FURTHER UPDATE: Over the weekend, I moved as many worms as I could save into a new bin with nothing in it but newspaper and some old compost from a harvesting I did a while back. I'm not going to feed them for awhile but I find I need to spritz the newspaper with water every couple of days or it gets all dried out. I'm finding some dead worms inside now, with a little blood around the newspaper they're on. Maybe they were injured in the transfer? Maybe something else I'm doing is killing them? Could the particular newspaper I'm using be toxic? It's a legal publication so maybe that's what's killing them!!! LOL. Actually, it's not funny at all - I'm running a death camp here. I'm afraid to feed the poor things because I don't want the mites back but now I feel like they're just dying of drought. Anyone? I kept my mite compost in a separate bin because I imagine it has lots of eggs in it and I'm hoping those worms will hatch and have a fighting chance against the mites. Who knew this could be such a nightmare!! I think I need a mentor. Anyone in SF? I'll feed you dinner if you come over and help me!

"Are BSF timid creatures, or am I most likely going to have them crawling on me or flying around when I'm checking out my bin?" Some people really love their BSFL, as much as we love our worms. They too worry about them when they have to leave them for a few days. My understanding is that when BSFL are about 3/4 inch long and smaller they are white. Then as they mature they turn black and hard like little armadillos. Then they hide. The flys that emerge are like large houseflies but they do not land on poop and then on food. They avoid people, poop and food and want to find a bit of rot to lay their eggs on. They fly erratically. Slow when they are just warming up. Then faster. They are black with some of their leg area white. I think you would like the fly and the mature larvae and not be afraid of them. The thing that is cool about the white larvae is if one puts lets say the remains of a fish that the fillets have been harvest from into the bin, the the BSFL boil over the remains so actively that the remains float over the top of the activity and wonder around the container while getting smaller and smaller until they are all gone. Maybe let your helper know that these types of things in the bin are normal so they will not be startled. There is the cutest youtube that shows a little girl with a handful of BSFL feeding then to her chickens. If they knew that even little girls are not afraid of them then they might be more ok with them. Me I do not even touch my worms except with a 10 inch stick. Not even with gloves on. Maybe the scarriest thing to ever happen was I had noticed a few things out of place around the bin lately. Things were a bit mess with the vermicomost. I thought I was just sloppy. One day I put food in the top of the bin and out of the bottom a mouse jumped and darted off of my leg. I screamed like a little girl. Then I laughed a lot because I screamed. Many people love furry mice as pets. Maybe not me. I wonder if he was eating my worms. I move the material around in my bin to learn what is going on. As I am more confident I know what is happening in there and as vermicomposting is not my newest hobby, and I am not possessed with knowing what is going on with the little guys, I am more likely to leave them alone. Then my activity with the bin would more resemble how sbryce advises. Like him I would flip the bottom material over for the same reasons. Or gain interest in flow through bins like I have. I would think the cloth worm inns would work nice for you. Just put the stuff food by the tons and bedding in at the top. Zip it in. Water frequently. Harvest at the bottom. Supposedly no need to separate worms. They do dry out fast but the activity of adding water is pleasant for some. Others may have fish tank change water they want to use. I would think that maybe the condition of the material might be gauged a tiny bit by just squeezing the bag. I do not have one. Some people sew their own. Having a strong enough stand to hold mega weight is important. I guess like not buying the first year of a car I am waiting for them to come out with the new and improved version. I think mine would dry out. That would be ... ... .,. very bad for the worms. A homemade plastic bin is more resilient in that way.

My wording was ambiguous, they got 1 8oz water glass full of grounds every 3rd day, 3 times in total. the grounds were wet, but not sloppy wet. I did/do have a moisture problem, but that seems to have been resolved. I have the bin propped up on one side, made sure the drainage holes were clear(I have a small 4" screwdriver I stick in there and wiggle around) and left it with the airstone at the bottom part of the bin for about 5 hours. No liquid coming out. I do have a plain brown shipping box that I'll rip apart and add into the bin dry. Too bad I don't have a shredder.... I think I'll keep the airstone in there for another 12 hours. Regarding saving the worms in there, I don't think there are that many left. With the price of worms at 20 bucks a pound on the expensive side, it's not worth my time to dig through and try to find them, I would simply dump everything and start anew. The new worms are already ordered, I could just dump them, but it seems a waste not to add them into the bin. Why do you suggest not adding any more worms? As I see it, either they will live and all will be well or they won't and I'm no worse off than I am now, save for the 20 bucks in worms. Any thought on the tiny white bugs everywhere?

I may be wrong, but I think anything growing in your bin is good with 2 exceptions. Anaerobic bacteria and things that fly and take their nutrients away with them. I'm thinking the mites are just a lot more noticeable on cardboard, at least that was my experience. The bugs, mold, mushrooms etc. speed up the break down of the food. The all 3 of the above problems freaked me out the first time they occurred, but now I just ignore them. (The first mushrooms were a fluorescent looking yellow with a green tinge. Very spectacular. I killed them all. Now I'd like to have them back but I have boring small tan colored ones now.) Other than flying things (fruit flies and fungus gnats), I haven't ever had any bugs leave the bin. jasdip just said 'the little buggers are relentless. I cannot keep them away.' Does anyone know if there is a good reason to keep them out?