give it a try, pay attention, adapt your approach as necessary .... the best plan is to fab up a cheap, simple container, fill it with wet bedding and chuck in some worms, feed closer to the surface the longer you have it and the worms will be toward the top when you want to harvest, scoop off the top half, steal the bottom half, replace the top part and start over .... don't worry about the ending before you get off the line!

you'll never get "100% pure" castings under any circumstances, worms don't work by your rules, and there'll always be at least a few stragglers satisfied with working over the castings forever, as well as lots of cocoons, which may/will hatch out at any time the temp and moisture level is agreeable

there's no reason at all to wax anything, raw wood is beneficial to wick moisture away and allow air in, and plain wood bins should last longer than you're likely to be fussy about it ... also 1/2" ply is way overkill, 1/8" doorskin material would suffice on a box that small and shallow .... and that's pretty small bins for ENC's, who tend to be surface feeders anyway, using deep tunnels to hide out during the day - not the most desireable composting worm for my money

Bill

for a couple od stackable bins used in kitchen what size would be better if if 20"L x 20"W X 12"-16"H is too small also since the ENC Seem to be larger than Red Wigglers, what would be a more appropriate size for holes in bottom of bin for the little fellers to migrate up.

ENC [raised for fishing bait] are bigger than EF, and being a deep burrowing species, aren't very useful as composting worms in my experience - I have no idea if they'll do the upward migration thing, but normally all you have to do is keep feeding above and the worms will follow, any worm can go thru a really small hole, EF can easily go thru fly screen if they want

Bill

Hi ncjo! The answers to your two questions are ENC are red worms and as such they feed on the same food, like the same temp range and prefer the same beddings as Efs(Eisenia fetidia) ENC are Ehs(Eisenia hortenses. Holes 3/16" would be good for migration upward for both species. I have 2 Can of Worms (COWs) bins they are round with a base and collection area with a spicket for drawining off leachet(fluids that leach through the bedding). They have three bedding bins that are stakable with the size holes previously mentioned and a lid. The ENC worms will naturally be a little larger but not enough to prevent them from migrating through the holes that size. Worms are capable to get in and through some very small spaces. The holes should be about every 3/8" apart and smooth. I have found if I use my soldering pencil it works very well then I ream the holes with a small reamer. I use a Dremal tool with the round ball tip reamer in the kit.

larry

I Get 2-8 paper coffee filters w/coffee grounds from the convenience store daily
can I just mix these with scrap foods & @ the end of the week throw them in the bin as food or should I allow them more time to compost before tossing them in the plastic worm bin. I Guess the same $ would also hold for the paper filters should I hold them out, let them sit in the out doors and compost out a little before tossing them in.

add'em in any time, including paper

Bill

ENC's are not deep burrowing worms. They tend to like things wetter and cooler than red wigglers do in a bin. They're also better at polishing off shredded leaves, which is why I got them. I got half and half. What I've noticed it that the red wigglers will be in the top part of the bin, and the ENC's will be happily in the wet leaves in the bottom, and they're fat and sassy.

Deanna