How to grow your own mealworms instructions

[azygous]

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

I wouldn't at all be surprised if breathing in the frass dust is what set off the pulmonary episode. It's extremely fine and the least disturbance will cause it to be air-born. If you're bent over the container, intent on seeing what you're doing, you'll be breathing in all that fine dust.

Now here's the really nasty part. It may not be all dust you're breathing in. There is quite likely mold and grain mites also. Both of those are real pulmonary threats. When I am doing a routine sifting of worms out of the frass, I try to remember to wear a dust mask. If you are prone to asthma, you might even consider wearing a re-breather mask while doing any sifting where the dust is likely to get released into the air. Better than losing all your worms or ending up in the ER again.

 

[AlHawk]

All right!! Between you guys on this thread and a friend and fellow BYC'er I'm going to start a worm colony. Expecting worms this week. I have a three drawer plastic file cabinet and have the top drawer bottom cut out and replaced with screen. Assuming I do things right, how long should I expect to wait before I have feeding worms (not the starters)? Are we talking about 3 months or longer?

Thanks.

 

[MeredithW]

Growing mealworms sounds cool!!!

 

[aart]

All right!! Between you guys on this thread and a friend and fellow BYC'er I'm going to start a worm colony. Expecting worms this week. I have a three drawer plastic file cabinet and have the top drawer bottom cut out and replaced with screen. Assuming I do things right, how long should I expect to wait before I have feeding worms (not the starters)? Are we talking about 3 months or longer?

Thanks.

Here's another thread about raising mealworms, I'd suggest you read the first few pages then browse the rest:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/492636/mealworm-farming


Here's a good lifecycle timeline

Stage Time*
Egg Incubation 4-19 days (usually 4-7). Another source says 20-40 days
Larva 10 weeks. Visible after about a week
Pupa 6-18 (18-24?) days
Beetle and Egg Laying 8-12 weeks (followed by death). Egg laying starts 4-19 days (average 12) after emergence​

* time depends on temperature, relative humidity, food, etc. Different sources report different time frames.​

 

[Trashcraft]

Thanks! I did get a mask...

 

[Chicken Heads]

Maggots? Not wax worms?

 

[aart]

Maggots? Not wax worms?

Neither......Mealworms are the larvae of a darkling beetle.

 

[katmando1]

So, I read about how to do this in a book I had but it wasn't as detailed as your post so thank you. I tried this a month or 2 ago and I was staying on top of it. I did this in a mason jar and stored it away and forgot where I stored it. lol Anyway, I didn't worry over it much because I thought they had probably died and then later on I found where I put them and got excited because there is like 6 bugs in it. However, I didn't see any worms. I am guessing it may be due to the care that they have not been getting. I put fresh food in it but I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong. I mean I have bugs but not one single worm. Does it take a while? I read you said 3 months so maybe it just takes longer. I can't believe they will produce that many. I am going to put them in a larger container. I am excited that they are alive. I hope I get some mealworms because I have chickens, bearded dragons and geckos. This would be a big help with cost.

 

[DTRUSTY]

Where do you keep your cultures? In a room in your house, garage? You said to do at room temperature.

 

[chixcoop]

80 F is perfect. My house is 71 F in the winter, so I use a heat lamp for a few hours at a time, I don't want to rack up electricity. I keep mine on the floor of my bedroom.