Got Worms?

Does anyone keep worms? I bought one of the Frabil worm habitats and was wondering how well they work. Do you keep them in the fridge? Any suggestions or tips are appreciated.

Thanks

Chris

A quick Google search turned up this:

http://www.frabill.com/worm_care.html

I've never kept large numbers of nightcrawlers, but those tips seemed to jive with what I've always heard: keep 'em cool, not cold and change the bedding frequently.

I keep worms in a plastic storage bin in my garage.Feed them left over food that we don't eat.Thay will eat anything.

I keep my worms in my garden. Just wet an area, lay down a 4x8 sheet of plywood and the worms will stay shallow under it as long as its wet.

Thanks for the replies. I was really wishing that someone had experience with using the worm habitats or keeping them inside. I think it would be too hot in the garage during the summer.

Thanks
Chris

We started keeping our leftover red worms in a styrofoam cooler in the cellar with the Frabill bedding last year. I used an awl to punch holes along the side and in the top for ventilation and we feed the Frabill worm food weekly. Pretty soon, we started seeing egg cases and baby worms .Now we have two coolers set up.
Sometimes I suppliment with diced vegetables and shredded newspapers, but the packaged bedding is great. When we need a few for fishing, we just pick them out and put them in a smaller container or the Frabill wormbox. I feel kinda bad sticking them on a hook, though, now that they're reproducing for us. Well, not that bad. - Roberta

Thanks Roberta!

How often do you change the bedding?

Chris

Hello Blugillin, I started a worm bed last year and have learned a lot through trial and error. I have red worms, I will say one thing they DO NOT like the heat. Once they get over eighty five degees you will lose some fast. Last forth of july I lost half of mine. I was out of town for a couple of days and the temp. got pretty high and when I came home I had lost about half of my worms. I had to put tbem in large storage containers with lids and move them inside. Once the weather cooled down I moved them back outside. I feed them chicken laying mash, bread, any green veg., coffie grounds and crushed egg shells. The crushed egg shells help them digest thier food. I took a small frig. drilled holes in the back of it for drainage and in the door for air and buired it in the ground on it;s back in a cool shady place and filled it with cow mannure. Man I have thousands of red worms now. The soil must be kept moist but not too wet Good luck! and good fishing, Jimmy S.

I only change the bedding about once a year, once it's so thoroughly composted I can add it to the garden. We do add bedding as it compacts - maybe monthly depending on how many worms are in there. When we changed it out last month, we picked through it very carefully so we wouldn't lose an egg cases or babies.

I'm getting ready to order 500 redworms from Gurney's garden supply, which means we will go through vegetable scraps and shredded newspaper in a hurry.

Jimmy's right - they don't take the heat. We keep ours in our cellar (old farm house) where the temp stays fairly constant and the humidity is high. When we take some fishing, we put them inside a cooler so they don't fry in the heat. Good luck!
Hey, Jimmy - how fine do you crush your egg shells? I put some in once, but then I was afraid the sharp edges would slice through them. - Roberta

JimmyS,

Thanks for the info. I live in town and if I were to go and try to bury a fridge in my back yard the cops would be there pronto. Good idea though.

Hi Roberta, I just crush them with my hands and they will not hurt the worms, They will soon be consumed. Hey bluegillin, that gave me a chuckle. But all they would see is the door. Mine is under the grapevine where it is cool and shady. But still here in Savannah it gets real hot in the summer and I will have to put the worms in the bins and move them inside in July and August. Hope the crappie are biting good where you are at. Good Fishing to all! Jimmy S.:)

I was comparing prices on redworms when I found The Worm Bin in my Gardener's Supply catalog http://www.gardeners.com

This thing reminds me of a bee hive in that it has stacking trays so you can remove the finished compost at the bottom because the worms have moved to the upper trays where the fresh food is. It's a little pricey, but I bet can jury rig something similar. They claim the worms can process two pounds of kitchen scraps per day.

Jimmy, you gave me an idea o fwhat to do with my old chest freezer once it dies - IF I can get Doug to dig that big of a hole :-) - Roberta

Heres a tip that works for me, most of the time. Get yourself a couple of big cheap coolers, you'll need a freezer for the rest of this though. Freeze some jugs of water, you'll need about 4 gallon jugs.Put one jug in the cooler[frozen of course], then put your bait in the cooler, use what ever bedding or bait you like, BUT remember to change the jug every day. I keep my bait for weeks that way in our shed, and you know it gets warm here in Ky.