Hi mwudan; Why would you want to freeze your worms? It will take all summer to get them up to a good working population again. It is far better to put them where they will survive the winter even if the temp is a little below ideal. At least when the temp goes back to the range they like it they will already be at work for you. Most people that keep worms in freezing zones outside try to put enough materials in the right ratio to generate heat in the composting process to help the worms survive the winter.

i don't WANT to to freeze the worms, but i cannot bring the bin indoors over the winter (health & space issues). i'm looking to give some away to neighbors and friends, but i imagine a good number will remain in the bin.

when you say it will take "all summer" to get a working population again, is this based on experience, or a guess?

Hi mwudan; I am speaking from both experience and observation. I seldom guess at what will happen unless its to form a hypothsis for an experiement. The worms that would first hatch in the spring would need 45-60 days to grow to maturity thats with enough hatching 2-3 worms per cocoon to start a new generation to get ready for winter to come again. I live in upstate new york neer lake onterio. This gives about 6 months of non worm composting Nov-March. Fall slow down starting in the later 2 weeks of Sept-Oct to cast all next years cocoons for the most part. In the spring the latter 2 weeks of Apr-May for hatching and growing to maturity. Jun-first part of Sept to increas population to leave enough cocoons for the next years squirm. In bio-mass it will be very slow to grow because of the loss of all the adult and hatched worms to the point they die by freezing. In nature some of the oldest larger worms die but the smaller younger worms outside in the ground find ways to get just below the freezing ground so they survive the winter and are the first in early spring to start casting cocoons. To prove this to yourself do the following. Get a bale of old hay in the winter after all worms should be dead and scrape away a area of snow and spread the hay in a pile, wet it and then cover it. Do this in Jan. Then in the first week of Mar go check under your hay pile to see what you have. It will help you understand lots of things about how worms survive and how tough these little earth cleaners and humus makers are. In order to survive the harshness of winter they do several things. They go ioto estivation (hybernative effect for worms) They curl into a knot and shrink concentrating the salts in the water of their body so they don't freeze solid. When conditions are more favorable to survival they start moving around surching for food, water and better temp to support the life they contend with.

hm. sadly, i live in a city so do not have access to hay or even an area large enough for an experiment like that; but i do have access to a small area outside that is approximately six feet below street level. do you think that if i wrap my bin (rubbermaid) in some insulation, place it in that subsurface area, a mildly viable population might survive?

Hi mwudan; If the worms are kept from freezing in a sheltered spot and the temps stay around 45 deg F the activity will slow down but even at thoes temps they will eat and breed a lot slower but will do their thing. You will also notice a much more active population when you bring them back into the 65-70 deg temps. If where you plan to keep them there is electric you might try a soil heating cable fastened to a piece of .25 thick plywood with bubble insolation on top and wrapped around the bin. The insoluation is available at Lowes or Home Depot. Soil cable from a Garden Center or online. Neither is terribly expensive and wrapping your bin you may be able to keep it where it is for the most part. You just have to shelter it from too much wind.

thx for the suggestions. the spot i'm thinking of is sheltered from the wind, but i'm not confident the temps will remain above 45 F.

i had hoped to avoid the use of electricity, but may have to look more closely at soil cables or fish tank heaters.

What about a sunny spot in the dirt. Dump the worms and cover with a couple bags of cow manure from the big box store and check back in the spring? Just an idea...