Mass worm death?

19 years ago

I opened my worm bin yesterday to add some scraps, only to be met with a swarm of gnatty, fly things. And the top has a ton of condensation on it. So today, I took it outside and opened it up to let the flies out and add some newspaper. The whole mass is a thick clump of stuff, with mold and crawly thingys. Its a clear bin, and when I flipped it over to let the stuff soak into the newspaper, I saw two huge masses of worms. Leaving it sit, 15 minutes later, the worms were still there.....I assume they are dead? They look alive color and shineyness-wise, but movement is null. There do seem to be fair amounts of living worms as well, so not sure........ Do you normally find masses of worms like that? Dead? Do I just leave them? I've mixed up the first addition of newspaper, and added another layer to the top, and stuck it back under the sink. I just thought it would be easier than this. I have been reading, and know that my mistake was adding too many scraps in there. Uhg. I had to dig for those worms thru my moms compost pile. I don't relish the idea of doing it again.

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Comments (7)

squeeze
19 years ago
yes, prolly dead, boiled alive

too wet and too warm - if you're keeping it under the sink, everytime you run hot water for a few minutes [washing dishes, etc] that area will heat up considerably from the warming of the drain pipe - and being a nice closed area with little air circulation, it stays warmer

worms like to be well wet, but also fairly cool, even usual house room temps are too warm for them in a small container ... all the other critters are because of those conditions too, more like anaerobic composting than vermiculture

Bill
tiarnna
Original Author
19 years ago
Crud, I never figured the temp under the sink would get that warm. Stands to reason though. So now what? I can't think of another place they will stay cool.......run it all out to a big hole in my compost pile? =(
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wfike
19 years ago
If you have a dish washer next to the sink area it will really get hot under there then! I think that you overfed them also. you said "I opened my worm bin yesterday to add some scraps" not I opened the bin to see if they had eaten the last food that I added to see if it was time to add more....
chuckiebtoo
19 years ago
wfike: [quote]you said "I opened my worm bin yesterday to add some scraps" not I opened the bin to see if they had eaten the last food that I added to see if it was time to add more[/quote]

Wfike, that is a stunningly astute observation. Also, probably very prophetic.

Chuckiebtoo

How the hell does anyone manage to quote someone on this forum?
tiarnna
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks. I can feel the love to the newbie.
squeeze
19 years ago

Chuckiebtoo said:
"How the hell does anyone manage to quote someone on this forum?"

you could use quotation marks in the html tag , which indents the block :)
and if you want to get fancy, use a bold tag and maybe italic too

Chuckiebtoo said:
"How the hell does anyone manage to quote someone on this forum?"

Bill
namfon
19 years ago
tiarnna -

I think your experience has happened to quite a few of us at one time or another - especially in the beginning. Finding a good place to store your bin that has relatively stable conditions helps alot. If you have a basement I would recommend that ( but not near the furnace, washer or drier ) If you dont have a bsement then I would say if you could place it in a shallow pit ( maybe 10 - 12 " deep ) the size of your bin and on the east side of your house or under dense shade where it wont get sun would be your best bet. If you add dry material ( ie .. 'browns' or shredded paper / coregatted ) at the same time you add fruit, vegetable scraps, coffee grounds etc .. it seems to help them.