If your wormery is maintained correctly you should not have any problems, however occasionally things can go wrong. Below are some possible problems and suggestions on how to remedy them.
Worms trying to escape or dying
reasons:
The wormery is too wet and the worms are trying to escape or drowning.
If your wormery is too wet you have to add more shredded paper to soak up the moisture. Also open the tap to collect any of the liquid feed that the worms have produced.
Increase airflow in the bin by creating ventilation holes, or leaving the lid off for a while.
Bin is too dry and worms dry out.
Moisten bedding. Place a strip of plastic over the bedding to retain moisture.
Only castings left in bin.
Once the worms devour all of their food and bedding, they will start to eat their own castings, which are poisonous to them. Time to harvest and add fresh bedding.
The bin is exposed to extreme temperatures.
The bin should not be exposed to temperatures above 77° F or below 50° F. The worms thrive in temperatures from 50 to 77 degrees F.
NOTE: Dead worms decompose rather quickly. If you do not monitor the above conditions you can have a dead box of worms before you even realize it.
Your wormery smells bad
Bin is too wet.
Do not add any water or foods with a high percentage of water (e.g., melons,) do add more dry bedding, like shredded paper and compost.
Leave the lid open to dry the bin out a bit.
Bin does not get enough air.
Anaerobic bacteria (bacteria which thrives without air) is smelly. To aerate, add fresh bedding and mix bin contents daily.
The food waste is naturally smelly.
Onions and broccoli do not smell very pleasant when they decompose in the worm bin. Simply remove any food source that smells bad from the bin.
Bin contains non-compostables.
Meat, bones, dairy and oily products should not be fed to the worms because these items become rancid when decomposing.
Flies in and around the wormery
If you’ve found fruit flies living around and in your worm bin, you may get rid of them using one or both of the following methods:
Make a trap.
Place ½ cup of beer or honey in a jar. Poke a hole in the corner of the a sandwich bag with a pen. Tighten the bag around the rim of the jar with a rubber band. The open bag should be above the level of the contents of the jar. The flies are attracted to the beer or honey and find their way in, but not their way out!
Vacuum them
.When you open the lid you will see fruit flies crawling and flying about. Quickly vacuum the crawling flies and those that land nearby.
If your wormery is inside
An interesting solution to flys around your bin which is located inside is a carniverous plant.
Under no circumstances should you use fly spray
Little white worms in my wormery
The ’white worm’ you are noticing is a type of worm called Entrachyadids. They will not hurt the worms, but they do indicate acidic conditions which can be overcome by a weekly addition of lime mix. By placing a piece of moist white bread in your wormery you can lure them for easy removal. This will make a great treat for your garden birds. Please note that many organisms will appear in your wormery (such as red mites and soldier fly larvae). These are beneficial to the break down of organic material, so there is no need to remove them.
The contents of my worm bin is going mouldy.
Mouldy food is not great for worms as when food rots it heats up. Although this can be good in a compost bin (in which the heat kills off bacteria allowing minibeasts to move in), in a wormery it can kill off the worms as they have nowhere else to go.
To avoid food in a wormery going mouldy it is best to chop it up small and feed the worms often but with small amounts. Mixing the waste into the bedding with a small fork can also help.
Wormeries 
Copyright Westcountry Worms 2006