If your worms seem to be doing good so far.... I'd say sounds like what you have been doing is working out great.

You have a wooden bin. The wood will wick moisture away from the inside of the bin. If you keep it close to a heat source I would assume that would speed up the process.

as for the fruit flies (which I'm guessing they are). Remember. If you have a fruit bowl on the counter and a worm bin in the room eventually those guys will find it. Even if you freeze the stuff you are putting into the bin... the fruit flies from the apple you have next to the sink can find their way into your bin. if thats the case you might want to keep a couple of inches of dry shredded paper on top of the worm bin just to make it more difficult for the fruit flies to get in and out of your worms bedding. Keeping the new food that you feed your worms buried will also help to cut down on the fruit flies.

I hope that helps! :-)

So long as you are not wetting the bedding enough to cause lots of liquid to come out the bottom of your bin, you are doing fine. Having some dry bedding on top isn't such a bad thing so long as there is moisture in the bin for the worms to stay hydrated. Yes having the bin near the radiator probably does dry it out quicker, if there were a location away from any heat sources you might not need to wet the bedding as often but it is probably better to keep the bin where it is convenient.

If your worms are happy, you are probably doing fine. Oh and covering any food you add into the bin is the best way I know of to keep fruit flies away.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Bin

Thanks for the helpful responses. :)

From your description, it might be a little too soon to start this yet but I'd recommend that once the bin gets going, you turn its contents every 2 weeks. That will mix up and even out the moisture which tends to collect in the lower portion of the bin and I've found that the aeration provided by turning the bin essential for the whole process.

SC