Please describe what's under the torn paper layer on top.

Coffee grounds, fruit scraps, recently threw in some lettuce.

Are those dill pickles I see in there? If so, I don't think your worms will like those much - too acidic.

No dill pickles

worm poo is toxic to other worms, If your bedding below scraps is almost pure worm poo, they have nowhere to go.

Time to harvest castings.

Not the cause of escape, but that paper on top needs to be wet if it isn't.

Dry paper will kill worms

It's damp

I haven't had them in there very long

I could be wrong, but to me it looks as if you do not have any actual bedding in the bin, just some sheets of soggy whole newspaper in the bottom topped with garbage - wet, rotten stuff such as what is in my under-the-sink lidded pail that I empty in the outdoor Earth Machine composter when the pail gets full. You need bedding first and then add food in sections as described above by charitycomposter. IS there bedding, and if so, what is it?

David, this site should be helpful to you. Getting started with redworms.

It appears to me that bin is way too wet down below , but the dry paper above is not why they are leaving and will not kill worms, but they will usually just stay below any dry shredded paper. I put layers of dry paper covering food to help keep fruit flies away. If It was me I would start another bin with maybe a couple inches of peat mixed with shredded paper and that mix should be moist but not wet. Separate the worms put them in the new bin with just a little food to start.

David, I agree with the comments above. I like to add my observations/experience, if I may.

EGG SHELLS: unless they're powdered, it's difficult for worms to consume them so it will mostly be for correcting pH more to the worms' liking. There can NEVER be too much egg shells to kill worms because from what I've read, egg shells bind acid (don't remember to what pH level) and whenever that's reached, the remaining egg shells just sit there, w/o changing VC to alkaline, unlike when adding thse stuff you buy at garden centres to change soil pH. Also, egg shells do it at a slow pace and will not shock worms with drastic changes. I have ruined 2 blenders by powdering egg shells so no more powdering for my worms now. Crushed is good enough and I bought a hand cranked grain mill from amazon. I put my collected egg shells (ES) in the oven using residual heat from whenever the oven is used for "human" food as to not to waste electricity and make the ES brittle, easier to crush. Before I bought the grain mill, I just crushed them by rolling a bottle over them in an old baking pan. That did the trick too.

SHREDDED PAPER: Using Bond (office) paper is OK in a bigger and more established bin because bond paper takes longer to break down compared to newspaper and cardboard and doesn't absorb moisture that well. What you want to use, is paper product of lower quality. That is also why when collecting corrugated cardboard (CCB) from the super market I go for the "made in" Asian countries. If you do not shred newspaper, it is better to crumple individual sheets (or half sheets) so as not to clump them when getting wet. This will provide the bin with some extra air in between. I usually put them in dry. When they've become damp, shredd them by hand and replace with new dry crumpled sheets. Worms like to hide between the crease and leave their cocoons there. Banana boxes (and other fruit with peel) are sometimes sprayed to prevent rotting too fast so I stay away from those. Besides, they're too tough.

""Also, when feeding don't spread the food over the whole surface."" And when something is wrong it's easier to remove.

""If you don't have any drain holes in the bottom I'd grill (DRILL?) 10-12 in the bottom."" Some people (like me) do not like holes at the bottom of worm bins. But for the safety of the worms from drowning, you could drill ONE (1/4" ??) hole if you must. Put an empty water bottle (cut both ends so it's just like a tube) over it to keep the hole free of VC, bedding & food. You'll also have access to poke the hole free from clogging every now and again and there's your drainage with some what controlable mess. Oh yes, keep the bin on a slant to direct liquid in the right direction.

WANDERING WORMS: Sometimes, even if everything is OK in the bin, worms still like to crawl up the wall if there is condensation and ONLY if there is condensation. (W/O condensation, then there's definitely something wrong). So, keep the lid off. Some of my bins are also RM bins. I cut most of the lid off, keeping only the rim and about 1" of the top and glued/tape landscape fabric in it's place to keep insects in and out.

Hope this helps.