They slow down in food guzumption as the temps get lower. Mine were in the basement and things seemed slow (I have only a small bin for right now). I moved them upstairs into a cupboard in my kitchen and am married to a man with a very sensitive nose ('sniff sniff, what smells?', or 'sniff sniff something stinks!'), yet he has not figured out my worm bin. Of course I only check on my little lovelies when big lovely is out of the house, but no smell.

It might be a good idea to line the sides with corrugated cardboard to block the light and it will help absorb excess moisture. It is easier to mist water on the surface of the bin rather than extracting water from a too wet bin. You may keep the bottom bin w/o cardboard lining to discourage worms coming/staying down. Don't panic if you find worms on the underside of the lid because of condensation. Just wait and see before youstart drilling or cutting the lid. Whenever I converted a bucket or tote into a worms bin, I find it easier to make 1 big hole and attach weed cloth to it. One problem with the container material is however to find adhesive that will stick. I used double sided tape on some and on others when I only kept the rim of the lid, I cut a bigger piece of weed cloth so it get over the entire top of the bin and just jammed the lid on it. Hope this gives you some ideas. Welcome and good luck.

I keep my bin right in my kitchen under a built in desk. (Lots of others keep them right under the kitchen sink.) It's not a very big bin, so it sits under there very inconspicuously next to my dog food bin. There is no unpleasent odor in a healthy bin, so nobody would ever know it's a box filled with garbage and worms if I wasn't so excited to show them! ;o) OH, PLEASE introduce your kids to wonderful worm composting! It's fun and it's one great way to teach kids about the environment and recycling! In addition to books there are some websites for kids too. I'm sure there are more, but here are three. http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/earth/recycle/wormcomp.htm http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/worms.htm http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Vermi/

Your guy should be fine. It is hard to tell if he is an EF. Everything else you describe looks OK, assuming you put in enough cardboard. You don't need a lot of dirt. In fact, you really don't need any at all. The banana and the lettuce should start breaking down very quickly, especially with whatever microbes came in with the dirt. If you don't have too much moisture in this bin, in a couple of weeks, this should be a worm paradise.