Worms are fairly resilient animals and will handle transportation conditions generally well.
This of course, depends on ensuring correct packing and short term storage conditions.
Worms will not survive in extremes of heat for long periods of time.
Worms also do not favour conditions of extreme cold, frost and snow.
Packing container options The most popular packing option is calico bags.
These can be made or purchased cheaply.
The material breathes well.
Moisture can easily be held in the bag by packing damp newspaper around the bag before sealing up the external packing or postage box.
Selling by Weight or Count The 2 recognised methods of selling worms is by individual count or by weight.
Selling by count is ideal for small orders such as fish bait or for breeding worms.
Selling by weight is the recognised method of sale for bulk worms.
Due to the time involved in counting out and packing, the cost is usually greater for picking and counting compared to weighing.
How to pack worms for Sale or Transportation To pack worms for shipping you will need:

1. Calico baglarge enough to support the quantity of worms being sold.
   Irecommend bags large enough to hold 1 kilogram of worms and simplyprovide multiple bags for multiple kilograms or bulk orders.
   
2. Solidcardboard box suitable to hold the required number of worms or bags.
   
3. Severalsheets of damp newspaper loosely squeezed into a loose ball.
   
4. Sufficientquantity of worm castings to pack the worms.
   

Now that you have the essentials, its time to pack some worms:

1. You shouldstart by soaking the calico bag/s in water for several minutesbefore wringing the water from the bag.
   

1. Weigh therequired quantity of worms ready to pack.
   
2. Place a smallamount of castings in the bottom of the calico bag and place theworms in the bag.
   Add another cup of worm castings on top of theworms.
   
3. Secure thecalico bag with a rubber band or other sufficient closing method.
   
4. Place thebag/s in the solid cardboard box.
   Place the newspaper around the bagbefore, closing and addressing for delivery.
   

It is important to ensure the receiver is likely to be home when the package arrives.
You should also enclose basic worm farm set up details for the purchaser to understand the requirements of establishing a new worm farm.
In many (if not all) situations you will be selling your worms locally.
If this is the case, the basic packing instructions remain the same but you can be more flexible with the external packing recommendations.
© Eric J.
Smith