Comments on: The Super Simple Ultra Basic Worm Harvesting Tube

By: Kaye Swain SandwichINK

Kaye Swain SandwichINK — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 22:47:12 +0000

Fascinating! My grandchildren and I are studying worms in school. Won’t they be intrigued to see and read all this. Thank you for the interesting information!

By: Matthew

Matthew — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 19:06:19 +0000

I think you are on the right track here Bentley. Last summer, I observed something interesting while trying to separate my worms from the vermicompost. It was hot/sunny outside, so I dumped all my bins out into a single huge pile on a big tarp. Of course the worms did not like the light/heat, so they would migrate deeper in the pile. Then, every hour or two, I would go scrape away a layer of outside material (a few inches) until I started hitting worms. Rinse, repeat…. until finally the pile was reduced to almost nothing (perhaps a few cubic feet). At that point I really started wondering, “where the heck did all my worms go?” But then I stuck my hand into the center of the pile, and found out! There was literally a HUGE concentrated mass of pure worms right in the center of the remaining material…in something of a ‘ball’. It felt pretty weird! Just like sticking your hand into cooked spaghetti… except it was ALIVE!
Anyway, all that is to say, I think this light/heat ‘herding’ has merit. Just brainstorming here, but with my outside sun light/heat approach, I wonder if I placed/buried some sort of a perforated or screen container (filled with worm-friendly material, something cool like damp shredded newspaper) at the center of my pile, then used the same approach of removing outside layers until the worms eventually were forced to the center of the pile, into the container. I’d have de-wormed compost outside the container, and pure worms inside the container (of course there would still be cocoons in the outer compost – another potential challenge).

By: Brian

Brian — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:47:16 +0000

GrowingPower.org uses a pretty simple concept for harvesting. They place a screen on top of the bin and then spread food on top of the screen. As the worms migrate up, they periodically empty the screens contents into a new bin. Although they readily admit that they lose 20% in this manner. Since they seem to have upwards of 50 bins with 50 – 80 lbs of worms in each, 20% to them is probably an o.k. margin of error. It would likely be impossible to separate 95-99% of the worms in those kinds of volumes.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:55:15 +0000

Hi Wayne,
The onion bag method and my ‘garbage bag method’ (both very similar in principle) are good for getting most of the worms separated from the vermicompost – but not really great for actually harvesting worms. They are better for transferring worms to a new system. Unfortunately, the SSUBWHT seems to be similar in its abilities (ie not great for actually harvesting worms).
I think I’ll just make a rotating screen harvester with the rest of my tube and screening material.

By: Wayne

Wayne — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 01:28:06 +0000

In another post on my forum a link was posted to the University of Nebraska. Towards the bottome of the article was another link to a site talking about using the ‘Onion Bag Method of Harvesting’. This one is on cityfarmer.org.
The method sounded pretty interesting although I have doubts on how thoroghly it would harvest your worms.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:43:25 +0000

Hi Wayne,
Thanks for stopping by. Your advice definitely has some merit. I’ve continued to test this method out, and unfortunately it’s just not producing the desired results. I still plan to try using aged manure to lure them down, but I think for the most part this isn’t going to be a viable harvesting method.
Live and learn, I guess!

By: Wayne

Wayne — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 12:21:51 +0000

The subject of vermicomposting came up on my gardening forum and someone posted a link to your website. I’ve been reading your articles and watching videos for a couple hours now. I’ve never done this before but I think I’d agree with your comment, this would work better if you were just starting a new bin.
You could just use the top half with the screen attached and support it in the bedding of a fresh bin. Shielding the bin from the light might help too.
I’m planning to start my first bin this year and try some of your other ideas also. I really like the trench idea.

By: Doug

Doug — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:45:57 +0000

Your system reminds me of the cat box for our Miss Kitty it has holes in the bottom about 1/2 inch square and two boxes below that are solid kinda the same theory but yours is cuter.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 08:19:21 +0000

Thanks Kaye – that is an interesting notion. I have never seen evidence of this myself. As I’ve written on the blog, I find that a very diverse compost ecosystem has important benefits. That being said – it all depends on the type of system you are using. The closed plastic tub systems are a bit more unforgiving than open or enclosed wooden systems. Still, my argument is that it is the conditions that result in the abundance of certain organisms – not the organisms themselves – that is usually the issue for the worms.
I actually sell the 2nd edition “Worms Eat My Garbage” (via my Canadian worm business), so I do have the odd copy lying around.

Edward – I think you have hit the nail on the head – this is something my dad and I were discussing as well! My next test will definitely involve having material flush up against the screen.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

By: Edward

Edward — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 03:46:47 +0000

Hi Bentley,
I think the problem is that worms don’t like to ‘jump’. I mean leave to the place with no bedding.
Is it possible to make your cardboard touch the screen from below?