The types of maggots you're thinking of will generally only show up If there's rotting meat in there. For veggies and fruits, would only be fruit flies and you won't notice the larvae. That said, main thing is you shouldn't need to stick your hands in there much. A thick layer of shredded paper on top, pull it back, drop the food in, lay it back. It'll also help keep fruit flies down.

i have spoken to my friend again and told her about the comments in the forum regarding the problem she had with the maggots. her coment was. "if only she had known about the forum a few years back she may have stuck with it." we carried on with our chat as she wanted to know how i was getting on. and i think her air holes was too big on her lid and let all sorts in to her bin. i will have good size holes but intend to put window bug net over them. who knows she may take it up again we will soon no if we get a new member by the name of Annette and lives in Kent.

tipytoes, I line in the PNW near Vancouver B.C. so I don't believe we have issues with black soldier flies. I do get some fruit flies when the weather warms up (esp. if I've put lots of fruit scraps in) but they don't bother me too much 'cause my bins are outside most of the year. Right now some of my bins have lots of tiny (<1/8") white crawlies. I've been told they are immature springtails. Just figure they are all helping to turn the scraps into castings. As long as critters aren't bothering the worms or slowing their reproduction rates I don't worry about them.

One thing I have done to keep fruit flies etc. out of the bins is to cover bins with an old beach towel which blocks the majority of light yet allows good air circulation. Lots of shredded newspaper on the top is good too.

Don't over think it too much, just get some good moist fluffy bedding in your bin, add about 1 lb. of worms (assuming your bin has at least 1 sq.ft. of surface area), and add about a cup of veggie scraps in one corner and cover with some bedding. Try something they really love, like cucumber, zucchini, watermelon chopped into small pieces. Once those foods start to breakdown in the bin the worms will be all over them. Just don't feed them too much to start and keep an eye on the moisture levels as those foods I mentioned will produce a lot of water. If things get really soggy in the bottom of your bin add some shredded newspaper (dry) to soak up some of the excess moisture.

Start small and check the bin often to see what's going on - you'll get a feel for it in no time. Good luck and have fun with it,

Harry

i am all ready. i have my boxes 3 of them to start with (money is tight) i have been shredding up paper food in the freezer for them. and today sorted out some fine netting for the lid to keep out uninvited critters and bugs. it is a bit warm out on the patio so i have found the bins a nice spot to live. the bins will live in my hubbys tool room out of the cold in the winter and the heat in the summer . there is an old towel in there so if Colin goes in his room he can cover them up 1st so the light won't worry them. i was only able to get clear boxes other than that the room is pretty dark .

i got word today that some one is being kind enugh to sort me out a few eggs. the reason i wanted eggs is because i live in spain and the time it would take for a package to get here will be no good for a worm but the eggs will be ok. the delay is my side the spanish are terrible you only have to sneeze and they declared it a holiday . so any package could sit in a depot for longer than it should. it might only be a small number of eggs 50 to a 100 depending on what he can gather up. but it's a start.

so please Harry any advice on caring for these eggs would be very much appreciated.

I didn't realize you had shipping issues. No local suppliers where you are? Spanish Craigslist? Or access to horse stables where you could check out a manure pile for specimens of the local red worm population?

Shipping worm cocoons could work, but I don't have any experience with it. 50 or 100 cocoons could produce up to 100-300 baby worms, which would probably be about a tablespoon or two of worms. It will take those worms a long time to grow up enough to make more baby worms. You would have to be very, very patient and start very small - probably in a much smaller container at first, with just a small amount of bedding and a tiny tiny amount of food, and add new food only very gradually. It could be fun, but it will take a really long time to breed enough worms to populate a worm bin.

Although I usually don't think it's necessary for a new worm bin, in this case I think I would also add a little bit of garden soil to the starter box for the babies, since they won't yet have the population of microorganisms that adult worms would normally have in their guts and on their skins. They could probably use a little help collecting the bacteria they need. Is the person who is shipping them to you including a little bit of well-used worm bedding? That could also be helpful getting them started.

sorry only just spotted you message. yes he is going to send me 1/2lb of the soil they have come out of. so it at least will me like a home from home (we hope) my problems are many fold. the main one being i dont drive to be able to get around. the village i live in only has 1 bus in the morning and 1 bus back , which means to go anywhere i leave at 7am and would not get back untill 9pm, that is a long day for shopping. there are not many gardens here it is all tiled patios and as for stables i haven't seen any although people do have horses but i do not know them personally to ask them (as yat) online purchase is a no no. people just won't send to spain so this has been a struggle to get this far and has taken a few weeks. but i am determined and i will have a worm cast next year and start a vertical garden of some sort.

tipytoes, if you or one of your neighbours has any areas in the yard, or garden, with some decent soil you could try to place a small pile of fruit and veggie scraps directly on some moistened ground, then cover with several layers of wet cardboard. Keep it wet and weighted down and in a couple of weeks you might just find some local composting worms have found their way to your food offerings. The worms even like the glues in corrugated cardboard so either way you might be able to attract worms to your own yard.

Does anyone in your area do their own composting because you might just find some worms in their piles if they are keeping them wet enough?

I totally agree with parsley that starting your bin with cocoons only would be a slow process and quite a long time before they start reproducing.

Wish we could be of more help. Good luck,

Harry