bin farmer,
where did you get your original 75 worms from? It is possible that the environment in your bin is quite different than the one they're used to. Or probably too stressed in transport? But hey, those 300-400 cocoons will give you at least 1000 babies.

Thank otis11

Got the original 75 from a bait shop - which I knew was less than ideal, but they did really well for over 2 months before "disappearing" - and the remaining adults are huge and fat. It does seem unlikely they would kick out hundreds of babies if they were stressed or the environment was really harmful.

Is sure a mystery to me!

Actually, if they are stressed, the WILL kick out hundreds of babies, in the hope that when conditions improve, the babies will hatch and take over.

Also, worms do better in whatever environment they're hatched in, so the babies will do a lot better.

I hope to start a bin here soon but can't beleive how nervious I am to make to jump.
I've read most everything I could about them but I'm the most unlucky guy alive.
I'm thinking about starting them in a beach cooler.18"x12"X12"

Captaindirt: Beach cooler. Ventilation? Drainage? Temp control?

Styrofoam was the bin of choice back when i first vermicomposted, 27 years ago. Yes i am dating myself here.

The directions for a bin was to go out and buy a huge foam container and poke holes in it. Mine came with a hinged lid. Then fill the bin with strips of newspaper and just one pound of worms. It took well over two years for the worms to process all that paper. Finished the compost weighed around 300 pounds. The bin sit in my unheated garage year round.

Considering how small my worm start was it worked just fine.

Your generation had more patience I guess. Two years is a long wait. If conditions are kept in check I guess any container can work.

I agree with the previous replies ... I've read that when conditions become less than favorable or considerably different than the worms have been accustomed to, they will pump out cocoons at a greater rate in an attempt to maintain a next generation. In nature they don't have the benefit of anyone maintaining their bedding so it makes sense as a survival mechanism. These cocoons will tend to hatch out worms once the environment is ideal, so once they do all hatch they should do well in your bin.

You say your bin is 8" tall x 6'x 3' ... it's pretty large for the number of worms you currently have. I'd guess that you should not feed for a while and just maintain the bedding as is. If you have that many cocoons keeping the environment in check (moist but not sopping wet) you should get them hatching within a month and have a decent population going eventually.