Mites in my compost

I have a homemade turnable compost barrel with redworms. It makes beautiful compost from casings, food scraps and yard debris. Approx. one week ago, zillions of tiny, fast moving, white mites showed up in the barrel. Are they a problem for the worms or plants? What are they? Can they be non-toxically "dispatched". Thanks, Spotted Turtle, Summerville, SC

spottedturtle - White mites? I'm not familiar with them. Are you sure they are mites? How big are they? Most mites that I'm familiar with cannot be seen with the naked eye.

Perhaps you have white ants - see this link:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5150865_kill-white-ants.html

I'm not sure if there are such things as white ants, or if they are termites. Some people call termites white ants.

Hi SpottedTurtle, I'm new a this site but I' checking it all out.

Saw your post about the mites, I've had them in compost/trash leaf piles here is San Diego.Please send a picture so I can see if yours are the same.