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Bed mites are dust mites that make their homes in your mattress and bedding. You may not even realize that they exist until you develop an allergy or have an asthma attack, which is made worse by these mites. They are microscopic bugs that feed on the dead skin cells shed by humans and house pets. Since most of these dead skin cells come off as you move about in bed, this is where you will find most of them. They are not dangerous, as such, in that they do not cause diseases. They cause allergic reactions because of the feces droppings that they leave behind.

The mattress in your bed could contain tens of thousands or even millions of mites. Mites prefer the warm, moist environment that a bed provides for them. Some of the symptoms you may have that can be attributed to dust mites include:

- hay fever
- watery eyes
- runny nose
- itchy skin
- sneezing
- asthma or difficulty in breathing
- eczema in infants

These symptoms can be present at any time of the year since dust mites will live in the bedding all year long. They continue to breed, so the population of mites continues to grow. There are some times of the year when this problem is worse than others, such as during the winter months when you have the heat turned on and all the windows closed. During the summer months when there is more sunshine and you have the windows open, you may not encounter the symptoms to the same extent. Some of the conditions inside the home and the bedroom that will provide the optimum environment for these mites include:

- poor air circulation and ventilation
- high temperatures
- high levels of humidity
- indoor air pollution

Dust mites are too small to be seen with the naked eye. You have no way of actually seeing them unless you use a very strong magnifying glass or microscope on your bedding or mattress. Adult females can lay up to 40 to 80 eggs in groups of four or five. The life cycle from egg to adult is about one month and the adult lives for about another three months. Thus you have the eggs, the feces and the dead insects inside your bed.

The most effective ways of controlling this mite population include covering your mattress with plastic coverings. This also includes covering the pillows, but you can choose to use pillows that have synthetic filling instead of feathers and down. You should change you bedding at least once every two weeks and wash it in hot water. The high temperature of the water will kill any dust mites that are present. Freezing the bedding that cannot withstand high water temperatures is also effective.

Vacuuming the carpet and rugs in the bedroom every few days is also important. If you do not have carpeting, when you sweep the floor with a regular broom you could be putting more dust mites into the air that will land on the bed. For this reason it is better to wash the floor with a damp mop that will take up all the mites.

For more information on bed mites, dust mite spray and how to kill dust mites, visit http://www.Dust-Mites.org