Are you planning a vermicompost bin in your house? Or are you wanting to encourage worms in your compost pile outside? There is a huge difference. collecting worms from outside might work, if you be sure to collect just the red wigglers. However, there are quite a few different species, even among the red wigglers. Also, sometimes, if you collect from outside, they simply refuse to stay in your bin, and you'll find that they have all done a massive crawl off, and find dried worms all over your floor! I had that happen once, even with just the red ones that were collected from outside. However, the next time I tried it, I put some cardboard in my garden, and found it loaded with RW. I collected those, and populated my bin, and they moved in and have stayed happy ever since. The easiest and cheapest way to get started is to get a few worms from someone who has an established bin. (Perhaps ask on your state thread?) Some stores sell them as fish bait. A pound is a LOT of worms! A bin can easily be started with a small handful!
try laying some cardboard down in an unused corner of your yard, in your compost heap, or garden. RW love cardboard. Then, you'll just have to pick them up from that one area, or simply transfer them with the cardboard into your bin. (but I think I'd pick them up individually, just so I didn't transfer some undesirable insects or slugs to the bin!
