I seem to have that problem, too. I have noticed that more & bigger cocoons are in the lower bins and that the worms seem to be bigger & more mature specimens.
There was a post on the Worm Digest forum discussing Dr.
Clive Edwards' experiments & his statments that older, mature worms are more inclined to consume fungii & leave the bacteria found in the upper layers to the juveniles & young adult worms. This was hinting that the mature worm would self sacrafice the preferred food stuffs for the younger worms & instead eat fungus.
The other side of the argument was worms don't have enough brain cells to sacarifice their preferred food for the benefit of their young. Fungus is a source of chitin for cocoon production, whereas bacteria when eaten produces energy & growth hormones.
I think I got that right? Anyway, youngsters have a lot larger appitite so I can see that there could be a reason for the different age groups to stratify,
Heck, The old fogies probably don't thr rap music the juvees play??

bruce

Chuckie, my worms do that too. I've stopped worrying about it. My cacoons are scattered throughout though, with no area seeming to have more than the others. I started a new bin accidently while hastily scooping compost into a plastic container for a friend, and that was off the top :-)

Whoa there fellas! What you are seeing IS the the science of vermicomposting. Science has known and for years been saying that worms will be found in the areas of the bin where food and moisture are most plentiful in the presence of sufficient air for the WORMS to survive. Anaerobic pockets are not necessarily too low in oxygen for worm activity, and are teeming with moisture and microbial life, thus worms are often found thriving near these areas. Further, while anaerobic by-products are toxic to worms, the dosage makes the poison and not all anaerobic areas contain concentrations of phenols and alchohols sufficient to harm the worms. Thus, it is not at all unusual to find worms where oxygen levels are low from the microbial perspective.

Science is not the problem, it is people who misinterpret the science and its meaning who are creating confusion. Bruce, the gentleman on the Worm Digest forum (a hotbed of some of the worst misinformation on the internet) stating the mature worms prefer fungi is a case in point. Clive Edwards has NEVER said that mature worms prefer fungi and leave bacteria for younger worms, and such research has NEVER been conducted. What Clive said and what research shows is that mature worms tend to prefer temps at the cooler end of their ideal temperature range while immature worms tend to prefer the temps at the warmer end of the ideal range. One individual on Worm Digest extrapolated these facts on his own, and interpreted them to mean that because fungi are cool temperature microorganisms and because mature worms prefer cool temps mature worms must have a preference for fungi. His statements that they leave the bacteria for the immature worms was something he ASSUMED, and none of what he has said on this subject is in the least bit accurate or substantiated by any research. Because he is a popular person on Worm Digest and because he repeated his erroneous assumptions over and over (despite being corrected several times) several people picked up his erroneous statements and began mistakenly spreading them as fact.

The stinkiest, most anaerobic bins are sometimes those that support the most active worm populations, and are often associated with worms of unusual size. Science has known this for a long, long time.

Kelly S

Why then, Kelly, do we go to extraordinary measures to assure ample aeration, moderate, "wrung out sponge" moisture content and regular, continuing food rations when the worms seem to prefer hanging out in the slums, if you know what I mean, and I think that you do.

Are we, in fact, just imposing our arrogant selves upon the vermi...I'll answer that question with a "HELL YES"!

While ranting, let me add that since the worms EAT THE CRITTERS that are eating the strawberries, or cantaloupe, or tomatoes, or horse manure or whatever, why bother with the diversity of the food stock?

I am, respectfully, as always, three sheets into a two sheet wind, but curiouser and curiouser.

Chuckiebtoo

Kelly,

Appreciate your clarifications; and I have to agree with you about the worm digest gentleman. Had a feeling there might be some aggravation laying around somewhere, and, with a "lot" of folks. So, I moved to Garden Web knowing you frequently posted here and I am a glutten for correct information.

thanks again

bruce

Your questions are very astute, Chuckie, and go to the heart of the issue. Consider, first, the source from which you received the suggestion to feed worms a variety of feedstocks, because if you are talking about maximizing worm activity, it was not from the scientific community. Science has long understood and stated that, provided organic materials were decomposing, worms would grow and even thrive in the material. In nature, earthworms tend to live in environments with a narrow cross section of OM options; the worms living beneath turf stands feed in little more than grass clippings, for instance. And while a turf stand may support more than one grass variety, from a "nutritional" standpoint (as we humans percieve nutrition) those clippings are pretty much all the same thing. Yet worms thrive beneath turf stands. The largest vermicomposting operation in the US uses paper pulp as the sole feedstock for an operation that covers 75 acres, and their worms do magnificently. Variety of feedstock is not a requirement for maximizing worm activity and you will find no researcher who has suggested otherwise.

I have been frustrated for many years that people are so often told they must feed their worms a variety of organic materials, and have long battled this myth. It is not a statement coming from the scientific community, however, but from worm growers, castings producers and home vermicomposters who forget to ask, first, the focus of the system about which they are answering questions to ensure their answers apply, and second, to verify that what THEY were taught about worm growing, vermicomposting or castings production is actually accurate. Few people are intentionally spreading misinformation. The perpetuation of vermicomposting myths is usually the result of misinterpretion of the data, misapplication of the data, or misinformtion gleaned from someone else erroneously assumed to know where-of they speak.

Now, if you want to produce castings that maximize plant growth benefit then there MAY be some sense in adding a wider variety of feedstocks. Note that I said 'MAY', since there is not a tremendous amount of research on the subject at this point. There is some, however, and this coupled with data from composting research suggests that including a variety of materials, particularly some hardwood sawdust and livestock manure, tends to produce castings with greater overall plant growth response than do systems feeding single feedstocks.

So, whether or not including a varity of OM options to the system is important depends entirely on your focus. Not everyone who answers questions on internet forums realizes that the person asking the question may have a different focus than they, thus, good information is often misapplied and vermicomposting myths are born.

As to the recommendations to maintain aerobicity, here the confusion is a bit more straighforward. While worms can and often do perform optimally in or near anaerobic activity, the line between a "healthy" anaerobic enviornment and an unhealthy one (from the worm perspective) is very narrow and not measurable by the person managing the system. A stinky bin supporting a thriving worm population can become a stinky bin from which the worms are fleeing en masse in just a few hours and with no obvious warning signs to we mere humans. And, while worms often do perform very well in or near anaerobic pockets, few systems that are wholly anearobic support worm activity. Rather, it is systems where only a portion of the bin is anaerobic while other areas are nicely aerobic, giving the worms regions to which they can flee should the anaerobic by-products become problematic for them. Maintaining a bin so that it is only PARTLY anearobic, and so that the anaerobic areas are not actually toxic to the worms is beyond the understanding of even the most knowledgeable and experienced vermicomposter!

Want more? Thre is also the human to consider. Anaerobic by-products can be attractive to vermin and houseflies in a way that an aerobic system is not. While not all anaerobic bins attract flies and rats, it is far more likely in an anaerobic bin than in one that is nicely aerobic. Because these systems are managed near and even IN our homes and living spaces, health departments and common sense usually dictate that home waste systems are managed to prevent possible issues with vermin. Thus, because we are speaking to the general public and because, while anaerobic activity may not be the worst thing that can happen to a worm bin, an aerobic bin is one that will always support good worm activity, and because we want to ensure a vermin-free systems it is generally recommended that a bin is carefully managed to maintain aerobicity.

There is a wide difference between what a worm CAN do and what we want it to do near our homes. There is a vast amount of unintentional misinformation on the internet, resulting from the misapplication of good, scientifically verified data and technique. Every experienced worm grower/vermicomposter can tell you with absolute authroity what does and does not work in their systems. It is when they begin telling you WHY something does and does not work that confusion can creep in and erroneous recommendations become prevalent. It is the main reason I am ALWAYS saying that the best we can do is provide GUIDELINES for bin management, but no hard and fast rules. ALL 'generally accepted' vermicomposting methods should be questioned!

Does that explain things, dear Chuckie?

Kelly S

Thank you, as always, Kelly.

The more I think about it, the more attracted I'm becoming to less complicated and exasperating ways to spend my discretionary time. Things like initiating global cooling, and tornado eradication, or understanding why women in general... and particular, are able to say "I told you so" without actually saying it.

Chuckiebtoo

I just want to say that I was very happy of the questions Chuckiebtoo asked Kelly on July 30st. I was wondering about the same things. I'm also very pleased with Kelly's answers. It'll make vermicomposting a lot simpler for me.

I'd like to thank you both. Sylvie