Ben Shuetrim

Claire~

I have had this exact problem before...

The ants come due to the contents being a little on the dry side and also being too acidic.

The solution; Keep the worm bin a little more moist and secondly, buy yourself some cheap builders lime or dolomite lime from the hardware and give it an even little sprinkle over the feeding surface of your worm bin. This will bring up the pH a little, help remove any smells and make the worms happier and hungrier. Pretty sure you'll need to get another load of worms though because five aint' gonna eat much


I was informed by a great neighbour of mine who used to work part time as a kid with a commercial worm farm, this does work.

Hope it helps,
Ben

Don't give up on the worms!
Keep the bin well drained by having a hose or similar connected to the outlet tap and going into a plastic bottle or other. Avoid any 'browns' that aren't soft newspaper types otherwise they will take forever to break down and will just take up valuable space.

I only use paper for use as a thick cover and moisture retainer for the worm bed. They tend to eat away at the underside of the paper when they feel the urge.

Build your worm pops up by only adding really fast rotting, soft fruits/veg's for a while and then when it's cranking add slower rotting foods that the higher population will handle. If the stink factor comes on it is for two possible reasons; Too much food being added and the worms can't consume the rotting specimen or; The bin is too acidic due to cranking worm fest and requires a sprinkling of any type of powdered Lime to raise pH and get things going again.

Hope you keep the bin!
Ps just get rid of that worm leachate any old way. Really your main focus is on composting your waste which will take place. Sometimes you just have to get one waste stream sorted before worrying about everything else; ie give the leachate away, pour it on a nearby lawn-garden-tree etc whatever just don't let it hang in the bottom of the bin or it will just make you want to throw that bin right out!
Good luck,
Ben