Comments on: Can Worm Cocoons Be Effectively Harvested?

By: The Wormy Woodworker

The Wormy Woodworker — Wed, 03 Apr 2019 21:56:07 +0000

For my secondary screen, I use an office paper tray made from a diamond shaped screen material thats about 1/8″ on the long side. This catches almost every single cocoon.
As for the babies, once I’m done sifting I set aside the sifted castings in a tall kitchen waste basket and leave it for the wisps to grow into something I can see and sift for…
With red wigglers I wait 6 weeks and ANC I wait 3-4 weeks.

I’ve been trying to find this diamond shaped screen in a roll so I can make a better sifter for this size, but the office tray works for now! 🙂
Any longer and you might get a new set of cocoons to deal with.

By: Tommy D

Tommy D — Sat, 26 Apr 2014 14:36:34 +0000

I am not worried about loosing eggs as introducing a none native species into my area.
Im just starting but plan on building a sifting and floating system. I would think once you have sifted down to 1/8 you could float the eggs and strain out the castings. Then I plan on killing any remaining worms (I know some might think this bad but I think dumping out worms not native to your area is unconscionable.)

By: Leslie

Leslie — Mon, 13 May 2013 21:49:00 +0000

I have gone bug-eyed and finger cramps getting my cocoons out of my castings. I have purchased an 1/8″ hardware cloth to help and I am going to build a rotary screen like I have with 1/4″ mesh. I built a worm hotel instead of a factory that I keep in my garage. The hotel is five stories high with 1/4″ hardware cloth stapled on the bottom of each floor. My floors are made of 1X6″ cedar milled on one side and rough on the other (outer side). My walls are glued and nailed together and have a 1X2″ cedar strip for support in each corner. The cedar strip is as long as the walls are wide but off set by 1″ so I have a little foot on each wall that connects into the top of the floor below for stability. One piece of newspaper on the bottom of each floor to hold the bedding and food. The worms eat through the newspaper when they are ready to move up. I built a stand (basement) under the floors and placed an open plastic bin to catch moisture. I have not caught any moisture in the bin and have harvested the pooh 3 times. I run everything through the 1/4″ mesh rotary screen and return the oversize back into the floors with a fresh piece of newspaper. Last harvest 8# of castings little fuss or mess.

By: Katrina

Katrina — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:07:19 +0000

I have always separated out as many of my worms as possible by picking and screening, throwing the worms in a fresh composting bin and putting the finished compost in an empty bin. I then moisten some bread and lay it out on top of the finished bin. This seems to work very nicely in moving any missed worms under the bread, where I can easily scoop them out. I do this for about 6 weeks before I use the finished compost-This way, I’m sure I’ve gotten the majority of the worms that were cocoons when I separated out.

By: john

john — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 02:45:53 +0000

this is my first batch of compost from my red wigglers i,v just made a screen harvester that seems to be working good it has seperated the compost into fine,medium,and course with my worms in the course i,v yet to see any cacoons im going to hand sort the medium compost to see if i can find any cacoons i,m going to try screening the medium again to see if i come up with any cacoons or hide out worms I also agree with JOHN DUFFY about the feeling you get with your first harvest I started out with 3000 red worms last summer and after my harvest I must have about 90000 now

By: Cyndi Warren

Cyndi Warren — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 22:10:41 +0000

I have agonized about saving every baby worm and cocoon while harvesting, only to miss some I found later in the ziplock full of harvested compost that died trying to get out. I HATE that! Maybe I could leave harvested compost outside on a tarp for a few days and (as someone here said) let Mother Nature work it out. At least they’d have a chance that way.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 16:01:54 +0000

LARRY – Thanks for sharing all that!
8)
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BARB – That is something I’ve wondered about (along with some sort of spinning water separation), but the limitation in my mind is the fact that you are turning your beautiful castings into mud as a result. I guess it comes down to importance (are cocoons more important than good castings?). Burlap is a cool idea – I bet there would be loads deposited in that.
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JOHN – I like your philosophy. I’ve spent WAY TOO MANY HOURS engaged in tasks like that (which CAN certainly be relaxing and fun – don’t get me wrong), so I am much more interested in faster methods (if they exist) or simply being laid back about it.
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MATT – Good point. I’d be interested to learn how they are effectively harvesting them. I know someone came up with a technique/machine for harvesting regular earthworm cocoons a number of years ago – perhaps there is now some equipment commercially available and I’m simply in the dark as per usual!
😆
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KATOR – Thanks for sharing that. Makes sense! I will definitely be interested to learn how your own experimentation turns out!

By: Kator

Kator — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 01:22:10 +0000

Hey Matt: I’m also trying to determine the best method of harvesting cocoons. From what I’ve read, harvesters that sell quantities of cocoons have very large operations, part of which involves screening for cocoons to sell. Their recovery percentages are not high (±30%), but due to the quantity of compost processed, they recover a sufficient quota of product to sell. The remainder is recycled in fresh pans.

My primary objective is to collect a sufficient number of capsules, over a period of several months, to generate a new system in a slightly different bedding and feed environment from source bins. I’ve concluded that screening and manual sorting is the best method. It’s labour intensive but, possibly, the most productive.

Please let us know how you make out with floating cocoons recovery. Sounds like a greart experiment. Good luck 🙂

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 02:58:34 +0000

I am seeing more and more worm sellers selling cocoons and shipping. There must be an easier way of seperating than picking out 1000 cocoons than hand sorting, not alone counting 😉

I am so tempted to order just the cocoons, I would think it makes packaging and the weight of shipping less. If the majority of the cocoons hatch, I am sure there would be more worms than I would get if I ordered a pound of EFs

I have to try the water and floating cocoons to see how that works in the future.

Happy Worming
Matt

By: John Duffy

John Duffy — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 02:05:55 +0000

I’ve only been vermicomposting for 9 months but, I remember my excitement when I harvested my first batch of VC. I had baby worms and cocoons in such numbers that it staggered my imagination…I spent about 4 hours meticulously harvesting each & every one with great enthusiasm!…Then reality kind of kicked-in… These little buggers are so prolific that, if I miss a few babies or cocoons while harvesting my VC, Mother Nature will deal with them on her own terms…In other words, they’ll either hatch & reproduce or end up feeding the next worm bin.
It’s all good! Don’t sweat the details…Enjoy the journey!
Oh Mark…Congratulations on your accomplishment of keeping a TON of waste out of the landfill. That’s something to be proud of!
Looking forward to more of your posts.
Bentley, as always thank you for such a great website and all your advice.Vermicomposting is truly a worthwhile passion and the more people we can get involved with it, we CAN help to make the world a better place for everyone!