Hi! I'm new to this forum and have been worm composting for 8 months now. I have a Worm Factory bin (see photo) and mostly the composting is going well. My only problem is that once a week I need to scoop out worms from the bottom area where liquid is supposed to collect. It's becoming a burdensome task. Is there a way to prevent them from moving down into this area? I currently have 2 active trays and I'm about to harvest one. So far harvesting doesn't seem to deter them from moving down. The idea with this set up is that they move up into a fresh tray with new food, right?

In the photo of the liquid catchment area there is only a few worms because I moved them yesterday. After a week there are A LOT. And I just added food to the top tray yesterday so it looks very fresh. The damp paper bag covers the top tray as per instructions.

I appreciate any advice. Thank you

Do you have earthworms (night crawlers) or wrigglers? From the photo, they rather look like earthworms to me. Earthworms like to burrow down, wrigglers like to stay up near the surface. I am no expert, but that could be your problems. Let's see what others have to say.

cwhitt said:Do you have earthworms (night crawlers) or wrigglers? From the photo, they rather look like earthworms to me. Earthworms like to burrow down, wrigglers like to stay up near the surface. I am no expert, but that could be your problems. Let's see what others have to say.

Thanks for your reply. They are red wrigglers.

Hmm, then I'm not sure what is going on. I wonder if the air is too cool for them? They do dig down when the air and top soil is getting too cool.

cwhitt said:Hmm, then I'm not sure what is going on. I wonder if the air is too cool for them? They do dig down when the air and top soil is getting too cool.

That could be. I do keep them outside but they are in a protected corner next to my house and under a patio roof. It occasionally gets down to the mid 30's at night but only briefly. It mostly stays in the 40-50's. And now that I think about it this was happening all summer too.

No actual experience here, and honestly, I have a hard time finding warms in my cool finished compost bin. Always interested in wormfarming though. Do you have too many worms in the bin? That's about the only thing I can think of. There's always the possibility that in the summer they were trying to get away from the heat or dry top layer and in the winter they're trying to find warmth. Have you considered trying a sheet of plastic over top of the bin to keep heat in? Maybe the material in the bin is too wet and they're trying to find a drier habitat?

Just guessing. Would be interested in what the solution is so if you figure it out, let us know.