Comments on: Worm Bin Mites http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/worm-bin-mites/ Red Wiggler Worms, European Nightcrawlers and loads of helpful Worm Composting Information Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:46:37 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Bentley http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/worm-bin-mites/comment-page-1/#comment-34159 Bentley Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:25:17 +0000 http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/worm-bin-mites/#comment-34159 Hi Sam - I am not going to slam anyone here, but it's not uncommon for batches of Red Worms to include Blue Worms (Perionyx excavatus) - in warmer weather it can be challenging for many worm farmers to keep them out of Red Worm beds. Blue Worms are tropical and perish when temps get cold, so if there ends up being a lot of them in a particular batch of worms you can end up with a much smaller population than you started with when the mercury starts to dip! Make sure you sign up for the RWC newsletter so I can give you a lecture about worm bin critters NOT killing off worms! haha (I dedicate some mini-lessons to this topic) 8) Hi Sam – I am not going to slam anyone here, but it’s not uncommon for batches of Red Worms to include Blue Worms (Perionyx excavatus) – in warmer weather it can be challenging for many worm farmers to keep them out of Red Worm beds. Blue Worms are tropical and perish when temps get cold, so if there ends up being a lot of them in a particular batch of worms you can end up with a much smaller population than you started with when the mercury starts to dip!

Make sure you sign up for the RWC newsletter so I can give you a lecture about worm bin critters NOT killing off worms! haha
(I dedicate some mini-lessons to this topic)
8)

]]> By: sam jorgensen http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/worm-bin-mites/comment-page-1/#comment-34134 sam jorgensen Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:25:45 +0000 http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/worm-bin-mites/#comment-34134 my worms have been disapearing but there is not any dried up worms on the outside of my bin they have disapeared in the last several weeks. i have had my worm in my garage we live in colorado so it gets pretty cold at night. we had a heat lamp over them i was a red heat lamp when i would go check them the soil and food scraps were quite cold. i definetly know that there were red wigglers because i ordered them from uncle jims worm farm, i honestly like your site better. then we put them inside and we noticed there were a lot of nats and mites so we stopped feeding them for a while. then when i would check on them there we less and less. so we started feeding them again then i checked again, and it didnt look like the even touched their food. i found one really fat one do you think that the fat one ate all the worms?????? my worms have been disapearing but there is not any dried up worms on the outside of my bin they have disapeared in the last several weeks. i have had my worm in my garage we live in colorado so it gets pretty cold at night. we had a heat lamp over them i was a red heat lamp when i would go check them the soil and food scraps were quite cold. i definetly know that there were red wigglers because i ordered them from uncle jims worm farm, i honestly like your site better. then we put them inside and we noticed there were a lot of nats and mites so we stopped feeding them for a while. then when i would check on them there we less and less. so we started feeding them again then i checked again, and it didnt look like the even touched their food. i found one really fat one do you think that the fat one ate all the worms??????

]]> By: Bentley http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/worm-bin-mites/comment-page-1/#comment-25744 Bentley Mon, 07 Jun 2010 17:59:43 +0000 http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/worm-bin-mites/#comment-25744 Hi Colleen, There are so many different species of mites on the earth, and yes I'm sure there ARE some that can harm humans, but it is unlikely that they reside in compost heaps (wouldn't really make sense to hang out there if it's mammals they are interested in - haha). The common one's you find in your worm bin certainly won't hurt you. That's interesting re: your mites liking it dry - in my systems they seem to decrease in abundance when moisture is reduced. Hi Colleen,
There are so many different species of mites on the earth, and yes I’m sure there ARE some that can harm humans, but it is unlikely that they reside in compost heaps (wouldn’t really make sense to hang out there if it’s mammals they are interested in – haha). The common one’s you find in your worm bin certainly won’t hurt you.
That’s interesting re: your mites liking it dry – in my systems they seem to decrease in abundance when moisture is reduced.

]]> By: Colleen http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/worm-bin-mites/comment-page-1/#comment-25723 Colleen Sun, 06 Jun 2010 15:47:37 +0000 http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/worm-bin-mites/#comment-25723 Are mites harmeful to humans? I seem to recall when I was in school "scabies" was mites on humans. It caused a rash that was contagious and kids got sent home because of it. Needless to say I am a tad bit "mite-shy"... I have red mights in/on one of my worm tubs. I read where you said that it was because of moisture, yet the tub that has them is quite dry. In fact, I watered it excessively today in hopes that they didn't like the wet because they definately DID like it dry! (Won't do that again!) So, back to the original question, are mites harmeful to us?? Are mites harmeful to humans? I seem to recall when I was in school “scabies” was mites on humans. It caused a rash that was contagious and kids got sent home because of it. Needless to say I am a tad bit “mite-shy”… I have red mights in/on one of my worm tubs. I read where you said that it was because of moisture, yet the tub that has them is quite dry. In fact, I watered it excessively today in hopes that they didn’t like the wet because they definately DID like it dry! (Won’t do that again!)
So, back to the original question, are mites harmeful to us??

]]> By: Debbie http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/worm-bin-mites/comment-page-1/#comment-20719 Debbie Sat, 28 Feb 2009 07:14:53 +0000 http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/worm-bin-mites/#comment-20719 Hmmm. I noticed little white specs in my worm bin that are about salt grain size. I thought for a minute that it was just worm eggs until I realized they were movingb and looked like little spiders. My concern is when I was putting my bin together I needed extra soil for my bedding and my son brought me some. (I didn't realize he had took it from a plant our next door neighbor had outside) This is not cool is it? Do I need to start over? Hmmm. I noticed little white specs in my worm bin that are about salt grain size. I thought for a minute that it was just worm eggs until I realized they were movingb and looked like little spiders.
My concern is when I was putting my bin together I needed extra soil for my bedding and my son brought me some. (I didn’t realize he had took it from a plant our next door neighbor had outside) This is not cool is it? Do I need to start over?

]]> By: Bentley http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/worm-bin-mites/comment-page-1/#comment-20663 Bentley Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:28:06 +0000 http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/worm-bin-mites/#comment-20663 Hi Sally, These mites aren't necessarily a bad thing, but if they are present in massive numbers this could be indicative of a more serious problem (overfeeding, excess moisture etc). I find that these mites absolutely LOVE it wet - and they seem to pop up in huge numbers when I've added too much waste - and materials that are not broken down enough for the worms to process them quickly. I now use lidless systems and never see these mites anymore. Hi Sally,
These mites aren’t necessarily a bad thing, but if they are present in massive numbers this could be indicative of a more serious problem (overfeeding, excess moisture etc).
I find that these mites absolutely LOVE it wet – and they seem to pop up in huge numbers when I’ve added too much waste – and materials that are not broken down enough for the worms to process them quickly. I now use lidless systems and never see these mites anymore.

]]> By: Sally http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/worm-bin-mites/comment-page-1/#comment-20617 Sally Wed, 18 Feb 2009 08:17:14 +0000 http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/worm-bin-mites/#comment-20617 I just noticed these mites in my worm bit today. Are they a bad thing? Do I need to monitor the moisture? The worms seem happy otherwise, but the presence of an unplanned resident makes me wonder if everything's alright. LOVE your site, by the way. Thanks so much for sharing your experience and information so freely! I just noticed these mites in my worm bit today. Are they a bad thing? Do I need to monitor the moisture? The worms seem happy otherwise, but the presence of an unplanned resident makes me wonder if everything’s alright. LOVE your site, by the way. Thanks so much for sharing your experience and information so freely!

]]>