Straw is helping keep my worm bin from drying out

I've been struggling the few years to keep my worm alive and well during the summer. It seems like no matter where I put the bin it gets at least a little sun, and drys out very quickly.
This year I have been trying to be more attentive, and keep the worms alive and well. I used to put in ice packs on one side of the bin, and I haven't done that, but I need to this week because it's forecasted to be over 100 every day.  I did add straw ( I tested before I put it in there) to the top. My thoughts are it's another layer, but loose enough not to block the air vents. Most of my bedding is shredded cardboard, and before the straw it would dry out very fast. It wasn't unusual to only be damp in the bottom third of the bin.
I also put a cover I originally made for my seedling table over the bin and covered that with shade cloth.
So far so good. These small changes have made a huge difference. The goal is to check the worms once a week, in reality it's probably more like every 10 to 14 days, but still a lot better than the last few years. When I check it, I find dry straw, but a moist bedding underneath. The food is usually gone, and the bedding is quickly becoming more castings than shredded cardboard. I also see worms, I don't have to dig for them..
In the beginning with the exception of the learning curve, I was a pretty good worm keeper. Then I got super busy and I'm ashamed to say less interested, and I was a lousy worm keeper. I'm trying to get back to being a good worm keeper. Part because the castings are amazing, but more importantly if I'm caring for something, anything especially if I have a system that what I'm caring for can't get out or naturally care for them selves, then I owe it to them to do a good job.  Otherwise I just shouldn't do it.

Thank you for sharing this.  I have always wanted to do vermicomposting since reading about this years ago in a dentist office.

Dear hubby is sure it will not work where we live so I am glad to know it works for you.

A jute blanket can also help a lot, in part because it's easy to pull out, soak and wring out, and then put back on top. Eventually the worms do eat through it, but then you can just give the remaining bits to them and put a fresh one on top!

Summer heat is the nightmare for mine too. I ended up moving the bin under my workbench in the shed, not just shaded but totally off direct ground heat, and it helped a lot more than I expected. The straw sounds like a good addition though, might try layering some on top of the cardboard I use.