WORMS LEAVING THE BIN

by Tom
(San Diego, CA)

I have a Vermihut Worm Composter which has been in operation for 5 weeks. It is 16" X 16" X 5" high. I started with 1 lb of worms(assorted ages-"bed run") It came with a sheet of porous material that goes between the bottom of the first bin and the liquid collection tray.

Every day when I check the bin, I find that worms have dropped down on the sheet of material (anywhere from 10 to 50 worms). I use a small screwdriver to lift them up and place them back into the top of the bin. My bedding is composted horse manure mixed with shredded newspaper. I feed them about 2 cups of diced fruit and vegetable scraps twice a week along with additional shredded newspaper in the bottom of the bin(to absorb some of the liquid produced by the food and the worms themselves).

Why would they "leave" the bin? Or, are they accidentally dropping through the 1/4" square holes in the bottom of the bin? There does not seem to be a correlation between the number of worms found each day and when food is added.

Any help you can provide will be appreciated.

Thank you,

Tom

Answer from BigTex Worms
Thanks for asking Tom! Worms are stupid and they dont know they are not supposed to be down there. I have a similar bin the worm factory, and I always have worms down in the drip chamber just hanging out. About once I month, I scrape them up back up to the working layers. This is not an indication of anything being wrong with your worms or bin. It just happens. NOW if your worms are on the ground or walls around your bin, then that can be a sign of bad ph from overfeeding or using the wrong bedding, but it does not sound like the case with your bin. Just sounds like typical nosey worms wanting to check things out.
Your bedding sounds perfect AND your feeding sounds just right, as long as it is moist too, then all should be well.

Hope this answers your question,

Liz (BigTex Worms)