Worm breeder boxes - which size is correct?
by Stephan
(Cape Town)
Worm breeder boxes - stacked
Hi,
I recently purchased your book on kindle. It has a lot of great information, and I've enjoyed it. For some reason, however, most of the images you reference don't show up in my digital copy. I just wanted to ask a couple of questions to clarify if you don't mind. I am currently raising African nightcrawlers, I started out with 2 lbs about a week ago, and have them all in one larger bin, about 30 gallons. When you discussed breeder boxes, you suggested a size, and I found a bin locally that is close -http://www.walmart.com/ip/44785758?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222228033081974&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=67308974912&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=131209015952&veh=sem
That's a 4 gallon bin by Sterilite. I wanted to ask if you thought that may be too small? They also have a 10 gallon, which is the same depth (about 7.5") but is longer and wider. Would that be a better size? Also, I see you gave instructions to build the stacking worm farms to sell, but I wasn't clear if that was how you also set up your breeder boxes? Or do you just keep those in a single bin, with holes to aerate?
I am wanting to divide up my "herd" into new breeder boxes from the bin they are in now, so whatever information you could provide would be much appreciated. Thank you.
------------------------------
Answer:
Hello Billy,
thank you for purchasing my book "How to start a profitable worm business on a shoestring budget" on kindle. I am glad that you enjoyed it and that it could be helpful. However I am sorry that you couldn't see all the relevant images and I will have to look into this and ask at the kindle what possibly went wrong? Before I could publish it on the kindle the book had to be conformed to a lot of specifications and only once it passed all the requirements by kindle could it be published. It is the first time I heard that some of the images didn't open. I would appreciate if you could forward your digital devices specs to me so I could inform the support center at kindle about the problem.
Let me answer your questions for you.
1. Both bins that you mentioned should be fine as breeder boxes. The depth of 7.5'' is alright but you have to make sure that the worms in those boxes will be protected against extreme temperatures all year round. While the African Nightcrawlers can handle temperatures of up to (86 F - 30 C) they are vulnerable to cold weather conditions and should not kept in bins that get colder than (60.8 F - 16 C)
I generally like my breeder boxes to be at least 10'' deep but as I said your suggested boxes should be fine too.
If you want to focus on only one size of box remember that the amount of worms a bin can support is mainly depending on it's surface area. So the larger the surface area of your bin the more mature worms if will be able to hold.
2. Over the years I have used many different bins as breeder boxes, from barrels to buckets and all kinds of bins. For economical reasons (space) I preferred the stackable bins the most. I had over 100 stacked breeder boxes in a single garage... I will attach some pictures of breeder boxes we used to this message.
So you can basically use whatever boxes you can get your hand on as long as they fall roughly within the parameters I described in my book but one point to remember with is the fact that African Nightcrawlers like to explore the environment. In order to prevent them from leaving your breeder bins you should always get bins with lids and ideally place a light above the boxes which will discourage the worms to crawl out.
I trust this will clarify things for you.
I wish you lots of success with your worm business venture. Keep me posted on your progress and please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions or suggestions.
Kind regards
Stephan Kloppert
Author of
"How to start a profitable worm business on a shoestring budget"
Editor of
www.worm-composting-help.com
"Want to turn your worm bin into a real income? "How to Start a Profitable Worm Business on a Shoestring Budget" — the complete step-by-step guide from 25 years of real worm farming experience. Get it on Amazon:
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