# Effects of Owinema Bio-Preparation on Vermicomposting in Earthworm Ecological Boxes
## 3 Results
### The Influence of Owinema Preparation on Earthworms
#### 3.1.2 Body Mass  
The biomass of the earthworms in the experimental boxes was higher compared to that in the control group (\(F=168.918\), \(p<0.001\)). At the end of the experiment the mean biomass of the group treated with Owinema was more than twice that of the \(E\). _fetida_ population in the control containers (\(F=36.149\), \(p<0.001\)) (Table 3).  
Analyzing earthworms divided into two age classes, positive effects of the Owinema bio-preparation were found on the mean biomass of mature (\(F=4.150\), \(p<0.05\)) (Figure 3A) and immature individuals (\(F=165.523\), \(p<0.001\)) (Figure 3B).  
Figure 3: _Cont._  
Figure 2: Mean number of \(E\). _fetida_ individuals (ind-container\({}^{-1}\pm\) SD) in experimental ecological boxes depending on the presence of an Owinema bio-preparation (50 mln larvae m\({}^{-2}\)) during a 5 month experiment: (**A**) mature, (**B**) immature (a, b indicate significant differences between two means).  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Time**} & **Start of the** & **1 st Month** & **2 nd Month** & **3 rd Month** & **4 th Month** & **5 th Month** \\  & **Experiment** & & & & & \\ \hline Control & \(20.14\pm 0.19\) \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) & \(25.47\pm 3.58\) \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) & \(26.73\pm 7.96\) \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) & \(20.31\pm 2.74\) \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) & \(36.62\pm 4.08\) \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) & \(14.75\pm 6.75\) \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) \\ \hline Owinema & \(20.09\pm 0.10\) \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) & \(31.74\pm 5.73\) \({}^{\mathrm{b}}\) & \(24.66\pm 1.52\) \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) & \(44.64\pm 6.62\) \({}^{\mathrm{b}}\) & \(82.57\pm 5.26\) \({}^{\mathrm{b}}\) & \(37.75\pm 5.35\) \({}^{\mathrm{b}}\) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} \({}^{\mathrm{a,b}}\)—significant differences.  
\end{table}
Table 3: Mean biomass of \(E\). _fetida_ (g-container\({}^{-1}\pm\) SD) in experimental ecological boxes depending on the presence of _Steinrenema feliae_ (50 mln larvae m\({}^{-2}\)) during a 5 month experiment.  
The presence of Owinema bio-preparation also differentiated the number and biomass of the cocoons laid in the substrate.  
Although the mean number of cocoons observed in both groups was similar at the end of the experiment (Figure 4), there was a positive effect of the Owinema bio-preparation on the mean number of cocoons over the five months of observation (\(F=21.496\), \(p<0.001\)).  
Analyzing the mean biomass of \(E\). _fetida_ cocoons, significantly higher values were observed in the group treated with Owinema in the first (\(H=6.859\), \(p<0.05\)) and third (\(H=4.811\), \(p<0.05\)) months of the experiment (Figure 5).  
Figure 4: Mean number of \(E\). _fetida_ cocoons (cocoons-container\({}^{-1}\pm\) SD) in experimental ecological boxes depending on the presence of an Owinema bio-preparation (50 mln larvae m\({}^{-2}\)) during a 5 month experiment (a, b indicate significant differences between two means).  
Figure 3: Mean biomass of \(E\). _fetida_ (g-container\({}^{-1}\pm\) SD) in experimental ecological boxes depending on the presence of an Owinema bio-preparation (50 mln larvae m\({}^{-2}\)) during a 5 month experiment: (**A**) mature, (**B**) immature (a, b indicate significant differences between two means).  
Moreover, a considerable moderate correlation was identified between the number of mature earthworms and cocoons in the control (\(r_{s}=0.661\), \(p<0.05\)) and in the experimental group (\(r_{s}=0.491\), \(p<0.05\)) (Figure 6A,B).  
During each month of the experiment, the numbers of cocoons produced by an individual mature earthworm were similar (\(F=1.397\), \(p=0.242\)). These values were unaffected by exposure to Owinema (\(F=0.398\), \(p=0.531\)) (Table 4).