I have a compost bin that the ingredients have totally broken down. It is just standing waiting to be used (in the Spring of 2010), and I still turn it often and allow it to collect rain water.

My question is…I drop earth worms into the completed compost … will they survive and reproduce there?

The type of worms that are used for composting are called red wigglers. They would need a special ecosystem, and probably would not have enough food in a completely broken down system. On the other hand, most "hot" composting systems, tumblers, etc. can be too hot (since they can get up to 160 degrees) for any earthworm.

You could follow some simple directions, make a simple bin, place some of your finished compost as a base, and buy some red wigglers to vermicompost with (adding some bedding material and small amounts of your fruit and veggie scraps along the way. By next spring, you would have a wonderful byproduct called vermicompost to use on seed beds and transplants--or to make a really great worm tea with.

check it out... www.txwormranch.com and I would be happy to answer questions

If your compost is truly finished composting, then the worms will immediately leave the area in search of food. Finished compost has ZERO food value left. It will not support life in the form of insects, worms, or even much in the way of microbes. It is finished. In fact the lack of movement in the pile is one way of denoting finished compost. The best way is to smell it. If it smells very fresh and has no insect or worm life, then it is really finished.

Worms need fresher food. They live in the compost pile at the beginning of the pile, do considerable work to compost it, and then they leave. Imagine if they were the only critter to do the composting. Eventually they would be living in their own waste.