I dont think there is anything to worry about. Neither species will do you any harm. I only get a large invasion when I overfeed. I try not to do that anymore but stuff happens. Try cutting back on feeding, add some dry bedding, try pocket feeding, or cover fairly tightly for several days.

Bill is correct. These critters may creep you out a bit (especially if your bin is in/near living quarters, but not your worms as they are harmless. Make sure you bury the food stock, don't overfeed and you might want to nuke or freeze fruit before feeding. A couple of passes around/over the bin with the wand of your vacuum will make short work of the fruit flies.

It sounds very likely that I'm overfeeding. I did some research before setting up my bin that told me I could feed 1 pound of food per week for per square foot in the bin. My bin is about 3 feet long by 1.5 feet wide, and I'm feeding about 3 pounds of food per week. I started with 1 pound of worms. They went through that quantity without any problems for about the first 2 months, and it's only recently that I'm having problems.

So I guess I'm wondering how much other people are feeding and how often? I've been feeding once per week by digging a hole in the bedding, piling in the food, and burying it.

A quick update on the situation. We improved drainage and airflow by placing the bin on top of a couple wooden rails, so there was about 2 inches of space underneath the bin. We got a LOT more leachate, but the fly problem didn't improve. The other day we noticed that a couple worms had crawled out, and yesterday decided it was time for a poop harvest and a chance at saving the worms that were still hanging on.

We were happy to see big pockets of healthy looking worms, but surprised to find them in places that looked and smelled anaerobic. Maybe they retreated there when we started digging up the bin, or maybe they really loved the muck. The bottom inch or 2 of the bin was very wet and compacted and smelled pretty bad. Found lots of big fatty worms, some tiny baby-looking worms, and lots f cocoons.

The most interesting thing to me is what didn't decompose and get eaten. Brussels sprouts, red cabbage leaves, and chunks of rutabaga and turnip looked nearly the same as they looked when they went into the bin weeks ago. Orange rinds had also decomposed very little. Cranberries had actually fermented, and when I squeezed them the juice inside came out all bubbly and smelling like wine. Sometime I'll have to try that outside of the worm bin! Anyway, in the future, all of those food types will be frozen before being put in the bin.

The flies are still a big problem, but we're hoping they'll taper off over the next couple days. We have lots of luck trapping them by leaving a beer or wine bottle out with about 1/2 inch of beer or wine left in the bottom.

From your description of the bin and contents, it seems both excess water and food are evident. Leachate is totally unnecessary, and a lot of it disastrous, and an indication of way too much water.

If you stir up all that gunk, add some dry bedding, and leave the lid off for a day or two, the stuff will become OK, and the worms will eat all that food.

Chuckiebtoo

I set a pitcher plant (potted) on top of the composter. It eradicated the fruitfly population, and attracts the white mites as well. Kind of a tidy little indoor ecosystem.