bug Dome

Bug Dome is an electric bedbug monitor that is shaped like a dome and is surrounded by a glue-coated trap. When you plug in the cord, a heating unit under the dome heats up and attracts bedbugs, which climb into the trap. The trap is replaceable. When it fills up with stuck critters, you take it out and put in a new, empty one.

Bug Dome is low and small, about the size of the saucer for a coffee cup, and can fit in small or confined spaces.

Bed bugs control is important. And active bedbug monitors provide a good way to learn if you have the pests. But a negative result doesn’t mean you don’t have an infestation. It simply means that the monitor didn’t trap any of them. Perhaps it will the next time you use it.

Discovering bedbugs is easy; figuring how to get rid of them is difficult. You can try your own home-grown bed bug treatment on them, but if that doesn’t work you should call in a professional pest exterminator. They know how to kill bed bugs. It’s their business.