Two of the biggest factors are population density and food supply. If there isn't enough food they will be thinner (just like with humans). If food supply is the same it's probably that your inside bin has a higher density of worms. When the population is too high for the area available the will get smaller and not reproduce as much as well.

harry: I experienced the same thing and it got me thinking.

I have 30+ mini bins of 3 gal. containers of which 4 were in the car port. The others are in the utility/heater room. The worms in the 4 bins outside were way bigger and more plump as the ones in the heater room. All the bins were seeded from my main bin which is supposed to have EFs in it . That's what I bought originally. After seeing the size of the worms in these 4 mini bins, I had my doubts about them being pure EFs. Is it possible that some Euros were mixed in there??? Mind you, I am doing this as a hobby to convert my scraps into something beneficial rather than throwing it out; so, I am not going to invest into running a lab to get my answers if you know what I mean.

Starting early Dec. since the temp. here was closing to the freezing point, I have taken these 4 bins into the heater room as well.

Now, amongst the 30+ bins, some are doing well having worms multiplying and looking healthy but there are others that are not doing so well. I have observed that the ones not doing too well are the ones that have fungus gnats in them. I tried to squash them fungus gnats) at feeding time as much as I can but as you know, you can NEVER get all of them. I am not sure what the problem is and invite all of you to comment your thoughts. Is it the environment (whatever it is) that promotes fungus gnats that is the problem or is it the environment that the fungus gnats caused that is not good for the worms??? I tried to remedy it with addding powdered egg shells and shredded newspaper. Still have to wait for the result. This might mean too acidic.

Otis, I often find answers to my problems amongst the various forums here but ideas are often conflicting so I usually try to apply some of them and just see what works for my bins. Even the bin in my rather cool basement seems to be processing quite slowly so I'm sure both the worms and myself are looking forward to warmer spring/summer weather. Still seems a long way off !

Re your fungus gnats,what do they look like? Maybe they're white mites like I think I have in one of my bins. Have the bins with the f.nats been getting exactly the same food, bedding etc. as the healthier bins? And are they going to harm your worms or degrade your castings...maybe you can just consider them part of the whole decomposition process.

Good luck,

Harry

harry: they are fungus gnats for sure. Those pesky little black flying critters that like to mate and breed between the ripples of corrugated cardboard in hoards. They are all fed the same stuff. The bins get white mites when fed too much. I guess they're always there just not in concentrated clumps. I don't mind the brown mites because I find them very helpfull breaking down bigger stuff (and bedding) since the worms are toothless, as long as it's not an over-population. I suspect that some of the bins have nematodes that eat the FG larvae. Again these are just my opinion and guesses, not having/using any lab tools.

I have tried to remedy the situation by adding powdered egg shells and more bedding. Some got better and others don't. It is like the egg and the chicken. Is it the environment that caused the FG to thrive and the worms to suffer or do the FG messed up the environment???

Another aspect I was considering: is it possible that the gene pool is getting exhausted? I started these mini bins with 30 mature worms from previous mini bins. From now on I will seed any mini bin I start with worms from my main bin which is a VB48 (Bentley's) for a more mixed gene pool and attach notes on the outside of the bins.

You know something harry. People who don't do worm farming think we're crazy. They say worms are worms, why worry so much about them.

otis, you hit the nail on the head with your last comment! My wife and kids think I'm completely nuts! I don't understand how they can't help but be fascinated by a process that turns kitchen "garbage" into something soooo good for the soil? Not to mention keeping that same "garbage" out of the landfill!

It's funny you know.......although I do enjoy gardening and eating some of my own home-grown fruit and veggies, I think I'm more fascinated by the whole worm composting process. Think if I was no longer able to garden, I would still be raising redworms. "Crazy?"....I think not!

Back to the bugs.....I've heard that red mites can harm the worms. Do you have any opinions on that? And do you think the hundreds of white mites (or that's what I think they are) could be causing any harm to my worm beds? All this brings out the scientist in all of us don't you think?

Harry

""I've heard that red mites can harm the worms"" Yes, I have read that too. I am just not sure which one of the dark coloured mites is the one called "red". I'd say mine are more dark brown than red.

Now I think I have spring tails in some of the bins. I used to see the bigger ones; I'm sure those are spring tails because of the jumping. This time they are real tiny and move faster, hardly visible unless I get real close. White mites are sort of round. These are less than 0.5 mm long and thinner than the finest hair.

I think harm will come to worm bins only if you see lots of the other denizens. How many is lots you'd ask. I guess, once it irks you than it's too many.

According to my 360 guide reddish brown mites[spider mites] and pot worms will not harm the worms but may eat the worms food. Spider mites will be fast movers and if you get too many in the bin the worms will go deep and not feed. You can put a slice of bread in the bin overnight and the mites will go to it and can be removed , Ive done that before. Both cases are usually from an overly moist bin. Adding more brown to the bin will also help.

o.tis and hummersteve, I've had some v.small reddish-brown bugs in my bins.(red mites?). They seem to congregate in very specific spots in the bin, like on grapes for example. they are quite round, look active yet not moving very far. Must have short legs!!

The other critters in one of my bins are v.small white worms only about 1/16" long. They seem to be far more scattered throughout the bin and show up easily against the dark castings, unlike the red mites(?) that are much harder to spot. I'm going to try cutting back on the feeding to see if it helps.

Harry