What we know is that the worms eat almost nothing below 10 degrees. Below 4 degrees they even go into a kind of hibernation. This means that you should feed your worms less to nothing during those really cold frost periods. Do you also want to continue converting your GFT into compost in the winter? then you will have to ensure that the temperature in your worm bin remains above 10 degrees. Of course you can do that by putting your tank inside. Or by other measures as described in this article.
Isolate
Worms produce a lot of heat themselves. When it gets colder, they pull together like polar bears at the South Pole. They keep themselves warm by continuing to move. With a good insulation layer you keep that heat in your tank.
Soin a wooden container such as the worm stool or wooden worm tower, the temperature inside the container will stay above the required 10 degrees for longer.
The aerobin has a true insulating wall, so it is best suited for composting outsideem at lower temperatures. Do make sure you have filled the aerobin properly before winter starts. Airy and moist,for good heat generation and insulation.
With the Balkonton Cassic, the earth around the worm tube provides additional insulation. With a regular worm bin, you can wrap the bin in bubble wrap or an old blanket.
Postpone your compost harvest until spring
The compost that is in your worm composter also forms a natural insulation layer itself. The worms have more protection in it than in a freshly emptied container. If possible, postpone your compost harvest until spring.
Nice in the sun
You can place portable worm hotels in the sun in the winter, out of the wind as much as possible. In the summer, of course, the opposite applies. Well-insulated containers (such as the Balkonton and the Gevelbak) do not have to be moved.
The colder the more eggs the worms lay
As soon as it starts to get cold, worms start laying more eggs. Of course, if even in the middle of a worm bin the temperature drops below freezing, the worms will eventually freeze to death. Fortunately , this rarely occurs due to the heat they produce themselves, combined with the heat from the regular composting process.
In this way, the worm colony can survive a period of frost, while individual worms do die. So in the spring you often have an abundance of new worms.
This recovery is easier with the help of a worm bin (re)start package. This contains breeding ground in which the eggs thrive, and worm power food that your worms digest easily.
Balconyton Classic and Aerobin are well insulated
My own experience is that the compost worms survive nice and cozy in the middle of the Balkonton Classic. The only time a population has died was when I kept a Balkonton Classic out of the rain, didn’t add any food, so let it dry out completely. So make sure that the soil remains moist. Either by occasionally throwing in some cutting waste, or by adding some water now and then.
The compost worms in the Aerobin also get through the winter more easily, especially in a full container. Furthermore, the worm paradise will also provide more protection than the plastic worm composter.