I have the feeling I am doing things wrong.

[red stroud]

number one I dont use news paper in my can o worms composter.I cover the top with a worm blanket.I grind and freeze food.when I feed all the worms go down. some days I take top off and there are 50 to 60 worm on it. then I feed and they all go back down. these things go threw food like crazy.is my trouble because I dont use paper.I keep them in my house dont want flies or smell thats why I grind food.had a friend that just added food . got driven nuts with flies and smell.I am in trouble .can keep up they are eating me out food.

[Rick]

Red,

I have been using the can o worms bin for 17 years and keep the feeding tray filled to the top with paper.  This keeps the worms happy and the smells down.  Actually I never had a smell issue with the COW.  If I check the worms daily there are usually one or two worms on the lid.  If I leave them alone for several days and then check on them there are usually about a dozen on the lid.  This has always been the way it works.  I like to use the paper because I think that it 'balances' the system.  It absorbs excess moisture, it gives the worms something to dig around in, it gives the microbes things to process when there isn't any food, etc. etc.  When I harvest a tray each month I use the unprocessed paper from the current feeding tray to start the new feeding tray.  This gets this tray moving along very fast because there are plenty of critters already in this paper.  Works good for me.

I also freeze my food before feeding and sometimes I grind the food with egg shells and that seems to make it get converted to castings faster.  Not the egg shells, but the food get processed faster.  Pieces of egg shell are always in my vermicompost.

[red stroud]

I was using a worm blanket on top it has seen better days.I cut a lot of paper and added it along with coconut fiber. we will see how that works.thank rick for the advice.this sight is hard to use.

[Ben]

I like to use egg cartons and/or corrugated cardboard on top. Worms seem to love breeding/hanging out in the little nooks and crannies of corrugated cardboard, and when it breaks down over time and you can add more to the top. Since the can o worms does have a lid, it won't look bad like it would on an uncovered bin.

And I agree, the site isn't quite as intuitive as I would like. And that's coming from a guy who studied computer science and shouldn't have trouble navigating routine forum/blog sites. That said, there's a wealth of information once you start exploring! Just takes time to find it, and a lot of bookmarking to retain it for later reference.