Goodbye Worm Bin 2! Hello Worm Bin 2a!

Well I have to say goodbye to Worm Bin 2.  Someone bought it.  Lucky guy.  It was my best performing bin.  From about 8 worms at the start of October, it was up to 47 as of yesterday.  Talk about population explosion!  The funny thing is that I'm not sure why it performed so well, whereas Worm Bin 3 (Worm Tray) is such a flop.  Sure it had mushrooms, but the population actually dwindled from 8 to 6 in a couple of weeks.  Strange since it had the best aeration; in contrast, Worm Bin 2 had no drainage and just a few holes.  Tsk.

Anyway, like a true worm head, I was nonetheless happy because I got to create a new bin.  I shall christen it Worm Bin 2a since I patterned the design from the first one.  As you can see, it looks exactly like Worm Bin 2, only this time it's blue (my favorite color).  But this time I resolved to do it in a cleaner fashion.  The last time, I discovered that it was hard to punch holes in hard plastic using a screwdriver or an awl.   I also think I've learned my lesson after stabbing myself recently.

This time around, I used a soldering iron.  I can't remember where I got the idea, but I figured this would be an easier way to put holes in the bin.  And it costs about 3% of what a power drill would cost.  True enough, one the iron was hot, it easily melted small holes into the container.  I was done with the holes in about 5 minutes (although it comes with fumes).

Similarly, I also melted holes at the top.   Those are big holes but I made sure to tape some stockings cloth underneath to prevent pests from coming or my worms from escaping.    The difference now though is that I also melted holes at the sides.  Why?  Well, if I ever need to stack bins (looking forward to more worms!), air can still circulate in the bin.

Finally, I taped some glossy paper around the sides because my bin is quite transparent and worms don't like light.  I made it a lot neater than my first one too.  I actually measured the stuff I taped around so it doesn't look messy. 

As a final point, I still didn't put any drainage since it is a small bin and I have absolute control with the moisture level.   With all the steps replicated, all that's left now is to get a couple of worms (along with the substrate) and to place them on this bin.  I'll moisten the contents now and then but I probably won't put any more food or bedding just yet.  I don't have to inoculate the bin since I'll be putting existing substrate. 

And that's a wrap!

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