I have found that earthworms will die in the same bin with composting worms.

Thank you both for the replies. I will keep them separate.

Depends upon the species of earthworm... most true earthworms need actual soil to survive in... they are more solitary in their habits, are stronger diggers and need to go deeper than the surface dwelling composting worms (red wigglers). I'm sure the two types of worms can co-exist given the appropriate conditions for each, however I don't believe this can be accomplished in a standard worm bin. Good luck keeping the local worms (if they are not composting worms) alive in any shallow bin regardless if they are kept separate. Let us know what happens over time to the local worms kept in a bin.

Good points. I'll have to research how deep the bin should be for local earth worms. And I may just give them their own bin.

The reason I want to bin earth worms in the first place is to get an early start on my outdoor compost piles. The last few years I have observed few worms in my outdoor compost pile in spring/early summer. Then later in summer I eventually have many large local earth worms.

So my goal is to bin and over winter some of these large local earth worms inside, then reintroduce them to the outside compost pile in late spring.

Anyone done this?

I think if you put extra worms into your compost pile in the spring, they would probably go where the pre-existing outdoor worms are already.

Soil-dwelling earthworms are abundant in the upper layers of the soil in spring because the soil is more moist then. As summer comes on and the soil becomes generally more dry, the earthworms retreat to lower soil layers and other nooks and crannies where there is more moisture. My guess is that you aren't seeing the earthworms in your outdoor pile in the spring because earthworms are hanging out in the soil at that time, and that they are more visible in your pile in the summer because the pile is now a little damper than the soil and they are spending more time there.

If you want more worms working on your outdoor compost pile in the spring (I assume from this that it's not hot compost) then I'd just introduce some red wigglers or other composting worms to the pile, because they will like the conditions best there and are not likely to go looking for soil to dig through.

Mr. Parsley Yo,

I have to say, that is the best idea yet.

That's I'm going to do.

Kevin

I find the idea humorous that folks from other parts of the world may not know 'Yo' is a Phiily thing & might think that's your name. For fun we could refer to you as Mr. Yo.

I think since "Rocky' everyone knows "Yo".

But there's a very good reason why you shouldn't call me "Mr." anything!