I've had a worm-bin (Worm-Factory 360) for about 4 and half months. I think a lot worms have died and I need to buy new ones.

The bin was fine at first. Only issue was a bunch of pepper plants that grew in there--they were taking over before I pulled them up.

Then the room I put them in got pretty cold. I don't think below 40, but cold. Activity slowed down. So I moved them to the basement near a heater. It's warm down there but not hot--probably around 70 degrees. Things have never really picked up again.

I've got about an inch of compost in the collection tray, and probably another inch or two in the bin itself. Food does eventually get eaten but it takes a couple weeks for two handfulls to disappear. I add more food about once a week and add water every few days because it's relatively near the heater and would dry out otherwise. I use newspaper as bedding but haven't added much recently as it has not gone down.

There are still worms in there but not many. Even if I root around I won't see more than two or three. It definitely doesn't seem like there's the original thousand in there. Should I be seeing more? Or are they just better at hiding than I'm giving them credit for?

If you do think it's time to get new worms, is there anything from what I've described that suggests why so many died? I feed them kitchen scraps--egg shells, chopped greens, some coffee.

Thanks for the help!!!