Hi mywormsmypets; All I can tell you is that the smaller the bin the less forgiving it is to the bin keeper. I would suggest keeping them in the worm factory and having each girl bring a small amount of food so she can feed the worms her donation. Have the den members try to think of things to bring for the worms on their own(bedding materials). When they bring the donations have them do the preparation and put it in the bin. Take a whole year and if there is a fair/competition let the den submit it as a den project. That way they learn about having pets, caring for the pet. The green way of organic waste management. Perhaps that the squiggley way of worms really isn't all that bad and worms are natures little litter cleaners.

The first batch of worms that I killed is when I tried to raise them in a 5 qt, pail. It was very unforgiving. Actually, I think that I set a record for getting rid of worms in the shortest period of time (around a week). A little more space helped on my second try.

I have seen different results - using a pint glass peanut butter jar. As an experiment, I took 5 adult worms from one of my larger bins and put them in the smaller container. Basically I was curious to see if they would survive and if so, how would their population increase.

I drilled three 1/8" holes in the lid and filled the jar 2/3 full of toilet paper roles run through a standard office paper shredder. I added coffee grounds and two moldy strawberries with a tablespoon of water. Then I dropped in the 5 worms. The jar sits on the shelf above my computer, and I admit, they get disturbed every couple days so I can see how they are doing. I like the glass jar because I can see a lot of what is going on in there.

I started May 1st with the 5 worms. On Aug 1st, there were 61 worms in the bin - starting to look a little crowded but active and doing fine. I have added more shredded paper when things looked dripping wet and added food when previous feeding has disappeared. I have added all sorts of food - little chunks of apple, watermelon, grapes, banana peel, moldy bread, and more (only tablespoon sized amounts at time and wait for it to disappear before adding more). It has been very interesting to watch the "bin" change over time. I did a count and put all the worms back in on Aug 1st. I want to see if I can keep them going and if so, see where the population levels off at. I keep the jar inside a box so they are in the dark when I am not watching them.

I found that I like the jar better than coffee cans I have used because I can see a lot of what the worms are doing. If you want to see activity over a short period of time like several weeks, here is what I would recommend:

Get the jar ready with holes in the lid and about 1/2 full of damp shredded paper. Then add vermicompost from an existing bin up to the 3/4 full level. Add 20 or 30 worms. Add one of their favorite foods like a small 1" cube of watermelon on top (so you can see it) and close the lid. Find a place for the jar and put a paper lunch sack or box over the jar to keep it dark. Check the jar to see what the worms are doing.

Hope that helps.

Wow, good work. For several months I kept worms in a coffee can at work. I put about a dozen in there and ripped up some office paper. I put a handful of coffee grounds and put bits an pieces of apple or banana peel every now and then. I never counted them but it appeared that they were reproducing. I ended up giving them away to a coworker who was very surprised that I actually had worms in a can at work.

I wouldn't recommend coffee cans for the project because of the corrosion of the can. It get's pretty rusty in there. I like the clear plastic idea so you can see them when you want.

I've got a mini-worm bin out of a clear square mixed salad greens container. (1/2 lb size). I wanted to see how they would react to the the light, and they don't mind it at all. I filled it full of shredded paper and put a few worms in there. They can burrow in the paper to get away from the light, if they so wish.

I also had some in a Folgers coffee container....holes punched in the lid and around the top of the can. They did well there, too.

If you use just the worm factory, have each girl bring a different kind of food. Mark their names on plastic forks, stuck in the area of their food. Watch it over time, documenting which ones disappear quicker, or not at all. Explain why some things break down, while others don't.

You could do this with individual cans as well.

Hi mywormsmypets; There is another alternative to the coffee can and it is the 1 gallon containers that Wal-mart Ice Cream comes in. Its a little over a gallon. Iuse them as experimental bins. Start with 25-30 worms in each. I'll post a couple pics so you can see. They work well as long as care is used.

[IMG]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t82/LKittle/Worm%20in%20General/Worms_Sept_22_2K8-05.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t82/LKittle/Worm%20in%20General/Worms_Sept_22_2K8-06.jpg[/IMG]

Hi mywormsmypets; There is another alternative to the coffee can and it is the 1 gallon containers that Wal-mart Ice Cream comes in. Its a little over a gallon. Iuse them as experimental bins. Start with 25-30 worms in each. I'll post a couple pics so you can see. They work well as long as care is used.

[URL=http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t82/LKittle/Worm%20in%20General/Worms_Sept_22_2K8-05.jpg][IMG]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t82/LKittle/Worm%20in%20General/th_Worms_Sept_22_2K8-05.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t82/LKittle/Worm%20in%20General/Worms_Sept_22_2K8-06.jpg][IMG]http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t82/LKittle/Worm%20in%20General/th_Worms_Sept_22_2K8-06.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Third time a charm?

Thanks folks. Guess what I found!! My local dollar store has plastic servers with shaker holes in the lid. Just the right size to keep fat worms in. At least they haven't escaped yet. I did one one week with cardboard toilet tube shredded, a spoonful of compost and a spoon full of coffee and a few chopped apples. This was somewhat successful (5 worms) but difficult for the kids to see the casts quickly. Today I started another one with Kleenex for bedding, a teaspoon of coffee ground and compost and 2 frozen melon balls. My idea is that the casts will be easily visible on the white Kleenex. What I am going for is instant gratification for 5 year olds. Hopefully they will eat that up quickly. I will let you know.

Mywormsmypets: So how has the worm composting gone with the 5-year olds?

OOh, this looks like fun. I wonder if my girls and I can do something like this and get badges (Brownies/Cadettes) for it.

I've outgrown my Brownie uniform but I like the plastic idea! People at work are always asking me about the worms so I am going to start one at my desk and eventually give it away.

My idea would be to use a 16-32 oz deli cup. NOTE: ANSWER THIS: Can i raise enough worms so i can have 20 or more worms by the next 2 weeks. Do the same thing:

I had an idea and have it half done. I took two coffee cans (not the metal but the cardboard kinda ones) and cut the bottoms out with a can opener. I then smoothed the slightly ragged edge it left. I them duct taped them together REAL good. I now have a long coffee can with a plastic lid at both ends. I put a slew of 1/16 inch holes all over the sides and on the lids. Here's my plan. I will put some worms in and then put a bunch of food in. As the food disappears I will put in more AND hopefully the level will rise. When the worms are really near the top I will be "pretty" sure that there are a bunch of castings under them. Soooo, I will flip the can over, remove the lid (that WAS the bottom) and scoop out castings. When I get to the worms I will assess their numbers and perhaps remove some and start another little "bin". I will then have 2 bins. If someone were to do this with a "timing" factor of , say a week apart, they could also harvest castings every week . Thoughts????

Wow, that is a heck of an idea, arizona_wormer. It's essentially a flow-thru bin.

I think it would work. I'm not sure on the harvesting every week, part, but it's sure worth doing. We all love experiments!

This whole thread is cool! I work in environmental science, and I am totally going to put a (glass or plastic) worm bin on my desk. What a great way to get the idea out there.

jasdip5a,
The idea of harvesting every week comes from having many of these little bins. If you had ... say... 26 or 52 an every week harvest would actually represent a wait of 26 or 52 weeks for each one. With a little experimentation one could easily determine just how long it would take from inception to fruition. It wouldn't need to be 26 or 52 BUT enough time to be able to harvest one every week. If you doubled up there would be twice as many castings. I am picturing these little bins on shelves like folks that can food use. Each one has a "projected" harvest date and are fed on a schedule. The "projected" harvest date need not be "cast in stone". A look when feeding would speak volumes about the "right" time to flip it over and harvest, remove some worms, feed some food and return it to the shelf with a new "projected" harvest date. After a while one could have it down to a science.

Ah now I get what you're saying Arizona.
If you started 6 bins at once, they "could" potentially be ready at the same time. But by harvesting at different times, they would then be started at different times.

I currently have 5 smaller buckets, instead of 1 large worm bin. They were all started at the same time.......when I harvested my large bin.

One idea for doing a few smaller bins, is in case of a catastrophe, I wouldn't lose my whole herd, just one bucket. But of course I don't anticipate any catastrophes. LOL

For what it's worth, I think a rotational system with associated rotational harvesting is a good idea, BUT... one would have to have the room for all of the bins.

This is an excellent concept for mathematical modeling. That is not to suggest that such modeling would represent broad-scale reality, but rather that one could get an idea of the elements that would need 'focus'. For example:

If you wanted to start your rotating system with 26 'bins', and you wanted to harvest on a two-week interval and you wanted to start harvesting in 2 weeks after start up, you would need 26 lbs of worms. That's a lot of worms. At $25 per pound - a common rate for a pound of worms - that's $650 start up costs just for the worms.

If on the other hand, you wanted to start with one pound of worms, but end up with 26 bins, each with one pound of worms "working", then you would have to take the surplus from the first bin and put it in the second bin. If you got half a pound of worms in two weeks from an initial one pound, it would take four weeks to get the second bin to 1 pound of worms. (However, since you'd be adding worms at two weeks from the first bin, the time to get to one pound would be shorter. However, since you were only harvesting at two week intervals, you have a "discrete" component, and your rotational cycle would be constrained by that discrete component.) Then, you'd have two bins, each with one pound of worms producing half a pound of worms every two weeks so the third bin could have one pound of worms only one week after the second bin had its one pound of worms. THEN, the fourth bin would be started, and once it was 'cooking', you could start adding multiple bins at each two week interval.

Hence the mathematical modeling comment.

As with all models - mathematical and otherwise - there are critical elements. The most important of which are:
1) "initial conditions" - like how many bins are you starting with,
2) "production per unit time" - like the half a pound of worms per week.
3) "harvest of surplus" - how many are going to be harvested - not put back in the system - per interval of time.
And so on...

Again, I'm NOT suggesting that the output of such a model would represent reality for every wormer, but rather that the exercise could inform one of the significant components and, once those factors were known (empirically), what would happen in the system if/when hose factors were changed.

Such a model would likely have a very narrow scope of application as there are so many factors that effect worm production. Unless one was willing - and able - to reproduce the exact conditions and procedures under which the model was developed, it is unlikely that the model would 'translate' to other locales and "systems".

The original post was quite some time ago, and the topic has drifted a bit. Shouldn't this be a new thread?

Paul