I wouldn't use peat moss at all - lots of shredded paper, well moistened and food waste - no profit in raising worms with purchased feed - easy on the eggshell, just adds some grit and they don't need much, and to be useful it needs to be powdered fine enuff they can wrap their little lips around it, they have no way to break off chunks ya know!

also you should have the bin set up well in advance so the feed/bedding has time to get microbially active as it's the bacteria that the worms feed on most - add some near finished compost if you can to get a quick charge of microbes

the object is to feed the critters well enough that they breed as rapidly as possible, so don't worry about how many you take out, it'll be awhile before you have any big enuff to be useful for fishing bait anyway :)

Bill

bill,
thanks ok, we have some bins in the back yard that had night crawlers in them for the last about 4 weeks. can we use some of that bedding to get the micro stated or will it be contaminated by the other worms those where just worms he picked up off the ground and sold. we don't want to mix them do we? if there are any cocoons in it. other wise we are in deep doo here becouse them worms will be here if not tomorrow then the next day and not enough time to get things going like we need