Comments on: Buy a Bag ‘O’ Worms!

By: Bentley

Bentley — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 13:42:02 +0000

Hi Arrow,
Sorry for delay.
I would say it might be possible for them to survive those sorts of temps in a well insulated system. I suspect a raised bed would not be such as system, unless you put a wall of straw bales around it, heap some more straw, leaves etc over top, and secure a tarp over that.
In a trench, it would be easier to keep them alive, but they’d still need a lot of protection with temps that low.

By: Arrow

Arrow — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 22:31:37 +0000

So you are saying that they will survive 30 below freezes?
Thanks…

By: Bentley

Bentley — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 14:37:29 +0000

Hi Arrow,
You can add composting worms to a raised bed provided there is lots of rich organic matter added (manure, food waste etc). You might try something like a “worm tower” (search on YouTube to see what I mean) and then just add food scraps to it.

By: Arrow

Arrow — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 22:04:15 +0000

Im looking for some worms for my raised beds and dont know what type to purchase.. we have very long deep freezes here to 20 and 30 below so Id like to find something that survives our zone 3.
any advice?

By: Bentley

Bentley — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 02:53:45 +0000

Hi Tim,
Thanks for the comment – glad you brought this up, since others may be wondering the same thing. The small white insects you are seeing are called springtails and they can be very common in worm composting systems. Like the worms they aid the process by feeding on microbes (primarily fungi, I believe). When the worms are concentrated for culture bags, the springtails end up concentrated as well, so that’s why it likely seems like there are a lot.
Over time you MAY see some other common white critters as well. If you see lots of white, shiny, slow-moving beasts, these are a very common type of worm bin mite. Tiny white worms (“White Worms” or “Pot Worms”) can also be very abundant. If you see huge numbers of them though it could be an indication of excessively acidic conditions.

By: Tim Hough

Tim Hough — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 01:48:54 +0000

Got the worms last week. My bin is now populated with thousands of tiny white insects. Any ideas on what they might be? I’ve found that the bin produces very little odour, even when I open it. I think the worms are happy now and well adjusted in their new home.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:18:28 +0000

Hi John,
Sorry for the delay responding (still not receiving email notifications when new comments are added).
I haven’t done counts myself, but one customer counted 500 worms in one of his culture bags.

By: John Buttigieg

John Buttigieg — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 21:10:00 +0000

Approximately how many worms are in a $20 dollar bag?
Thanks John