Create an effective and sturdy compost tumbler in 1 - 2 hours, with little out of pocket cost. These tumblers were built using materials I had lying around the house, and from items obtained through Freecycle. The only out of pocket expense was for the conduit/pipe brackets (less than $5 for the three tumblers I've made so far). Composting with these tumblers has proven to be extremely easy, and quite a bit quicker than our old "pile" method.
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Signing UpStep 1: Get a barrel
A barrel with a large, securable top is the key. We found 4 of these 50 gallon barrels through a post on Freecycle. They originally contained grains, and came from a brewery. These barrels are light enough to transport easily, but sturdy enough to take a beating. The large opening makes it easier to put organic material in the barrel, and the screw top lid easily contains everything as the composter is tumbled. A word to the wise: leaving the barrel upside down in the winter is not advised. We found one of the lids frozen shut when left in this position!
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I will attempt this before purchasing a compost tumbler.
Just a thought, maybe the ground beneath the tumbler could be dug out large enough for your wheelbarrow to fit underneath for loads to be emptied.
never did this before - hope the URL makes it through the post : )
Our house makes compost slurry by putting peelings, eggshells, coffee grounds and filters into the blender with a little water. We keep our compost bucket of slop warm by sitting it under the gas appliance exhaust vent at the side of the house. Come spring and there's a nice big container of compost sitting outside the house near the garden area!
You may want to use flexible vent hose to guide the hot gasses to a place under a barrel tumbling composter. Good luck!
Ah, bees.... Yeah, they can be a bit of an issue. So, too, with flies. We had a number of minor issues with this problem, and given the potential for sudden hive collapse syndrome (or whatever it's being called now) we're unwilling to harm bees in any way. We thought of hot gluing small pieces of window screening in place, but given the large number of holes it was impractical. We tried simply laying sheets of screening inside and stapling it to the sides of the barrel, with limited success.
For us, the problem sort of solved itself. The bees were attracted to fresher fruit and other sweet bits added to the pile, so if we quickly rotated the tumbler and buried the fruit, the bees went away. Or we used a different barrel until the bees moved on. I suppose some fiberglass screening could be stapled around the circumference of the barrel (on the outside), using smaller, stainless steel staples. Sounds a bit awkward, though. Anyone else have an idea?