How to grow your own mealworms instructions

[rajanomm]

I would think your local feed store. Make sure it's unmedicated starter. Personally I just use oatmeal. I get the big containers. One each of instant and the other kind. Took me half of each to start in my rubber tote. I have done well. In 1 month of getting my worms, I have eggs and a few teeny tiny worms. I put carrots and sliced potatoes, but the potatoes shouldn't be on the oats or such (mold). And I throw slices of bread in. The beetles love laying eggs on the bread. I now have thousands of baby worms and probably just as many eggs. It has been 1 1/2 months since receiving my 1200 worms.

 

[NurseJane]

I am trying to raise mealworms but after 2 months, I have tons of beetles but no worms. I moved the beetles to a separate container, for fear they were eating the young worms, but that container has not produced any worms. I can't see the eggs (I think you would need a microscope), just beetles eating their weight in lettuce every day. They are in my bathroom with the door closed so the temperature is fairly steady. Should I try warming them more with a brooder light or just try to be patient? My ladies are waiting!
Thanks!

 

[chixcoop]

ewwww worms - but that is great info if I can handle having that many little worms around I will give it a try

thanks
julie

chickens love mealworms, but they're so expensive. Its for the love of the chickens!

 

[lovemealworms]

I am trying to raise mealworms but after 2 months, I have tons of beetles but no worms. I moved the beetles to a separate container, for fear they were eating the young worms, but that container has not produced any worms. I can't see the eggs (I think you would need a microscope), just beetles eating their weight in lettuce every day. They are in my bathroom with the door closed so the temperature is fairly steady. Should I try warming them more with a brooder light or just try to be patient? My ladies are waiting!
Thanks!

patience is what you need the most with this. At small numbers of beetles the larvae are very hard to see before six weeks after laying. Try running two fingers through the grain to make a canyon and look at the edges for movement. Hope this helps.

 

[NurseJane]

What am i doing wrong? Its been 2 months and i have tons of beetles but no worms!

 

[NurseJane]

Thank you!

 

[Trashcraft]

Hi. I ordered some mealworms at the end of August 2015--I was surprised at their healthiness and kept them in cornmeal/oatmeal with a piece of bread on top--apple slices for moisture. They did very well, pupaing (?) and forming beetles, eggs, teeny worms. Now I am back to large mealworms that are turning into pupae again. HOWEVER, this week--I started to move a few hundred lg worms to another tub in the evenings. I did some every night this week with my fingers--1100 total.....and I ended up in the emergency room not being able to breathe! I'd read about allergies, but I have never had asthma and I am 54 yrs old! Not exactly sure if the cause was mealworms or a reaction to some Ibuprofen I'd taken earlier--but it was not fun! I've read 4 out of 5 people that work around mealworms can have an attack...
I'm on steroids now--and have an emergency inhaler--if it happens again, they will go in the freezer or to my chickens!
B

 

[Trashcraft]

I agree. I was very disgruntled and impatient--and when I took the tub over to a bright window I was shocked to see hundreds of 1/4" wigglers and some even larger!

 

[chixcoop]

How hot should mealworms be kept in the winter, so they can be just as productive as they would in the summer?

 

[aart]

How hot should mealworms be kept in the winter, so they can be just as productive as they would in the summer?

about 80F