Hi Mike,
Sounds to me like it is too wet, too much food all over, and not enough airflow. There is no reason to put damp layers of newspapers on top of this type of system. I would dump that new tray and start all over again. I've written this article and I think that it will help.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to Use the Gusanito Worm Farm Bin

mike,
the worms are supposed to come up from the finish tray to the new tray. I'm not sure I understand correctly how they bailed out. Did you move the worms into the new tray?

"topped by several sheets of newspaper, soaked." Remember the mantra in this forum. Like a wrung out sponge.

Unlike beth, I am against throwing things out unless there's really NO other way. Sorry beth.
Add lots of shredded newspaper and/or cardboard, saw dust, coco coir, whatever you have at hand and practical. Since mixing w. the food will heat up the whole thing, I would add that in trenches and on the top.
Good luck.

We don't throw anything out unless it can not be composted, reused or recycled. I would not however continue to use a tray that has food mixed all over it. As you said Otis, "mixing w. the food will heat up the whole thing" is why I said to dump that tray and start all over. I never said to "throw it away". I would put it in my hot compost system. Read my article. The best way is to put small amounts of food in the corners and cover it up.
Beth

Thanks for the input. I mixed food with dampened shredded newspaper for the bottom layer with the dampened leaves on top and the plain shredded newspaper on top of the leaves. The instructions that came with this system said to always top the tray with a few sheets of dampened newspaper. Yesterday I put the worms that had bailed out around the edges of the bottom and top tray back on top of the paper on the top tray. This morning they've mostly moved back down into the layer of paper. There is also a fairly strong population in the bottom tray. I wonder if the leaves possibly could have been contaminated in some way. I'm hoping for the best outcome here.

hi mike1624; Oak leaves have a toxin in them that worms do not like. Maple leaves and weed leaves, grass, choped straw/hay are ok but leaves that produce toxins should be composted first so the microbes can break down the toxic compounds into the eloemental molecular non toxic compounds.

I've used oak leaves by the bushel in my worm bins with no problem. They don't have toxins in them. I don't believe the leaves are the problem.

It sounds to me like the problem is that you mixed the food with the bedding. Basically, you made a miniature hot compost pile. Don't mix food throughout the bedding - it will heat up the bin. Put food in a different "pocket" of the bin each time you feed, or just lay it on top of the bedding. The only negative to laying it on top of the bedding is that if you have fruit, that will attract fruit flies. In order to avoid fruit flies, the food needs to be buried.

Deanna