Lindap,
I got my worms! But I have a problem.....I think I did something wrong. 1-I have THOUSANDS of fruit flies.
I have been fighting them off with dish soap spray and washing off the lid of the container once a day to kill the maggots(UGHH!);
2-The SMELL of the liquid is nearly UNBEARABLE
PLEASE TELL ME WHAT I DID WRONG and HOW DO I FIX IT??? Noone will come into my house.

I have a 24" by 12" by 10" plastic container. I put 1 row of holes about the size if a pencil eraser all the way around the box spaced about 1 1/2-2" apart. inside the box I filled it halfway with wet ripped up newspaper, kitchen scraps-veggie and fruit only, then the worms, then a thin layer of wet newspaper. In 1 corner of the box I have 2 more holes for drainage with an open container to catch the liquid.
Please help, I don't want this to be another failed project!!!!!!!!!!!
gigi

I hope you get a reply from Lindap; I am not an expert. But, I have had worms for composting over 5 years. At first they were in the house, but I had overwhelming fruitflies eventually and at that point, the worms went outside. I have a large black plastic composting box where they live fall, winter and spring. Before it gets hot, I empty the box and separate the worms. I put the worms in a smaller box with newspaper and food and keep them close to the house in the shade for the summer. Once it is cool again, I dump them into to large mulch box. I live in Virginia so the worms manage in the winter ok. The garage would also work in the winter for harsher climates. I would really like to know how to prevent fruit flies too.

If it's any comfort to you, when the fruit is gone, so will the fruitflies be gone. As to what you did wrong: Do the drainage holes let fluids drain into an EXPOSED area? I have drainage into a layer of rocks WITHIN the habitat because I think all exposed liquids attract other bugs to the habitat. I have to tilt my habitat steeply to drain off the liquid into an old ice cube bin I save for that purpose, & I always dilute the 'worm tea' with an equal amount of water & use it immediately on my plants. I think MOST of your problems will go away if you never allow any standing liquid to collect. I tuck any food scraps UNDER the newspaper layer, again to keep them unexposed. Your habitat is covered with a lid, right? Is it outside or in your house? I didn't even know that fruit flies MADE maggots: are you sure they're not housefly maggots? (I am always SO careful to shoosh away any flies when I'm harvesting my worm poop & cleaning my habitat because I would be tempted to dump my whole thing & start over if I ever got maggots. (Never have in over 3 years, but I never let my habitat outside either.) Your airholes are bigger than mine, so I doubt that they are already blocked with worm poop, but check. The only time I EVER had a smell in my habitat is when I let my airholes get blocked up with worm poop. (All I had to do then was separate out my worms as best I could & clean the habitat, re-open the holes, & re-build the bedding.) Maybe the larger holes allowed in houseflies. The holes in my habitat are just made by pounding in a nail, only that big. I have a fruit fly trap I keep, just in case, that I have never had to use called "Natural Catch Plus", & according to the box, they have a website: http://www.bugtraps.com
Hope some of this helps. I wish I were close enough to see your habitat so I could make a better guess what happened. Email me if need be, okay??

I read that after you make the holes in the side of the worm bin, you should take squares of window screen and hot glue them to the inside of the box over the holes to keep the bugs out. Also the articles say to attach window screen over the holes on the bottom to keep the worms and castings in and let the worm fluid out. However, one article suggested that if you want to have more than one worm box and want to stack them. that you could forgo the bottom holes and suspend a screen one inch above the bottom to drain away the fluids and even put a spigot on the bottom to periodically drain and catch the wormy fluid for use.I hope this information makes sense. I also remember reading that you should add a little bit of soil in your box with the wet newspaper when you first put your worms in. So your worms will have some dirt to eat, I guess. Also you definately need to bury the food waste better so it doesn't attract insects. Good Luck!

Thank you, lindap, Thank you everybody. I have a TON of fruit scraps in there, my daughter LOVES melons and bananas, so my scraps are mostly made up of them. Yes, I do have a lid on my box, but I think I might not have covered the scraps enough with newspaper. I have a handbook on pest control and it says that fruit flies pupate(SP?) maggots turn into the flies. my box has never been outside---UNTIL TODAY. I couldn't stand it anymore with the smell. I cleared out the holes- big difference. the "juice" drips into an open container which I empty as frequently as possible and place in a covered pickle jar until I can pour it on the plants.
The box is now out on my back porch covered w/a light colored towel to detract from the heat. there is a catch basin for the liquid. Iam seriously considering dumping the whole thing and starting over. I'll have to see what happens when I get home from work tonite.

When I let my habitat go 'anerobic' that one time when the airholes got blocked with worm poop, it really smelled awful. But I have a strong stomach & was able to pile the slime into little hills & wait till the worms hid in the bottom of each pile, & then was able to salvage enough of my worms that they quickly re-populated the cleaned habitat. I buried the rest of the slime & missed worms, food, & stinky bedding in my veggie bed where it is now feeding my tomatoes. I can't remember if you said whether you were also composting conventionally outside, but if you empty all but your worms into your OUTSIDE compost pile, it'll heat up WONDERFULLY from this addition. Try to at least save your worms so that you don't need to buy more. But, yes, I'd probably clean up the habitat & start over with fresh bedding & all. You may not be able to use that much fruit; & if you really want to make that your main food source, I'd tuck it WAY down into the habitat, into the bedding layer even. Don't give up; you can do this!