Great questions. Bedding can't hurt, though beyond a certain point it might not help you much. One of its virtues is aeration, which is why coir and (undampened) corrugated cardboard are so helpful. It gives worms more options for places to hang out.

If you have a substantial amount of unconsumed food, you may just have to wait. It can take six months or more for worm numbers to increase to the point of full production. Or if the bottom bin seems done, you can separate out its compost and dump the worms back in the top, giving you a new bin to work with.

I'd suggest using a thermometer to monitor the actual temperature of the compost, because it can get quite a bit hotter than the ambient temperature. It sounds like you're OK, though. Shade is good and closeness to any shaded thermal mass, like the ground, will help keep the bin temperature down.

Comments:

1) Adding bedding is almost always a good idea. About the only time I wouldn't is when I planned to harvest soon. In your system, when you plan to harvest soon, just add bedding to the top bin, and not the one you want to harvest. I added bedding with every feeding.

2) There will always be worms in the lower bin. They are still finding some kind of food value in there. It could take 2 or 3 months before most of your worms migrate up. By then the lower bin will be very well processed.

3) Worms don't like temps above 80 F. Temps above 90 F are harmful to them. Your situation is borderline.

Thank you both. So more bedding it is. I was surprised when I checked the bottom bin at how many worms there were, and how lively they seem. I thought then that perhaps it was cooler and that's why they were staying low.

I'll start putting in ice packs to cool down the top bin. It only seems warm around mid-afternoon, but I wasn't sure what the temperature range should be. The bins are next to the house on a stone patio in the shade, about 10 feet from the closest sunlight.

So far I don't see any dead worms, though I have yet to see anything like a worm egg. There are lots of tiny worms, which I assume are newborn, but none of the little yellow eggs I've seen in pictures. I'm starting to wonder if I have red wigglers....

Cheryl

The eggs darken quickly, to blend in with the soil. If you sort through some of the well-advanced compost looking for roundish slightly shiny objects, you'll find them.

Ooohh, I didn't realize the color changed (duh!). All the pictures show tiny yellow eggs looking just like miniature lemons. I wondered where the little worms were coming from.

Thanks again,
Cheryl