That is always going to be a tough call as to whether they died off as a result of something in your bin or not.

What, in a new bin, may have killed them?? I used the COIR for bedding and added a bit of food scrap which included some cilantro, a few grapes, some broccoli stems, and a bit of asparagus. I also added a few tp tubes. Sound okay?? I am a bit nervous now to add the new worms if I haven't established it correctly.

It sounds like your bin is OK. When I ordered from Uncle Jim's, I found my worms were less than lively. About 1/3 died within a week. When I have ordered from other sources, the worms arrived in better shape with almost no casualties.
How Uncle Jim counts 1000 worms and how others count also seems to be somewhat different as well.

Do you have a recommendation regarding from whom I should order more worms, or who I might suggest to others I am trying to convince to climb aboard the worm train??

I would go with someone close by, if possible, to minimize shipment times. I would find someone close to you, with good online reviews. That was how I chose the next batch I bought.
I got my Europeans from this company, and was very pleased. They arrive very quickly, they gave me a rebate on shipping, and customer service was terrific. Also, they were very generous with there measurements of amounts of worms. They are relatively close to me, so shipping was very quick.

GR8 B8 LLC, Wholesale Live Bait
Tim & Sherry Cooper
540 N Main St
Morton, IL 61550
309-303-7728 Tim
309-613-0718 Sherry
GR8_B8@comcast.net
www.GR8B8.com

Thanks! BTW, I used to live in Peoria...have been in Michigan 8 years.

Why not find a local supplier and go pick them up?
Composting worms are available at:
http://www.findworms.com/
http://www.cityfarmer.org/wormsupl79.html
http://vermicomposters.ning.com/forum/topics/worm-suppliers
http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/topic/vermicomposting/vermiculture/resource.html

Just thought I'd add my two cents:

My worm bin was started with Uncle Jim's worms - they were a bit small and I don't know how lively I'd be after being shipped in the mail but they weren't dead...

For what it's worth I have a great worm population with plenty of fatties.

If I had it to do over again I'd look for something local for obvious reasons, but his site was the first I came across.

Steamyb, Those are great resources. I do wish someone locally supplied worms. If the Vermicomposters.com map ever recovers you can look there to see if someone close by has worms to share or sell, too.

Thanks for the great sites. Since I ordered from
Uncle Jim's, I have found a supplier here in MI but it is still a good 3 hr. drive time from my neck of the woods. So I will continue to search for a more local source.

look up redwormcomposting.com

Excellent service and excellent fat and lively worms. Also excellent information on the website.

My first half pound of worms came from a garden center. They were small and expensive, and the count included eggs and babies! Ridiculous.

My first order from redwormcomposting was 2 lbs (2000), fabulous!

And then a few months later, 5 lbs (5000) more from redwormcomposting. So many worms I could not believe it. And they have been thriving ever since.

Just a follow up...I received 2500 worms from Uncle Jim's yesterday, (that's 500 extra!!!), to replace the ones that didn't survive the transit. They looked great, squirmy and pink, and they went right into my COW. I was so pleased that Uncle Jim's not only replaced my original order but sent extra as well. I've had great customer service with them...we'll see how this batch of wormies does. I'm so excited!!!

I guess I'm lucky. I have a good sized long established worm farm about 12 minutes drive from my house. I can go right into the harvesting room and watch the guys weigh out my worms. No problems, friendly people.

Dave Nelson

I am glad you got a replcement! I used tripple g worm farm since I could not find any locally. They were pretty cheap too. I was not sure if I got adults or not but I have decided I did. Mostly because I saw 2 mating last night. Kind of strange and gross :)

I also got a nice helping of bedding from them which was mostly coconut coir. then they used shredded newspaper to protect them from shipping so I had more of that to add to my bin.

Karen

"harvesting room and watch the guys weigh out my worms" Can you tell us how they do this? Thank you.

Yes , there is a conveyer carrying the finished compost. The guys at the end of the conveyer then hand sifted a generous pound into a paper bag. They said that a pound represents about 1000 worms and my experience tends to confirm this.

Dave Nelson

"The guys at the end of the conveyer then hand sifted a generous pound into a paper bag."
Dave, just so I understand you correctly; at the end of the conveyer were just worms (seperated from VC) or worms & compost?

Otis
No, the stuff coming off the conveyer was semi finished compost which was used as bedding. I think there must be a further refining step during which the pure castings that they bag and sell are seperated from the worms. I'll pay more attention and ask some questions the next time I go there.

Dave Nelson

On second thought I think I have it backwards. I think the castings must have been separated first and the worms and residue of the compost was what I saw coming off the conveyor.
I finally learned how to spell conveyor. Thank Sol for dicshunaries.

Dave Nelson

Dave, you might want to check this out. It's quite interesting.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/verm/msg1100101413304.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ4uYXHydoo

"at the end of the conveyer were just worms" Just like in heaven, that is what I want. BYOContainer. But seriously fam62cc thank you for the reply. I can't imagine an operation that big near me. You have the motherlode of worm purchasing places, fresh right off the farm. You should feel for the rest of us.

Bently's youtube is great. Even greater would be a version we could speed up.

Postage scale, kitchen scale, these should be handy when the squirm package is opened. If you smile sweetly and ask politely your local Post Office will weigh your pinewood derby car why not a squirm...?

My local post office has a scale in the lobby. No need to ask.

I work for the post office, so if you are ever in southern NJ, I will be happy to weigh them. My co-workers on the other hand.... - Jim

I ordered 2000 Red Wigglers Free Shipping $39.95 on April 28 from Uncle Jim's. The order came in a already wet Priority Mail Small Box. There was only a small handful worms. I didn't count how many worms there, but it's very hard to believe there were more than 500 of them. I weighed the package with the box, bag and worms together. It was only 15 Oz.There was not enough bedding soil with the worms. The worms were half dried and tangled with the bag fiber. I know some of them are still alive. I put them into my new VermiHut. I could only find a few of them still working in my VermiHut after 1 week. It was terrible. I will never buy from Uncle Jim's again.

Gardenworker-Did you try to contact them? Because when I did, they were very helpful. Just a thought.

I purchased my red wigglers (500) from Uncle Jims, and they waited for a bit of "cooler" weather before sending them.
( I made one call to customer service to find out what the holdup was)They arrived alive, well, and hungry. I live in a small town, and have the luxury of being able to talk to my mail carrier. She called me at home when the worms arrived at the post office, and I went and retrieved them straightaway (so they wouldn't sit in the delivery vehicle all day, as I'm at the end of the postal route). I must be doing something right, because they are thriving, and multiplying. Uncle Jims is a pretty good place (for me anyway) to buy worms. They stand behind their "product". They do try to do the right thing. They provided me with a web address Http://www.findworms.com, so I could locate "local" worms, so they really do want you to be successful in your endeavor, and aren't out to grab your money for every little thing.

I just came here to post about my experience with Uncle Jims. I got a Worm Factory but could not find a local source for worms. I made many calls and used the find worms site to no avail.

Finally I ordered 2,000 redworms from Uncle Jims for $36 shipped. I used a 10% coupon code UJW10 that I found on retailmenot.com.

I educated myself as to what to expect by watching the you tube video someone posted here about what a pound of worms should look like. I also found that (in general and very roughly) 1000 redworms=1 lb. SO I was expecting a big old box weighing well over 2 pounds with bedding.

What I got was a small bag (a couple of large handfuls) of seemingly healthy worms. I weighed them on my food scale, and the worms with bag and bedding weighed just over 1.5 pounds. It didn't LOOK like 2,000 worms, but it was hard to tell. I do know that some sites said worms can lose half of their body weight in shipment. If that was the case, and assuming I got average size worms, 2,000 worms might only weigh a pound. It was a hard call for me, but I wanted to make sure I got what I paid for.

I sent a polite email explaining that I did not think I had received 2,000 worms, but that I could not be sure as I didn't count them. I listed the weight of the bag when I received it. Four days later (today), a brand new large bag of healthy worms showed up in my mail box. It was a nice surprise, because I was all set to call them and have to argue my case. All of my worms appear to be healthy and thriving. I'm happy with the price I paid and excited about starting this project.

Thanks for all the help and reviews found in this forum, they are wonderful.

Jo

I ordered 2000 red wigglers from Uncle Jim's late one Sunday night. The site says worms are shipped on Mondays, but I figured mine would be part of the following Monday's shipment. I was surprised to get an email stating they had been shipped, and they arrived on Wednesday. The bedding seemed a bit dry, but the cloth bag was nearly bursting with vigorous, healthy-looking worms. I'm glad I was prepared for them, with a started bin complete with slightly yucky foods.
I've emailed "Jim" several times with questions, and he's always responded the same day. And his prices seem reasonable. I really wanted to get worms from someone more local,even though they were more expensive, but my peculiar geographical location impedes pick-up - and Uncle Jim's was the closest that guaranteed live delivery. My experience has been a positive one, but I'm new to all this. Maybe I'm just shiny and optimistic.

hm. so girlmeetsbuoy writes a glowing review the same day s/he registers.

hey folks thinking of using Uncle Jim's for x-mas gifts: do your homework. check the internet, and you'll quickly find why no one trusts this outfit.

I've ordered worms from this place and a couple others in the past. I understand that many of you think that making things right after a screw up makes them a good company. I look with a slightly different perspective, I guess. The good business is the one that doesn't have to make things right, but rather gets it right the first time (unless they are just starting out and have bugs to work out, of course. . . . which is not the case here).
A couple reasons:
1) All you that feel you didn't get what you paid for, but then got compensated might consider how many people don't call for the compensation. I am sure that number outweighs the number that do call. A lot of people just try to avoid that awkward complaint. In other words, it can be profitable to purposely short people and only compensate upon complaint. Best of both worlds. Short shipments and resulting good press. Let's face it. A lot of vermicomposters come to sites like this first and run the name of suppliers to see what people have to say. Those of you that got compensated did a good deal of free advertising for a company that didn't get it right the first time. There is a motor manufacturer that actually adopts this philosophy and does very well for themselves. Not saying the company listed here is doing this. Just saying it is a business strategy some businesses of all walks employ.

2) Even assuming that a business isn't purposely screwing people the first go round, I don't feel it matters. I'll go with the ones that get it right the first time for the same price. Especially considering how many complaints I've seen about them getting it wrong the first time (including my own). I got worms from way further away and they weighed out right, yet the worms from the business that has been doing this for years looked like crap?

So, moral of story, if a business makes the same mistake over and over and has yet to fix it so they get it right the first time, either they don't know what they are doing or the know EXACTLY what they are doing. I don't like either or those.

P.S. I'm in no way associated with a worm supplier. The above is only my observation based on personal experience and the experiences I have read on this forum and others. I will grant a plug for the company that actually earned it: Bentley of redwormcomposting.com got me taken care of the first time without a hitch. Hopefully he can do the same for anyone else that contacts him.

I ordered from Uncle Jim's a few weeks ago - paid for 2000 worms. I received a 1.25# box including EVERYTHING (package, padding, bag of dry peat moss, and worms) There MAY have been 200 worms in my 2000 worm order - about 2 shot glasses worth. I emailed them complaining. After a week, I received a reply saying they were re-shipping. They did. I got the worms Friday. This time there were more worms, but only 10 ounces total - maybe a thousand if you give them the benefit of the doubt. So between the original order and their attempt to make things good, I got maybe half of what I had paid for.

Meanwhile, I had ordered 2 pounds from worms4earth.com and was thrilled to receive easily 3 times the worms in their order as I did from TWO attempts by Uncle Jim's to send me 2000 worms. Uncle Jim's even screwed up their attempt to make good on their first screw up. I will never order from them again!