I have seen worms crawl when the barometric pressure is low, but I think this is something different. If you have a standard Rubbermaid bin and you use a dump and sort method to harvest, then you are basically starting the whole process over every time you harvest. Just like worms tend to crawl for the first few days when you buy them, I suspect they do the same thing when you harvest, then put them back into a bin with all new bedding.

Ok, Pamela, I want you to sit back, take three deep, slow breaths and relax. Believe it or not all is well and nothing abnormal or unhealthy is going on with your worm bin. Rodents often pass through healthy worm bins, but rarely do they set up housekeeping in them, nor are healthy bins going to attract vermin not already present on or near your property. The overgrown landscapes on the adjoining properties almost certainly support many small rodents who will visit the bin, but the presence of the bin is not going to increase their numbers, nor will it bring more of the rodents to your property than would normally pass through. Rest assured that the worm bin is not creating an unhealthy environment near your home. A worm bin is only considered a rodent attractant of it is anaerobic and smelly. The mercaptans produced through anearobic decomposition becomes a clarion call that can bring them in large numbers but 1) ONLY if there are already large numbers in your local 2) ONLY if the bin is stinky enough that you are able to smell it. Few rodents will find the food scraps in the bin sufficient to warrant regular visits and the worms are not a significant food source for mice or rats. A healthhy worm bin is NOT a vermin attraction. I hear folks often speak of rodent-proofing their bins, but this is no easy task and is of questionable value when one keeps in mind that the bin is not a vermin nesting site or typical feeding ground. It is always alarming when something unexpected jumps from the bin, but know that this is a rare occurance that, alone, does not indicate problems in the system or suggest that the bin poses a health risk to your, your family or your pets. Make sense? Kelly S

"asking for fruits or vegtables now so she can feed the worms." A great cause and effect. I too have increased my consumption of and also well received fruits and vegitables for potlucks for scraps for my wormies. The poor humans do not know they eat to serve my worms.

Hi Steve thanks for your comments. I haven't regularly mixed up the lower trays. I recently did and I found a huge knot of new pumpkin seedlings. (Some seeds accidently made it into the compost). There were still plenty of worms working but the compost looked like a good consistency. Albeit a bit damp. When you get clay consistency, what do you do prior to sifting? Since the works were still working I was going to let them go for another month now that it's been mixed up a bit. Most of my feed is compost from my tumbler or occasionally some fresh kitchen scraps. Since I add a lot of paper shreddings to the tumbler I haven't been adding more paper to the worm bin (other than a layer of damp paper on the top surface of each tray and maybe some bedding at the bottom of a tray). Should I be adding more paper? The temperature at the center of the bin is about 80oF and the room temp is just below 70oF. This makes me think the bin is not "hot" but it's close to the target worm bin temperature. I'm a little reluctant to mix in too much more paper or cardboard since he temperature would probably go up. Please let me know if you disagree with any of my thoughts or the direction I'm taking.