I've had my worms for more than 10 years, about 6 of that in a Can-O-Worm bin. The bin is usually very healthy, lots of worms eating lots of kitchen waste and creating lots of vermicompost. EVERY SINGLE TIME that I open the lid, there is between 2 and 20 worms crawling on the sides and the lid. I figure that since worms have spread all over the world (to a certain extent), there are always going to be some that have a little more wanderlust in their heart(s), and feel the need to explore. So if there is a few worms crawling out of where they are "supposed" to be (remember, not all worms have read the book to see what they are "supposed" to be doing), my experience is that that is normal. If there are many worms on the sides and lid, or if the number is continually increasing, maybe something is a little "off" in your worm bin. Maybe too wet, too much food, not enough food, etc. Emily in frigid Fairbanks

"Umm... Other then taking offense at another's viewpoint, Chuck, are you saying that..." Well, no offense was taken at anyone's viewpoint.....just providing observations I've learned while not suffocating one single worm in an extremely educational couple of decades of study of this tool for a better way of doing things. Umm, your questions' responses: 1. what restrictive airflow? 2. the diff's in airflow quantities is immeasurable in worm bins with relation to vermicastings quality. 3. No, I am a guy WHO is appreciative of the qualities composting worms present to those of us WHO wanna do these things without chemicals. I can spray worm tea, or spread VC all over my property every day of the year without having to lock up the pets and children for a period of time, or make certain that chemical residues don't run off into the sewer systems and into the water supplies of the people in my neighborhood who probably neglect those warnings on all those insecticides and pesticides and fertilizers and chemical products that are, of course designed to cause the user of them to buy another of their chemical products to rectify the damage the previous chemo treatment wreaked upon their weed infestation or lawngrass shortcomings. You're "baited breath" tease lured me right into the "taking offense trap", huh? I had kinda forgotten the often tempestuous undercurrent of forum activity, which was my main reason for getting away from it before, so I'll return to my inactive status now. Keep worming! Chuckiebtoo

Tammy, If you are looking to go hunting for mites I have heard that melon rind is a great bait. You can use the same piece for a few days cause it can be rinsed off. I should admit that I do not usually advise people go "mite hunting". Most established worm bins have some red or white mites in them. If you are adding something they like IE bread or melon then you are just going to encourage the continued growth of the population. Even if you can "catch" and remove 20-30% of the total population there is still ample opportunity for breeding and the problem will continue. I know it feels better to be removing the problem but if you figure out what caused the mite population to grow out of control and remove that you will have better long term results. How long have you had the bin and how many worms do you have? You do not need to find very much in the beginning and any extra food put in the bin ends up a feast for the mites (and others). If the bin has an abundance of organic matter then you can try to remove the parts the worms have not started on (probably where the mites are working away) and then add lots of cardboard or paper bedding. The worms can survive on the bedding for weeks but the mites will not approve. If your bin is on the wet side you can fluff it up and add the paper dry. If your bin is damp like a wet sponge then you might want to presoak the bedding in water for 12-24 hours as I find it helps the paper hold water better and breaks down faster. I like to keep a 3lbs folgers tub next to my bin with my presoaked bedding. Whenever I add food I just pull off a ball and squeeze as much water out as I can back into the tub and then fluff the paper up and spread it over the feeding location. I wish you luck and please let us know how it goes.

it will be an indoor bin. it can't be kept outdoor it will fry the worms it gets too hot outdoors not are their any shaded areas at my house. it's a wooden cooler. basically you take one of those large plastic white containers build a wooden frame around it and thats how it is. the wood and plastic are fused together with glue most likely it's a beer cooler novelty cooler it's not 2 seperate coolers to begin with it's both plastic and wooden. the frame is wooden the cooler is plastic. i will try to find a large nail and hammering it in hopefully this works i will try this tomorrow after school i need to make a new worm bin and a bigger one as well