l would think that odor you smelled when you started searching for worms was that of decomposing worms. It happened to me once and the aroma is unmistakable and you'll make it a priority in life never to kill off any worm herd.

That said, I would dump everything and start over. Reading a bunch of the archives of this forum is highly recommended. Especially stuff about moderation.

I would suggest you might start this next time with a much smaller batch of wormies. Try to keep it manageable for awhile until it starts working.

Good luck

chuckiebtoo

BTW Don't hesitate to ask questions here if you have them.

The smell was kind of like rotting seaweed with a strong sulphur smell. It just smelt like death to me. There wasn't a sign of a single worm though which made me really suspicious.

Over here they're advertising "Starter Packs" having 1000 worms. I honestly couldn't tell you if there were 1000 in the pack, or whether what I had yesterday was 20-50% bigger - all a guess to me.

I think the problem I had was that I potentially added too much moisture to the food waste. The worm droppings were really sludgy. I tried to compensate with the hay, at which time I noticed the small white wrigglers (being uneducated thought there was a chance they might've been worms).

The explosion I saw in two days though defied my logic with all worms disappearing and there being a mass infestation of larvae.

Guess I need to start again and do some reading here first! :)

another pic

one more

MAGGOTS!

Welcome to the forum.

What happened to you happens to many new vermicomposters who do not 'study-up' ahead of time. Worms perish and THEN they 'study-up'. Don't get discouraged.

Most stackable worm systems are inside somewhere with climate control. Outside in shade is ok in a mild climate. Stackables do not have enough mass to withstand extreme heat or cold.

Rabbit droppings are good. Hay is considered food, not bedding. If hay was soaked with rabbit urine, it would heat up easily. Mixed with wet manure in a new small closed bin will heat more. With 107F temperature and a new worm system that lacks much mass, the worms were doomed.

The worms all probably died and the BSF are eating their remains. If they were lucky, they crawled out to escape at night.

Not sure where you are, but if it gets hot there, you should bring the system in. Otherwise make an open bin/bed on, or dug-into, the ground.

Good luck!

Welcome to the world of worms.
""I think the problem I had was that I potentially added too much moisture to the food waste."" I usually find that food waste have enough moisture. If you find that your bin is too wet, shredded newspaper , egg cartons, cardboard, absorb moisture pretty well. However, do not mix it up because it will cause increased temperature. I would move the VC aside from the walls and add handfulls of shredded newspaper or such and on top.
Before you get your new batch of worms, it would be good if you set up your tray (with worm food and such) ahead of time (ca. 2 weeks). Pile up lots of shredded newspaper on top of the wormfood to deter BSF as much as possible if you do not want them in your bin. They actually breakdown food waste for the worms.
People who have BSFL in their worm bin reported that BSFL caused wetter condition and have to watch for increase of temp.
BTW., what you referred to as "worm pee" is in fact leachate. And later probably what used to be your worms. Sorry for your loss.

'I think the problem I had was that I potentially added too much moisture to the food waste.'

I think you've hit the worm on the head, Aaron. I mean the nail. And don't feel bad as I am sure a few of us have done that. I have.

And I advise starting the farm afresh. For a few years (!) I have tried to resusitate my worm farm, which is a compost bin. But it hasn't worked. I have another compost area made from chicken wire, and the worms who live there are incredibly happy. The worms in the bin though, are sluggish.

I've killed my bin worms twice. The first time was when I gave them a bucketful of horse manure for Christmas and the second time was when I added too much moisture (stuff from the teapot). But I doubt the hay and rabbit droppings would have done any harm (they would have loved them) but the excess water drowns them I think.

Are your worms striped? Mine are and I think they are tiger worms. I never bought any, they just appeared, though sometimes when I found an interesting worm who had been disturbed, I would add it to my bin. Introducing new bloodlines, you see.

"What triggered this catastrophe?"

Let me count the ways.

1. Too much food.
2. Compounded by Waaaaay too little bedding.
3. Further compounded by 107F!
4. As luck would have it a Black Solider Fly Larvae found a perfect place to lay her eggs.
5. As her cute litter buggers grew they ate all the food the worms had not gotten to yet. This quickly released a lot of moisture into the bin.
6. The wet hay and rabbit droppings sealed oxygen from the bin.
7. The moisture turned acidic and released volatile things.
8. Leaving little oxygen or more likely a build up of carbon dioxide in the bin.
9. One worm sub-combed first adding its body moisture to the volume. Then two. Then four. ...

On the negative side. Expect to do this again. Don't ask how I know.

On the plus side you are now the proud owner of a well functioning Black Solider Fly Larvae Bin. BSFL will eat more faster. BSFL can handle more heat. BSFL are free to you. BSFL want to work for you. They volunteered! Some people feel BSFL are cuties and have more personality than worms. But pay no mind to poster Darth 5.

Maybe these are your people:
http://blacksoldierflyblog.com/forum/

Here is a link that might be useful: That Was Easy!

There is sure no mistaking dead decomposing worms. I cant think of a smell that will make you gag quicker. Luckily I havent had that happen since Ive been vermicomposting but I have expericeneced the dead worm event , fishing. I also have found a BSFL in one of my bins before. Im guessing since my bins are inside that it came in on fruit peelings. Every since then I wash my peelings before peeling and running thru my juicer.

But maybe juiced BSFL has nutritional benefits. I'm... not gonna Google it. I can only follow so many forums.

"But maybe juiced BSFL has nutritional benefits."
Yep, extra protein readily available :)