Hi, everyone--this is a caveat, esp. for newbies. I have an almost unlimited source of cardboard (work at a library--book orders all come in perfectly fine cardboard boxes), which I used as a regular addition to my homemade plastic bin operation & which ran for over a year without any problems, except for our range of climate, which required much closer monitoring after I moved the bin outdoors.

HOWEVER, we got in 2 large map chests, which came with really sturdy cardboard around the drawers, and which I shredded and added to the bin. Within only a few days, the smell of the bin went off to an acrid odor, but I did nothing, planning to monitor it a little more closely. Should have pulled all that cardboard out at once, as the smell worsened and the worms died. I was really saddened to lose them, and also fearful of using the bin contents on things I would later eat. That cardboard never did completely decompose. Then I tried a Worm Factory, being seduced by the ease of harvesting compost....Now, however, I have just added worms to a bin made in an old cast iron tub, and things are looking up. What I have learned--ALTHOUGH worms are quite adaptable:

1) beware industrial grade cardboard & papers--they are made of things not good for worms or humans, perhaps the glue/possibly the fibers themselves.

2)Things that work in a large bin may not work well in a small bin--for example, I can use far larger pieces of ordinary cardboard in my bathtub than I could in my bin.

3) Temperature ranges and additions to the worm bed affect small worm beds far more quickly than larger beds.

The Worm Factory was just not suitable for outdoor use here, where temps. may stay in the 90s in the summer, but can also drop into the teens in the winter. Would be fine indoors; likewise, the cast iron tub, which I have been composting in (without worms so I thought) from about December on, has been composting stuff rapidly, had many night crawlers in it, and all without a lid of any sort--just kept dumping frozen stuff directly into it as my freezer door filled up.

Hope this helps someone else...

Escha