Well as promised I have sorted my BIN 1 exactly 6 months on from when I started it, and this is what I found:

The weight was 422gms (or 14.9 oz). Almost a pound!

After the first 200 or so, I realised just how futile it would be to actually do a head count. There are so many babies, adolescents and adult that it would be near on impossible. Sorry about that. I didn't really think that there would be so many.

Bucket weighed 268 gms.

Above is the bin with all the castings / bedding returned to it. I did find that it was majorly wet. It still smelled quite OK, but it must have been close to the limit. I did find it interesting that there were more cocoons and young down in the wetter parts of the bin. THIS BIN HAD NO HOLES IN IT AT ALL, just a non-sealing lid. I have added LOTS of dry cardboard and shredded newspaper to the bedding as I have returned it to the bin. I'm not giving up on the non-holed bin just yet!

And now the big finale....


Back to work you guys!

Some other interesting things along the way:
-I have fed this bin only 10 times in 6 months. Initially only a cup every 2 weeks and now approx 3 cups a week.
-I add DRY cardboard and newspaper only when is looks a little wet.
-The best change I saw in the bin was when I went away for 2 weeks and ignored them. This really gave them a chance to work things over, and the light grey castings look great (all that paper).
-My worm calculator is very close to correct. It predicted just over a pound of worms, and the actual was close. I didn't get all the worms when I harvested, but then again, I didn't quite get all the bedding out of the worms either.

Bin 1 can just about be given to a new home (I'm hoping to give it to the local kindergarten. I think the 3 and 4 yr olds would get a blast out of it, and I could rotate their bin with my others at intervals, just to keep things working nicely). Yup, I like that idea!

Bins 2 and 3 are 2 and 3 months behind this one respectively, and bins 4,5,6,7 and 8 are about 2 months behind that again. All doing well.

If this is the kind of result I can look forward to from the other bins, I'm pretty stoked!

Now I just have to nail down the holes or no holes deal........
Cheers!

I actually estimate I have more like 1200+. There are many, many juveniles in that 1 lb or so, but I don't think it's about number per say, but mass (to eat mass of scraps). Still pretty cool though! LOL.

Andrew

Your wormies look awesome, so healthy looking and sure look happy! Hope mine turns out like yours. I love the idea of giving them to the kids. That's such a great way to teach them good stewardship. Can't wait to see how the rest of your bins turns out. Thanks for sharing your pics and lessons learned.

Sandra

I do a similar thing, using dry cardboard to level out the moisture and all.

I have 8 working 35 liter (10 gallonish) plastics tubs as above, and a Reln Worm Factory (4 tray stacking). Between these bins, I consume (I meant, they consume) over 10 lbs per week of kitchen scraps and almost all of our junk mail (which was one of my early goals).

My current goal is to be able to GIVE away 1 lb per week and still maintain enough stock to achieve goal no.1. I think worms are just too expensive to buy for a first timer, as the risk of killing your first herd is high, normally by too much feeding. If you could try it for free, then maybe more people would wake up to the idea of vermi-cycling (hey that's not bad! VERMI-CYCLING! lol).

By my estimations, the number should be nearer 15 lbs in the next 5 months, but that assumes room to grow into and enough food and bedding. Since I won't be changing the container to a bigger one, I reckon you might just be right. They should achieve a maximum density sometime in the next 6 months, give their habitat.

If I happen to still have this bin in 6 months time (which I doubt), I'll do a re-count to see.

Definately slow feeding doesn't hurt your herd,. It may even be a good thing (for a small bin).

If all 8 bins are like this one, then in 6 months, my total should be close to 25lbs at maximun density (ie 8 bins @ 2 sq. ft surface area...1-2 lbs per sq.ft, 8" deep).

Nice numbers don't ya think? LOL!

Thanks Borderbarb, I'll keep home schooling in mind. The possibilites really are endless, aren't they?

Couldn't help myself, I started seasoning another bin today (that'll be bin 9, the final piece in the puzzle). I've left cardboard to soak for a few days, then I'll add some compost (ex "hot" compost bin) and some food (maybe 2 cups of kitchen blended scraps), and leave to brew up for a fortnight. This time, I might add more worm than I started my others with. I think I'll do a sort from bin 1 (again, yes I know, poor planning, should have been ready to go now! Oh well.)and add a couple of hundred, just to boot things along a bit.

Cheers

Did you ever decide on the "holes or no holes" question?

I an raising ANCs, and am currently using a RM bin with vents but no drain holes. I also add dry shredded newsprint and cardboard when things seem to be getting too moist, although it seems the youngsters prefer the wetter areas.

Do you tip the bin to one side so that the worms can choose their preferred moisture level?

In short, no I haven't figured it out yet. As you'd expect, the bins with the air holes around under the rim seems a little drier, but as for population, they seem exactly the same.

I'd say it's probably a little easier to manage one with air holes, but in reality doesn't make much difference.

My bins live flat. I only elevate one end for a couple of days IF it seems a little too wet. The collected liquid is used on the garden.

I agree that they seem to like the wetter areas better, but I think you've got to be careful when sailing this close to the wind, as it were.

Cheers

Have you ever thought of putting all of the paper dry at the bottom of the bin and maybe not even tearing apart the paper and egg cartons? This would add air tunnels to the bottom of the bin.

Can't wait to see what practical ideas you come up with when you decide to try a flow through.