I know there are a lot of different ways of keeping a bin going. I will tell you what has worked for me.

When my bedding seems to have pretty well disappeared and I have mostly castings left, I mound all the old stuff over to one side and on the empty side I put new bedding. That is where I put the new scraps. I do move a bit of the old stuff into the new bedding, just to get the action going, especially if there is an old piece of scrap that has a big knot of worms clustered on and around it. Actually, I do try to move some of the worms over to the new bedding as I encounter them. I know people say that the worms will migrate over to the new bedding if that is where the kitchen scrap is now buried. I must have particularly stupid worms. They seem to just loll around wondering why there is nothing to eat. I do not notice any sort of migration to the new side. I think my worms would starve before they would migrate.

Once you are putting new scraps into the new bedding exclusively, you can begin harvesting whatever castings are finished on the old side. If you are like me, you will be picking worms out as you do this. I am going to read the replies you get with interest. It seems to me that there should be some harvesting method that is more efficient than having to pull worms out of every handful of castings as you harvest. But at least you will not be putting new scraps into those castings. Carmellia

There is kind of a catch 22 like mentioned above ... worms need new bedding added every now and then, however usually they dont have the new stuff broken down before you are ready to harvest.

If wanting mostly pure castings you shouldnt add more bedding other than your original amount (when pocket feeding). However this can take a toll on your worm populations.

The method I use i to just sift the castings. My needs dictate that i get the most worms rather than the best castings. I start out with 1/2" hardware cloth, then 1/4" hardware cloth, and then sometimes a colander. On each sift I then add the large clumps to another bin, this is also where i usually put any small worms and cocoons. Within a few months they have this reduced down to mostly castings and i do the process again. On the clump bins i dont add scraps or bedding. This however is fairly labor intensive.

Some tricks i have found. When starting the bin use smaller pieces of bedding. With starting bedding i use 1/4" wide strips that are 3-4 inches long, Then when adding bedding at later dates i use strips that are 1/2" wide and 8" or longer. Using the larger strips later seems to help with sifting. The larger strips are also what i use in my compost bins.

Bryan

Carmellia: Thanks for the info. My question was for earlier than the harvesting, but I like the info you gave me and have copy/pasted it so I have it.

Bryan: I'm glad to know that I could hurt my worm population. I'm planning to have them increase in amount so I can start other bins, so I'll probably add as needed and go to the extra work of sifting more.Thank you for sharing with me and I have saved it also.

I add new bedding once or twice, but after that I mix it all up one more time, then put some fiberglass screen (the tiny black kind for screen windows) over it and up the sides. I add new bedding in there, and begin feeding in the "top".

After a few months, the worms have mostly moved into the top area, and I can pull out the screen and harvest the bottom.

I have a continuous feed system and just add layers of food and bedding. It seems to be working fine. Easy too.

just keep piling it on! if you get to a point where you can see a harvest possible, scoop everything to one end of the bin and fill the empty side w/ new bedding and start feeding that side only - the worms will mostly migrate to the new stuff when the used side is less interesting and you can scoop that out w/ most of the worms gone

Bill

I put a window screen on top when the bin is 3/4 full.
Just like Synger does.
Good Luck.
Jim