""They just hang out there, even though the above bins are perfectly dry."" Could it be because the above bins are PERFECTLY dry? Worms do not like dry.
I jammed a weed cloth underneath the bottom tray (between the bottom tray and the collection/sump tray. When doing this, you might want to get somebody to help you so you can get the cloth as taut as possible, not sagging in the middle when setting it up.

"I have a question to vermicoposters who have multi-tier bins (please, only multi-tier bin users...this will really help me)." "If you're a multi-tier bin user who has experienced the same or know why they keep traveling to the bottom of my bin, can you please let me know?"

Hopping up and down on one foot biting my tongue with my mouth closed and my legs crossed and arms crossed as if I have to pee but regardless I will honor your request and not post the answer as I do not have a multi-tier bin.

EQ: now you have made me very curious but I quess I'll NEVER know your wise answer. Dang!

Nope because it is secret "worm magic" known only to non tray system vermiconposters. Worms read instructions and know which type of system they are in and act accordingly. Information from one system type is totally non transferable to a sister system type.

Still the best one was the guy who must have been doing a college dissertation or just hired for $$$ to a company to figure out how to get rid of the redworms that were infesting (from releases upstream?!?) his redworm ideal systems and in actuality the redworms probably were indeed helping the systems to work better by cleaning them and keeping the system non clogged. Posted on how to Kill redworms.

Ok it's not like we are not all experts on how to do that but it is usually unintentional.

call 911

Kendra,
I have the same problem. I started noticing it when the weather warmed up in my garage this spring. Mind you, the temperature in my garage doesn't change that much, but I guess even a 5-10 degree change in the ambient temperature might make a difference to the worms (say from high fifties to mid-sixties). It does seem like the pace of decomposition accelerated.

I switched the order of my tiers, so that the oldest material (where the worms kept collecting) was on top. Yes, they still kept heading downhill to the bottom tray (and beyond).

I then tried putting window screen at the bottom of the oldest material. The little buggers are either going through or around it.

Contrary to all the FAQs I've been reading around the internet, it does appear that the worms are heading to the wettest part of the bin.

I've decided to pick up the pace of the harvesting of the castings. I'm emptying the bottom two tiers of the most decomposed materials a few weeks ahead of "schedule." I'm going to add a bunch of fresh bedding and maybe some cornflour to help tide the worms over until the newest food decomposes enough for them to eat.

What I can't figure out is, even though I'm most likely over-wetting my bin, the worms still seem to head to where it is the wettest. Like you said, the top levels seem to be in good shape in terms of wetness and temperature. Why the worms are heading into the sump, I don't know.

Any helpful suggestions (other than smart alecky remarks) are very appreciated.

I don't see what the problem is with some worms going down instead of up. ? They are in the bin, they're happy, and about once a week, I scrape them back into an upper tray, and it starts all over again. The food gets eaten, I get to feel like I'm taking care of them (as if they really need it-snort!), so we're all happy.

Yes, Kendra, I have a multi-tier bin, a Worm Factory 360 to be specific. I vary between 2 and 4 tiers, depending on what we eat at a particular time. There are never more than 5/6/8 (I really don't count) in the bottom, and no, I don't know WHY they go there. I don't know why worms do a lot of what they do. I'm just glad they do it.

multi tier worm bins are real bad for brand newie worm wranglers. The trouble is they seem like simplicity itself. open lid and throw kitchen scraps which are 70% water in top tray and sprinkle with water. Over time these kitchen scraps 'decompose' and the worms eat upwards on the food, fungi, organisisms all muching away at these foods.

The water and moisture from the kitchen scraps follow gravity to the bottom of the bin into the sump. So this bottom area tends to mainly be moist and smelly since new worm wranglers tend to not empty the leachate (which is toxic and poisonous) off enough, so the worms tend to dislike this bottom area since it has yucky stagnant water pooling there; its basically a swamp since it also contains worm castings.

Thus new worm wranglers often drain off this foul smelling soup and flush the system with more water, but by 'overwatering' now they are compacting the upper layers with water molecules. this is because water acyaully is very heavy and it clings to itself, so the overwatering tends to compress the food bedding layers and the water clings to itself and displaces oxygen. So now we get anerobic decomposition and instead of aerobic methane that quickly disapates off in a well balanced oxygenated worm bin we get a compressed mass of food that slows down its decomposition due to lack of oxygen. Now we get ammonia gas and this gas kills worms real dead, so the worms must run away (into the bottom sump) or do a worm run and leave the bin entirely to avoid being gassed to death.

So, to dry, to wet? the newbie worm wrangler tends to lighten up on how much water they add, so gravity tends to pull down moisture into the bottom layers and water sump. So now the upper layers of newer food tend to dry out more and worms breathe through their WET MOIST skin so they tend to move to where the water is (into the sump) luckily. AS long as they have a ladder to reclimb back up to the bedding layers instead of drwoning in the sump. Remember they need moisture to breathe so they dehydatrate if they stay up top. If it rains then they worm run away to the refreshing outside rain and die from sunlight or lawn fertilizer or whatever.

So this is why (especially) with a sudden unplanned for run of hot weather that evaporates or transpirates your top layers of moisuture away your worms flee to the bottom sump layer for the life giving water. Remember without water worms are dead, dry bedding to a worm is the same as you crawling over broken glass or sandpaper without protection; it would not be nice so do not 'neglect' your worms.

These factors and others are why multi tier worm farms are not the greatest for newbie worm wranglers, but remember worms are very resilient and people learn if they lose or hurt their babies (worms), so over time humans get better at 'listening' to what worms "like".

Generally worms like being left alone to do their thing and mainly new worm wranglers try to hard to 'help' the worms with to much food or water but we humans usually get better over time, but of course you have to take note of the weather since worms cannot learn to drink from a tap; how could they turn it on ? ;)

Thank you for your input, ggt196. However, I don't know if it was your intent, but I find your use of "newbie worm wrangler" and the general tone of your "lecture" to be unnecessarily condescending and overly pedantic. I can't speak for others, but two years ago, when I wrote my previous post, I was not a "newbie worm wrangler. I was in my second year of using a multi-tiered bin (my fifth year of keeping worms). Even if there is some truth in what you wrote, it had already been said in a previous post. and in a less condescending manner.

As for my situation, I found that one reason that my worms were "heading south" to a lower layer was that the base of the bin sat on concrete and cooled the bottom of the bin. I put my bin back on its legs and the problem stopped.

lol; not sure why you would say that, especially since my comments were not directed at any person in particular. But I am sure; given time and councelling, you will get over it.

To put another way, i had no clue what might of offended you until i went back and re-searched; anyways my comments were never directed at you and i apologise if you felt i was implying insult to worm wranglers.

All i was doing was posting a "generic" explantion of why people new to worms often have these common types of problems, i was never talking about you; and after reading the above again i am glad your worms are doing better...

I have a multi tiered bin and I notice more worms than usual in what would be considered the harvest bin and I can admit it is wetter than above bins but I do not have any liquid drainage[leachate] nor do I ever have any. So I may start to have shredded paper below the food I add instead of just to cover that added food.