Mealworm farming

[bobbieschicks]

Hide them in the winter.  

I may just do that. Nobody goes into my "craft" room as its a dump all room. They'd be hard pressed to find it in there anyway. Haha

 

[wattsjadajoe]

Thanks. I found the post again where she used flour and oats together in the bin. So I think I might try that.
Do we really have to freeze our flour and oats before putting them in the bin for the first time?

Freezing helps to kill any of the natural occurring insects that are in flour when processed. I didn't freeze mine, but I also didn't use it very long.

 

[hemet dennis]

Freezing helps to kill any of the natural occurring insects that are in flour when processed. I didn't freeze mine, but I also didn't use it very long.

so how long would you have to freeze whatever you use to kill the other bugs and eggs ?

 

[wattsjadajoe]

so how long would you have to freeze whatever you use to kill the other bugs and eggs ?

I've heard at least 3 days...but I'm no expert...maybe someone else could give you more insight.

Joe

 

[mychookschick]

I don't know how long to freeze the substrate, because I don't. I have had mealworms for about 4-5 months, and have had no issues with bugs, or any other parasite. But, then again, I live in Maine, and we don't have to warmest weather ever, or the most humid either...

 

[bobbieschicks]

I think my chickens are going to really love me! I've got my 3 bin set up in the living room for now. Please correct me if any of this won't work. I have 5,000 on order with Amy and hopefully will get them in the next couple of weeks. so excited!

First, I cut out the top drawer and hot glued the screening in place. Then I put shiny electrical tape over the edges so I wouldn't cut myself again.


The top drawer will eventually house the darkling beetles who will lay their eggs that will hopefully fall through the screening I put in place. It is filled with oat bran and has a piece of egg carton for them to hide under. Once they are in the drawer I'll put veggies in - probably carrots for them to feed upon.


The middle drawer is filled with wheat flour and this will be where the eggs will grow up to the larva stage and then pupa stage. I'll put some carrots in there when the mealworms arrive. I will leave them in here until they turn into the pupa stage.


The bottom drawer is for the pupa to grow into beetles. I've filled it with oat bran because the pupa don't need to eat, but if I miss removing any beetles I want them to have food. It seems like I don't need any additional food in there since I'll be removing the beetles to the top drawer. And I don't think they need a hiding place in there - so hopefully this one is done.


I think the two hardest parts of this project will be getting past the oogy stage of handling bugs and remembering to open the 2nd drawer with the top drawer so I don't drop everything into the 3rd drawer or worse on the floor.

Here's my set up. Did I forget anything? Or do something wrong?

 

[wattsjadajoe]

I followed the same directions that you are doing....at first. Let me inform you of MY experience.The "Screen in top drawer" idea looks good on paper...but. with flour....every time you open the drawer, material falls on the floor/surface where the set up sits.

The beetles MUST have something for moisture...like: potato, carrot or apple .....every 2-3days.....so imagine the material on the floor!

If you open multiple draws with the media in them...the whole project will want to tip over.

Next, I found that a deep substrate works best. The beetles hate light. So they will do their best to get in the dark quickly. The deep substrate will help with this.I found that leaving the beetles in the substrate until they die works best. I then set the drawer down and let the chicks pick out all the beetles. This works well since the mealies are too small for them to see....even you to see!!

I wait about a week and I have a full tray of active meal worms...although very small.

The best thing I have found is to add paper or some sort of cover...and TP rolls!!! They love them!! The egg cartons will work well, but it gets kinda tough to just pick out a few without disturbing the whole lot!

And keep in mind.....when you get your meal worms...all will be in different stages of growth. You will get beetles in 3 weeks and will get beetles in 3 months. Best thing is to pick them out and try to keep them together.

Good luck,

Joe

 

[bobbieschicks]

I followed the same directions that you are doing....at first.  Let me inform you of MY experience.The "Screen in top drawer" idea looks good on paper...but.  with flour....every time you open the drawer, material falls on the floor/surface where the set up sits.

The beetles MUST have something for moisture...like: potato, carrot or apple .....every 2-3days.....so imagine the material on the floor!

If you open multiple draws with the media in them...the whole project will want to tip over.

Next, I found that a deep substrate works best.  The beetles hate light.  So they will do their best to get in the dark quickly.  The deep substrate will help with this.I found that leaving the beetles in the substrate until they die works best.  I then set the drawer down and let the chicks pick out all the beetles.  This works well since the mealies are too small for them to see....even you to see!!

I wait about a week and I have a full tray of active meal worms...although very small.

The best thing I have found is to add paper or some sort of cover...and TP rolls!!!  They love them!!  The egg cartons will work well, but it gets kinda tough to just pick out a few without disturbing the whole lot!

And keep in mind.....when you get your meal worms...all will be in different stages of growth.  You will get beetles in 3 weeks and will get beetles in 3 months.  Best thing is to pick them out and try to keep them together.

Good luck,

Joe

What setup do you have now?

I'm thinking this whole screened top drawer idea may get old fast. I have the flour in the seco d drawer so it shouldn't fall out. Definitely I can foresee the oat bran stuff will be falling out of the top drawer and making a mess around the base even if I am careful. We may have to rethink this later. I'll see how much trouble it is this way and how much help I get from my son who said he would help for a price.

 

[mychookschick]

What setup do you have now?
I'm thinking this whole screened top drawer idea may get old fast. I have the flour in the seco d drawer so it shouldn't fall out. Definitely I can foresee the oat bran stuff will be falling out of the top drawer and making a mess around the base even if I am careful. We may have to rethink this later. I'll see how much trouble it is this way and how much help I get from my son who said he would help for a price.

LOL, did you agree on a price? Hehe, the more he gets tired of it, the higher the price will get!

 

[ajlynco]

If put in the same bin would the beetles eat the pupae?