If you have extra worms you don't want and can't give to other people, take a shallow tray and put some of them in with a small amount of the compost, and put it out for the birds. The birds appreciate the protein, and you will attract a number of varieties that are not seed eaters. After a day, you can return the cleaned out remains to the bin. I have an established bird feeding area, and find that the birds usually find the offerings in minutes, and are done within an hour or so. They did through the compost pretty well; it is unusual to see any worms left.
Renais

Putting composting worms into a feeding tray for birds is perhaps the worst thing I've ever read on this site. Almost all of us here can give better suggestions.

How about giving them a fair chance. Just put them into your favorite flower bed and let them make you another worm bin.

Feeding compost worms to birds smacks of some perverse sense of revenge against Mary Appelhof.

chuckiebtoo

A true vermicomposter would never recommend (or do) feeding their worms to the birds.

Split them into a second bin, or give some away on Freecycle. Having too many worms, is a nice problem to have. :)

Shredded office paper and leaves isn't bad bedding at all, that's what all of my bins have always been. Leaves, in the fall, but shredded paper is my main bedding, along with torn egg cartons.

I am in mucho agreement with jasdip and cb2 about this compost worms elimination plan.

Maybe do an experiment with the unwanted wigglers like putting them into an unusual container. A hanging basket filled with composting materials? A cardboard box filled with shredded cardboard and nothing else? An old fish aquarium with some bedding materials? A hollowed-out pumpkin at Halloween?

These kinda things provoke interest in worming other than feeding big old fat robins' gluttonous appetites.

CarlosDanger

I am in mucho agreement with jasdip and cb2 about this compost worms elimination plan.

Maybe do an experiment with the unwanted wigglers like putting them into an unusual container. A hanging basket filled with composting materials? A cardboard box filled with shredded cardboard and nothing else? An old fish aquarium with some bedding materials? A hollowed-out pumpkin at Halloween?

These kinda things provoke interest in worming other than feeding big old fat robins' gluttonous appetites.

CarlosDanger

Redundancy pisses me off. Redundancy pisses me off.

I can see that there are not a lot of bird feeders here who combine the hobby with vermicomposting (smile). I know folks who raise worms primarily to feed reptiles (turtles) and fish. One fellow even went through the trouble of gut-loading (see link for info on "clean" worms). There is a bird feeding store in the area that sells small buckets of worms just for this purpose. I understand that if you have a limited quantity of worms, this would not be a good practice, or if you were not an avid birder. I have way more worms than I could ever give away (and I do give away whenever I can), and I've enjoyed feeding the birds since childhood. For me, vermicomposting and birding are a good combo. There are a number of birds that would not come to a feeder if it were not for the worms which I occasionally put out. Note that feeding chicken manure to worms, and then putting the resulting compost back in chicken coops was an early application of vermicomposting discussed in farm books years ago. It was a good way to reprocess waste (still is).
Renais, the birder and wormer

Here is a link that might be useful: Bird feeding

Thanks to everyone for their responses. Renais as a fellow bird lover I can appreciate your out-of-the-box solution :). Jasdip Freecycle is a great idea I'll keep that in mind!
Y'all are right though, for now I think I do need to start another bin--if something goes wrong with the first one as it seems it might, all will not be lost and I can try some different things out. Hubby will be thrilled LOL.

Swimslikeshad and Renais, welcome to the forum.
As you can see, many vermicomposters think of their worms as pets. I think it is better to give them away to help "spread" the hobby of vermicomposting. BUT have no problem with you doing whatever you want with your worms detonation included ;) I have given MANY worms and wormbins away to fishing buddies and others , fed them to my chickens, sold them like slaves, done experiments with them, and even allowed some to perish without food or water.
When your worm bio-mass reaches a certain density (about 2lbs/sq.') they seem to slow or quit breeding. At that point you can split the bin, take some out, or leave alone. If 1/2 of the population is removed, they will quickly reproduce and recover.

Swimslikeshad, could you describe your bin(type and size). Also when did you start it? You have an unusual problem for a newbie (a good one!). I am wondering if you truly have too many worms. Starting another bin is a good idea.

Good luck and happy wormin'

Pete

Great post, Pete.

My favorite method of worming is dividing bins. Because I sell and give away lots of shoe-box sized worm "operations", I've found that the easiest ways to both harvest vermicompost and maximize the growth potential of the populations is thru "divide & mamimize" multiplication.

When worms sense overcrowding, they....unlike humans....self control populations. But at that point, if the populations are divided into 2 bins, BOTH new bins kick everything into overdrive because...........maybe they're lonely?

Chuckiebtoo

WOW! What an amazing revelation regarding 'views of the world'.

There are plenty of "things" to do with surplus worms, many of which have been recommended above, including feed them to all sorts of other animals, INCLUDING BIRDS. I'm still shaking my head in disbelief at some of the responses.

With respect to your original question regarding "climbing the walls":
It could simply be "new digs". My worms did that when I first introduced them to their new bin. They also did it when there was some aspect of the bin environment that was "unpleasant" to them. They go looking for better digs when they don't "like" it or there is "massive" disturbance.

I like feeding birds worms. At the moment, I'm feeling the need to post pictures of doing it.

Paul

Hi Pete
My bin is a homemade stacking Rubbermaid type thing. I have a plastic lid but also several pieces of thin cardboard as a 'lid' on top on the bedding so I can take off the plastic lid and let it breathe if needed. Started it back in Jan and in June the first bin was obviously finished so I transferred the worms to a new bin. It's outdoors in the garage and I live in southern CA. Temps are pretty steady in there, sometimes it gets a little hot but it didn't seem overly warm when I got back. I usually throw an ice pack in one of the containers if it looks like it's going to be a hot one.

Not sure if I have too many in there but everyone says Euros are a little different (not sure how!) plus when I checked the bin after coming back from vacation I was surprised at how many worms were squirming around in there it seemed like the population had exploded since I left.

Thanks!