That is strange!

Are they near a heat source?

I'm a countrybumpkin, I guess, but I am attracting worms like crazy in a corner of my garden. I took a 5 gal. bucket and drilled drainage holes in it's bottom, and put in my kitchen scraps in layers followed by some topsoil and leaves. The worms have shown up by the handfuls. Needless to say, the scraps disappear almost quicker than I can put them out. The bucket is watered by overspray when I water the area with the hose. Unless you're attached to your pantry, if you have a corner in your yard, you might try a similar set-up and see if you get more favorable results.
Hope this helps.

It seems like you're doing everything right.

What are you feeding them? Describe how wet the bedding usually is. Have you seen any critters other than worms in your bin? I can't think of anything else.

Stevsie: How big is your bin? 1000 worms aren't that many when they start spreading out. They just seem to blend in with the territory. For your own peace of mind/curiosity, get a cottage cheese container and scoop out about a cup of the bin contents. Go deep. Then with a chopstick, slowly go through the material, rotating the container as you go. You'll probably find worms and cocoons. Good luck.

I agree with folly grows, I started with 500 worms in an 18 gal. bin and a month later I really have to poke around to find them. Also your worms might have found a spot they like and be hangin there(ie a feeding ball) I found a feeding ball the other day about the size of my fist. I think they were eating some food I put in that spot about a week and a half ago. I know its not good to poke around to much but you kind of need to in order to see if they are still in there. I bet they are!

Wow, thanks for all the follow ups! I emailed the guy I got the worms from locally, and he says they're not dead - said I'd know the smell of 1,000 dead worms, which seems somewhat reasonable.

I've feed them melon, beets, coffee grounds, radish greens, celery, grapes, peas and a banana peel - nothing with any salt or oil on it. I haven't fed them much because that seems to be a common problem. While I've never actually seen them eating, the food has disappeared (did it just rot away?). Although, not so quickly lately.

I haven't added any water because the decomposing food seems to have added all the moisture I've needed - could it be too dry?

There's no heat source close by. The washer and dryer are also in the pantry, but not close enough to affect the temp (I've checked), they do shake our old hardwood floors a bit, could this be a problem?

I'm using The Worm Factory and, of course, am still working on the first tray, so I feel like I should be able to find some worms. I fear that one day I'll move something in the pantry and find hundreds of dead worms behind it. Could they really have escaped without my noticing?

Twice I've seen really tiny (barely visible) little brown bugs (are these the mites everyone talks about?) running about, but added more shredded paper and never saw them again.

So many questions! I love the idea that they're all huddled together in a "feeding ball." How lovely, I hope it's true. If I decide to buy more worms due to the lack of "action," should I buy cocoons instead of live worms?

Thank you all for your feedback. My boyfriend thought I was crazy when I started worm comsposting; I'm glad to know I'm not the only one. Now I'm just sorry that I didn't speak up sooner!

Ahh, a Worm Factory!

Stevsie, lift up the working tray. You will see some worms dangling through the holes. Also check the catch tray. If you find some wanderers in there, they are desperately trying to get home, but can't find a way up. Fill the catch tray with shredded paper which will wick up the moisture that is attracting the worms and give them a leg up back to the working tray. If you lurk here long enough, you will see that many of us WF owners use the shredded paper in the bottom catch tray and some kind of fabric (weed cloth, kitchen wash cloth, old t-shirt, etc.) between the catch tray and the underside of the working tray to stop the migration.

The food you are feeding sounds good. We can't comment on the quantities you are feeding,

The bugs you describe are probably mites.

We need some way of understanding how much moisture is in your bin. The common description of a well managed bin is like a wrung out sponge. If you take a handful of bedding and squeeze it, about two drops should come out.

Some of the food you are feeding has enough moisture to keep the bedding moist enough.

How deep is the bedding?

My guess: Your bedding might be a little dry near the top, so the worms are staying deep in the bedding where it is moister. You just have not poked around enough to find them.

But I could be wrong.

Sorry, I've been slow to respond here. There were no worms dangling or in the catch try, but I did go ahead and add an old T-shirt between the bottom tray and catch tray in case this becomes an issue in the future - thanks for the suggestion. I finally lost patience and dumped the contents of the bin out on a tarp to sort though it. I did find some worms (not tons). They were all down at the very bottom of the tray which leads me to believe that sbryce is right, the bedding was too dry towards the top. The good news: I found a number of cocoons! I fluffed the bedding with more shredded paper, spritzed it with a spray bottle and put them back in the bin.

I'm receiving shredded paper from a friend who shreds everything. He brings it to me in a trash bag every couple of weeks and I noticed the other day that he uses those scented trash bags. Could that be bothering the worms?

Lastly, I contacted my local "worm expert" about replenishing my worm supply (I don't think I have the patience to wait for them to replenish themselves!) and he suggested trying European Night Crawlers this time. According to him, they're easier to manage and harder to kill. I read a number of past posts here, but I'm seeing contraditory info on these "Euros." Should I give them a try? I was just getting used to the little red guys!! :)

Thanks again for you help.

I don't think the scent from the garbage bags is a problem. The paper is probably not absorbing the scent.

Unless you have a lot of cocoons, it will take a long time for your worm population to return. If you do have a lot of cocoons, the worm population will explode in about a month.

I'd stick with EF's if that is what you already have.

The vibrations from the washer and dryer may be annoying your worms. They don't like vibration.

In your place I would got a bunch more red wigglers. I had a slow going bin outside for three years. I am sorry I waited before getting a few more pounds. Now I have two inside bins too, and they are now feeding my outside bins that had been depleted over this past winter.
I finally have almost enough compost!