Were they bed-run or all mature(breeders)? I've only been worming for about three months. So it is all pretty new to me too. When I first set up my bin, I had a few casualties. I bought bed-run(worms of all sizes). Juvenile and baby worms can get adjusted to new conditions better than adults. I wouldn't get too worried about a dead worm a day. The other worms should be making cocoons.

A rough guess because I had some worms die on me too. The rinds are over soaking your bin. Don't put very much of them in at a time until you have a lot of material in your bin. They will saturate everything with too much water. Add more dry material and slow WAY down on the rinds. You need to get it under control fast or they will all die off. I wish someone would have told me before all mine died :(

not too alkaline for sure - may be too wet

and how fast do they eat "everything you give them"? 1/2# of worms can only process about 1/4# of material in a day at most

Bill

well they seem to wait if I give them fresh stuff till it sarts decaying or molding a bit after.I don't weigh the stuff I give them, but if I short them do they start dying?

as long as there's any bedding they won't die - they'll happily live on nearly pure paper, as long as it's wet and getting moldy/slimey, and they don't mind fasting a bit or reprocessing castings they've already left - they don't have a very good digestive system, and can live quite happily on the castings for a long time

Bill

I'm thinking it might be too wet of paper I don't water it and it stays very moist.

paper usually dries out fairly easily, if you have good air circulation, so it may be that the feed you're adding is too wet, or the bin is too closed up to air circulation - the melon scrap in particular will add a lot of moisture

maybe you should check right down to the bottom of the bin and see how wet it is there, you might need more drainage .... and if conditions are good you don't have to worry about worms getting out

Bill

I'm thinking it's just paper I have lot of holes, but the paper get's stuck together.I think I'll buy a brick of coco coir I read that retains moisture, but also very loose compared to peat,paper etc.Do the worms eat this also?