What do you need the neamtodes in a worm bin for? To get rid of mites and gnats? I know they are expensive.
I just let my worms live with mites, gnats and everything else.

otis11: Yes, to control the flies and gnats. We're in a smallish apartment, and the bin is off the kitchen by the back door. Were the bin outside, I'd say that the flying bugs could go nuts and eat their fill, I don't care, but I cook a lot and I just can't have swarms of fungus gnats and flies up in my kitchen. I consider $30 a worthwhile investment in this case, and part of a multi-pronged approach to quell the infestation (combined with vacuuming up the adults and making a fine-net elasticized bin topper).

I know what you mean because today at lunch I got gnats landing on my plate and trying to get a sip of my wine too.
It would be really embarrassing with guests.
Please keep us posted how the war ends. Good luck.

I would like information on this as well. I have a packet of nematodes in my fridge, that have been there about 3 months. I wonder if they're still any good? I'm going to put some in the yard this evening since the June bugs are active and it's going to rain tomorrow.

If some would be good in my bin, I'd happily put some in there. I'm gonna do some searching.

No solid news yet, but I did apply the nematodes yesterday morning. I chose to soak about 1/4 cup of the vermiculate in about a 1/2 cup of water. I let it set for 30 min. I took the bin to the back porch, removed the dry shredded paper on top, and watered it down with a watering can in order to prep for nematode application. Wearing rubber gloves, I sprinkled the soaked vermiculate all over the top of the bin, and poured in the soaking water.

I'm not psyched about adding so much water into the bin, but you gotta do it if you use nematodes. As a stopgap solution, I added a bunch of torn up egg cartons, shoved down the sides of the bin to soak up the extra liquid. Interestingly, no liquid drained out of the holes in the bottom of the bin, so I guess it's not too soupy in there.

The packaging says that they'll start working about 24 hrs after application. I imagine that it will then take a few days for the nematodes to significantly decimate the larvae. What I can say is that the adult gnats I see thru the mesh bin topper look really panicky, so maybe the battle's going well in there.

I'll update again with more news as it comes in.

Well, my bin is 3 weeks old and the only thing moving in there is the worms. However, there are LOTS of tiny white dots. Not sure what those are. I'm sure I'll find out soon enough, hopefully someone here will tell me.

Have you tried keeping a layer of dry bedding over the scraps in the bin? I've found that is the best way to control flying critters because they can get annoying. But they don't seem to be able to do their thing if there is a dry barrier of coir or something between them and the wet goodness of the bin. Maybe something dry in the bottom collection tray to help dry things out there.

I don't have much experience with nematodes but I'm curious if they'll work. Be careful adding too much vermiculite to the bin. It obviously won't cause any problems itself but i've heard it can chop up worms with its sharp little edges when shifting the compost around.

@Bluelake I wouldn't worry about wriggly little white critters they're almost certainly some kind of larvae but probably not a problem.

The idea of dry bedding above the worm food is definitely a good one as long as one makes sure that it is covering the surface completely and leaves no opening for the grants to crawl into. The tiny white dots that bluelake is mentioning are most probably springtails or their close cousins collembola. They are both beneficial to the worm bin and worth to have inside your bin. Here you can get some more information about other creatures you might find inside your worm bin. worm bin critters

We tried nematodes several years ago to handle an annoying fungus gnat problem with our house plants. First of all there is a shelf-life as nematodes are living creatures so you need to purchase from a source with high turn-over or ships direct. Bottom line is the application of nematodes to our house plants did drastically reduce the fungus gnat population after a couple of weeks but one should note it doesn't entirely eliminate them. After a few weeks there is a balance that's struck (as in all eco-systems) that hopefully one finds they can tolerate. We made it through winter putting up with the few that would never quite go away. In the end, we put all the plants outside in early spring. Then repotted each in fresh, sterilized potting soil, sprayed with a product called Eight, every few days for a couple weeks while they sat in the garage then finally brought them one-by-one back into the house. With house plants you do have options to try controlling the gnat population such as letting succulents dry out completely (breaks the fungus gnat life cycle) or put a tall layer of diatomaceous earth or perlite on top, or spray the plants and soil with Eight, and eschew most organic matter from the potting mix (especially peat)... however I don't believe any of these strategies would be viable within a worm bin. So the best strategy would be start over with the bin, keep it inside (in a dark basement or closet would be best) and maintain a thick layer of dry bedding material on top... even using a lid if necessary. Our experience with the house plants taught us that once fungus gnats get started there is no guaranteed fix to totally eradicate the gnat population short of starting over again.