With a worm hotel you can reuse your green waste by turning it into fertile compost. The hotel consists of several containers that you stack. The worms live in the hotel and can crawl from floor to floor. They eat their way through your green waste and poop it out again. This creates worm compost and worm tea.

Worm tea is the liquid that you can tap at the bottom of the hotel. The worm compost looks like black coarse soil and you can use them both as plant food and soil improver. Your plants and garden will thank you!

A worm hotel has many benefits for you and the planet! We have listed the most important ones for you below:

• You have less waste and can reuse more!
• You make nutritious worm castings and worm tea for your plants.
• The only pet that cleans up your mess, instead of the other way around. Up to 2 kg of green waste per day!
• It is a fun and educational project about soil life. For your children and yourself.
• Not to forget: it's good for the planet.

The worm hotel does not stink (if all goes well). The worms eat the green waste so quickly that rot can hardly occur. If you stick your nose in the box, you can smell forest floor!

It may happen that the hotel starts to smell a little less fresh. You probably gave too much food. In that case, it is best to put less or no new green waste in the bin for a while, so that the worms have time to process everything. You can also take out some of the rotting food and add some more cardboard. The unpleasant odor will then quickly diminish!

Before you can start setting up your worm hotel you will need a number of things:

• The Billiebin Worm
• Cardboard and/or old (newsprint) paper (without gloss)
• A handful of compost or garden soil
• (Rain)water
• A small amount of green waste
• A bucket or large container

The Billiebin start-up process consists of a number of steps. These can also be found in the enclosed manual . When starting up, it is important that you create a good base layer for the worms.

1. Assemble the Billiebin (see manual ) and gather all the supplies you need.
2. Place the coconut fiber block in the bucket and add about half a liter of (rain) water. Once the block has absorbed the moisture, you can take it apart with your hands. If this is difficult, you can always add more water.
3. Add damp paper or cardboard scraps.
4. Grab a handful of compost or garden soil and mix it into the container. This contains important bacteria and fungi that help to accelerate the start-up.
5. Place a piece of cardboard or newspaper at the bottom of the first container of the worm hotel. This keeps the bedding in the right place.
6. Now spread the bedding evenly in the first container. This layer may be approximately 3 cm thick. You don't have to press it.
7. Make a small hole in the center and empty the bag of worms here. Then place a handful of the bedding over the pile of worms.
8. Place the 2nd container on top of the first container and place any remaining bedding in it.
9. Finally, put 1 or 2 handfuls of green waste with some cardboard or paper scraps in the 2nd bin and place the lid on top.
10. Congratulations! The start-up was successful! Now leave it to your worms and the other critters.

The start-up of your Billiebin takes approximately 10 to 16 weeks. After that, you can harvest the bottom bin of the hotel every month.

The Billiebin should not be too hot, nor too cold. Anything between 10 and 25 degrees is ideal.

When it is warmer, it is best to place the hotel in the coolest place possible. For example in the shade or utility room. You also have to feed the worms less. If it is warmer than 30 degrees, you no longer need to feed them at all.

If it is colder, you can place the hotel in a warmer location. If this is not possible, you need to feed less or no more. The worms will not die in frost, but will go into hibernation.

It is important that the worms, just like you, receive a varied diet. So give them something of everything. It also helps if you cut the food smaller. They can then process it more easily and quickly.

• Vegetable and fruit scraps (not too many citrus fruits and no vegetables with oil/butter/herbs/salt on them)
• Cardboard / egg cartons / newsprint (all without glossy paper)
• Eggshells
• Tea bags and coffee grounds
• To leaf through

The worms can break down all natural material. One thing takes them longer than the other. But don't be too afraid to experiment every now and then!

It is better not to put these things in your Billiebin:

• Fish and meat remains
• Oil and butter
• Pasta and rice
• Salty
• Bread
• Dairy
• Cut flowers
• Sauce
• Biodegradable plastic

The worms are a few centimeters below the top waste layer. When the bin is running at full speed, you can feed a little new waste every day. They eat their own body weight every day.

If the worms are lower, the bin will probably run less well. This can be due to heat, frost or too much food. It is now better to wait a while before adding new waste.

The worms can live for several weeks without new food.

When you go on holiday, you don't have to do much. Don't give the worms extra food before you go. This increases the chance of rotting.

However, it is better to leave the tap open, so that the worms cannot drown.

Are you going away for more than 6 weeks? Then ask the neighbors or friends to add some green waste and cardboard every now and then.

You can tap the worm tea on average once a week. This depends on the weather and the amount of food you give the worms. Don't forget to do this regularly, otherwise the worms could drown!

You can harvest the worm compost on average once a month. You only do this when all bins are filled with waste and the compost in the bottom bin looks like loose soil. Do you still see a lot of green waste among the compost? Then you better wait a little longer.

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Both the worm castings and worm tea are very concentrated. You must therefore dilute and spread it well.

You can dilute the worm tea by mixing it with water. Maintain approximately a ratio of 1 to 10.

You can spread the worm compost over the garden soil or mix it with potting soil.

It can sometimes be that the worms start walking. This is often easy to solve by doing the following:

1. Cover the top layer with cardboard shreds or dry leaves
2. Does the container look too dry? Then add extra worm tea or water to the top container.
3. Does the container look too wet? Then add extra cardboard.
4. Have you fed too much and is there a lot of rotting? Then collect some green waste from the Billiebin.

Do not panic! Most other hotel visitors are not harming anyone. They can, however, give an indication of how the Billiebin is doing.

If there are many mites or fruit flies in the container, this means that the container is too wet or too acidic. Add eggshells and cover the top layer with dry newspaper.

If there are ants in the Billiebin, it means that the bin is too dry. Pour some water or the drained worm tea at the top.

A little mold or rot won't hurt. If it is much more than normal and the tank starts to smell, you have probably given too much food. Then remove the rotting food and feed the worms a little less in the near future.

It is normal for a few worms to die every now and then. This also happens in nature. You only have to worry if there are a lot of them. These are often the causes:

1. The container is much too hot. Do not place it in the sun in summer and do not feed it at temperatures above 30 degrees.
2. The container is much too wet. Drain all worm tea every week and add extra paper or cardboard.
3. You fed way too much and the whole tank is rotting. Then remove as much rotting waste as possible.
4. The container is too acidic. Too much acidic green waste, such as lemon, can make the container too acidic. Add extra eggshells (lime) and cardboard.

And don't give up too quickly! Often when you think that all the worms are dead, you see them crawling through your green waste again in the spring.