Ummm..using words like "cruel & inhumane" on a board is a sure way to send some flames your way. I think when choosing between a paper wasp chewing their way through a live caterpillar and a nice cozy paper bag, they would choose the paper bag everytime. But I might be a little anthropomorphic here (a word you might want to check out). I would love to hear what Larry would say (hee hee). I am sure there are studies out there that talk about ideal humidity levels. There are single studies for different species. I also think that removing the leaf from the plant runs the risk of disease taking the egg. The plant manufactures secondary compounds to fight fungus and bacteria and when we remove the leaf, it stops making these compounds. I have lost eggs because they failed to hatch before the leaf turned black. That is why I try to take as much stem as possible so the leaf can continue to live and maintain if not manufacture it's secondary compounds. -Elisabeth

Gaelic Gardner: We do not "cook" data up in the lab. Any good scientific theory is based on numerous lines of evidence, which may include lab experiments, theoretical calculations, and yes, observations from the real world (nature). So back to wooly catepillars and similar folklore. I discount those ideas not because I think they are impossible, but because there has been no empirical data to back them up. Yes, this lack of data does not make the idea false. But the lack of real data certainly does not give credence to the idea either! The evidence is very anecdotal (as are all of those claims about animal behavior just before the tsunami). I would embrace the idea if somebody were to perform a long term study. How would you do that? Well, you would have to devise an objective way to measure how "wooly" the catepillar is, measure enough catepillars to make your observations statistically significant, and then correlate those results with subsequent winter temperature anomalies. Nobody has done that. But we do have LOTS of data to support other theories for how earth's climate system is governed and we have a good track record for predicting weather on the short term and climate over the long term. The long term predictions may indeed, some day, include information from animal behavior, but it requires investigation. That is how science works. What will happen this winter? I have no idea. But if it is a cold one, nothing anybody has said about catepillars or wasps or whatever has any significance in my mind--because no real objective measurements have been made. They are all anecdotal "observations" that may not even be real. And I stand by my statement completely that any suggestion that unsubstantiated folklore is as accurate or more accurate than scientific predictions of weather and climate, are indeed ridiculous. To believe otherwise would mean that you either don't undertand how science works, or that you reject science as a "way of knowing" and instead adopt some other belief system based on faith for example. Which is OK (sincerely) if that floats your boat.

The semi-custom companies are probably the most savvy about the high-end fashionable kitchen. They have more input from a broader geographic area and more understanding of the options and how to achieve them using rather standardized techniques and materials. You can find them through the non-national, more independent home improvement centers and builders in your community. If you can't find these places, go talk to a guy who has parked a contractor's vehicle in the parking lot of a big home improvement chain store. These guys know the score. One word of caution about local custom shops...they are all different and some are absolutely incredible in a good way and some are, well, just not. What one shop will think of as a wonderful challenge, another will think of as a pain in the patoot and they'll dodge the challenge by trying to steer the project toward their own established strengths. If you go with a local custom shop, be sure sure sure that you are on the same page in each detail. And never assume they can read your mind. Each of these companies has a different niche also, and it's up to you to figure this out, since most don't have sales reps and inhouse designers and all that. There's more burden on YOU to clarify what is to be made. And they don't read GW forums so they don't know about the crest of the wave of fashion and might be behind the curve until you explain exactly what you want, with photos and drawings with circles and arrows and captions and such. "Shade tree company" is a pejorative that has been tossed at them by some of the posters here. Whether you have a lazy uninformed ordinary worker or a true craftperson might be a matter of opinion or might be a really obvious truth. Builders and designers may have financial business relationships with larger companies and midsized companies, but the most local shop might be more likely to be the one that the designer or builder phones when a really oddball specialized piece needs to be crafted. If you can learn those names, you can work outward from there. In your particular niche of the market, you probably have access to open houses, local industry mags, websites, etc. Look at the posh houses and note the provenance of their cupboardry, floors, etc. Also begin networking for word of mouth recommendations. You will begin to note a pattern. You can hire the same guys as the top of the hill owners if you want them. Also go to millwork shops, smaller lumber yards, etc. and ask them who uses their services. Might be eyeopening. If you live in the East, you could also look at This Old House resource lists, since they like to patronize the little guy. Disclaimer: we have used such a cabinet shop for our project and generally we are pleased, although the mind reading was particularly poor. Should have done more talking about a few items. Our fault, not theirs, for the most part. And this shop does NOT do much fancy work but they love to work with high-end woods and produce a good product with them. We just weren't high-end wood customers and probably should have looked harder at their less prestigious pieces in order to maximize their efforts and resources on our stuff. Sigh.

Here's one of a couple youtubes of a worm bin mass migration during or after a rain storm. My bins don't experience it because I leave the lids on... its more to keep evil things out than to keep the worms in. Christina... you're posting under two different accounts? as theparsely has said, you don't need to know the bin pH... only that if its quite different from the environment they came from it will take time for them to adjust and settle in. It is reported that composting worms can survive a wide range of pH... however I've never seen them in the wild in any low acidic environments (below 6.0) like in oak leaf litter or among pine needles... there must be a reason and I believe I know what it is. I do know that worms do excrete calcium carbonate that mixes with digest after the crop (at least that is what's reported in several places I've read in the literature on worm digestion) and so free calcium must be available in supply in their bedding. I know for soil with a reasonable cation balance (meaning plenty of calcium availability (60-80% of CEC, then Mg, Fe, K, Na in balance on the other exchange sites) will likely force a pH above 6.0, I thus surmise 6.0 to probably be the lower end of the worm's pH range. In any case, if you added eggshells (calcium carbonate) they all will quickly dissolve in a pH that's below that... so if you can still find eggshells that have been in the bin for awhile, your bin is likely nearer to a neutral pH (7.0) or higher (as calcium carbonate buffers precisely at a pH of 8.3) So as long as you continue to add eggshells your bin both the pH and calcium content (as the two are linked) should be just fine for the worms. I personally don't worry about the size of the mite population in the bin other than to use it as a way to gauge when the bin has become likely too wet and/or is becoming more acidic... however the worms should be able to co-exist along with the mites and you can expect the numbers will eventually tail-off as bin conditions improve. And again as theparsely said... just add some dry bedding and hold off on feeding (wet foods especially) until you're satisfied conditions have improved sufficiently. Good luck there.