I've never seen anyone post that the new bin would be on the bottom. Worms generally work their way up not down. Red worms are basically top feeders so I doubt they would work their way down, at least not very many. There are several post that talk about this method and how to do it.

The new bin on the bottom will work okay if you have shallow bins. From what I've read, you pull the top off of the full bin and expose the top to sunlight which is supposed to drive the worms downward into the new bedding.

I think the whole concept whether you do lateral bins or vertical bins is to stop feeding the old bin and the worms will head to the newer bin where there is food and new bedding. From posts I've read, there may still be some stragglers and babies in the old bin.

I'm about to do my first harvest in in 3 or 6 weeks. I plan on stacking the new bin with bedding and food on the old bin and stop feeding the old bin.

After a few more weeks and when I have a free weekend I then plan on putting the old bin on top of the newer one and do the harvest in the sun. I'll do a few scoops and wait for 5 to 10 minutes to give the worms some time to retreat downward away from the sun. I will then repeat this process until the vermicompost has been harvested.

My main concern is getting most of the unhatched eggs back in the new bin and also I'm concerned that they may
become damaged by my handling or the heat.

I've probably put too much thought into this. It will be my first harvest maybe subsequent harvests will go smoother.
Besides, I think it is human nature to complicate our lives more than needed.

I'll post my results of this type of harvest when I do it.

If its entirely too hot, you can put your bin in the sun, and theyll migrate down- probably not the nicest way to go about it tho ;-)

Dont worry too much Frog- Our shallow wood bins were in AWFUL shape (fiance tried while I was away at college) and I had to wade thru MUCKY over-wet anoxic crud to get mine separated, ive quickly got 5x the worms in my new bin with better bedding- its also deeper so they can move if theyre too hot.

Ive got a decent bottom layer, so I try to mix the bin to try to get it evenly finished.

Im hoping to eventually make a barrel system, like the big industrial flow-thru with a scraper grid at the bottom. Feed the top, harvest the bottom layer every few weeks.

If the bin is in balance, not too hot, well ventilated, top-feeding is supposed to be the best.

garnetmoth,

Thanks for the post. Now you have me anxious to harvest :)

garnetmoth, do you have a website link for how to build a system like this?