Not so much about falling asleep and forgetting the four pounds of chicken breasts defrosting, as putting the worm bin on top of the compost heap after adding the chicken, a cup of milk, coffee grounds and a little compost to cover.
This pile is turned often and insulated with bags of leaves, it now runs HOT to within 2" of the edge.
7 hrs later I was wondering why the BSF were barely under the cover litter...then noticed the bottom of the worm bin was hot enough that some of the chicken inside was cooked through.
On exposing a breast and sniffing from less than a foot away there was eno off odor to pull away, but two feet away it wasnt detectable. Pretty much the same for the chicken and I decided I needed a shower.
In fact, at 2 ft. from the uncovered bin (reburied the chicken) there was more odor from the leeks and onions from last week, apparently leeks are tough and/or the sulfur compounds in onions/garlic etc aren't preferred and the tops fermented a bit. My SOP is to add that stuff to the bottom (if at all, I keep poking around in there and the leek leaves are like a bad penny.), and coffee grounds on top. I think I'll start chopping the onion and banana peel debris before adding it. Don't even bother adding grape stems, pick off the grapes or pull the stems out the next week, they just get in the way of burying the next ripening batch of goodies.
The larvae Loooove bananas and squash. I still have an amazingly still-solid pumpkin from last year on my porch, when it's time to get those seeds the BSF will have a good day. Too bad I didnt have the bin around for the other 6.
BTW, this bin is more tightly shaded/loosely covered by the bedliner on top then actually lidded, so a few other flies are around. I see 2-3 individuals with housefly-type airframes and a zillion Drosophila. Misc beetles and earwigs are having a good time too, but while their presence is noted their numbers are minor compared to BSF and drosophila. No big deal and a lid that limits airflow will reduce dilution of the BSF warning scent. Given whats been added, the low odor levels are amazing.
I'm deciding whether to move the dogs to the scrounged foot-high plastic drum cutoff then add a fitted lid with dedicated vent/adult access holes and corro cardboard egg laying spots, or sacrifice a whole drum set obliquely or sideways for surface area with a similar lid. Either way CCF legs gooped with Vaseline are in order, the local ants are a PITA. Oddly, they go mostly for the cookies and blueberry bread and if I move the bin after a day or two are no longer attracted, even with wet cookie still on top. Maybe some wheels...
One of the owners of the local cafe I get my coffee grounds from seems interested, so I dropped off probably a thousand or so to try as chicken feed or a starter bin (5 gal bucket, shovel of compost and chunk of cucumber included @ no extra charge!) Unfortunately they had left so anyone that looks in the bucket set way back under the junk table out back will be unpleasantly surprised. Unless they fish or have a worm fetish and randomly haunt local bait shops.
I nearly tossed the whole bin into the pickup and hauled it over to show them :P Then I decided it was too heavy to carry 85 yards to the truck.
So, a summary of lessons learned:
If you insist on playing with your new pets, chop and bury the oniony stuff and banana peels. (dont worry about any thing else) Well, the grapes from last week are just now being broken down too. Lightly bury the sweet pastries to avoid ants.
Add all the coffee grounds you can scrounge to the top, the larvae will mix them in for you
Dont set the bin on a hot compost heap in the summer. ( I probably would've dried the whole thing out in 2-3 more days if I hadn't been compelled to play in it.)
A gallon of liquid at once is a bit much, a pint or two over a week with added dry stuff is fine.
Covered, but not open or sealed.
The bins rapidly get heavy if you cant manage to shut the fridge door and keep track of defrosting food. Plan for scalability.
