On 04/02/2015 16:21, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Roger Tonkin wrote:
Taking the opportunity of a lovely sunny (but very cold) day, I
decided to belatedly turn over my compost heap. Having finished
I suddenly thought all those lovely thin reddish worms that
were snug in the middle of the heap are now exposed to the
frosty air and if they do not get a move on could freeze.

Are worms susceptible to the cold and have I done a silly
thing!

Yes, and no, respectively. They are more likely to die of
dessication, but worrying about a few worms in a compost heap
is a trifle OTT. The bacteria will happily compost any dead
worms for you ....


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.



I think I must be OTT, then, because I love the little critters and have
a chat with them while I'm adding to their banquet.

In my experience, worms don't enjoy light (esp sunlight) and quickly
burrow back into the heap so, it seems to me, if they didn't like
coldness, they'd do exactly the same. I don't think you need to worry.
--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay