Well actrually, mites aren't harmless. They will suck the juice out of your worms and in high concentrations they will keep the worms from the food. To rid your bin of mites add some lime and cut back on food for awhile.

Just to avoid misunderstanding, with lime it is meant Calcium Oxide (CaO) and not the fruit lime as in lemon.

Otis

Yikes. So I should assume that the mites killed that worm?

Thanks.

The only mites that will kill your worms are the red ones.

Brown and white mites are regular inhabitors of the bins.
Mites will get rid of a dead worm though,which is why we seldom if ever see a dead worm in our bins.

Mites are the most common thing found in bins besides the worms. They aren't a problem in small quantities, and help break down the food. When there are too many mites, they'll eat the food and not give the worms a chance to get at it.

Some of the posts I have read suggested leaving the lid off and allowing it to dry a bit to kill the mites.

I have a WF, and I only have 1 working tray right now. I have three layers of moist newspaper on top of the bedding and then the lid. Should I get rid of the newspaper? The directions that came with it suggested it, but I am wondering if it's part of the mite problem. Every time I take off the lid, there are about 12 worms on top of the newspaper and there is always 1 dead one covered in mites.

Thanks,
Gina