Mealworm farming

[Kusanar]

I don't know if this question has been asked or not, and I'm not looking through the hundreds of posts, but can the beetles and mealworms live together? I know I have to pull the pupae out and put them on their own, but I as wondering if the other two stages can successfully cohabitate. Thanks from a newbie!!

Actually, you can leave them all together if you want. Some pupae may be munched if they are together and don't have enough moisture, so, if I see pupae, I put them separate, but, I don't stress about missing some. So, you can separate them a if you want, you can leave them all together if you want, all up to you.

 

[weidnercharm]

I took some plastic totes and cut off the top and glued screening material to the tops. So I can put the pupa in the beetles drawer. When the pupe morph into beetles, they will stumble off the top and into the wheat bran below.
I have found that styrofoam egg cartons are not good for the larvae. They eat right through it. That cannot be good for them.

 

[aart]

I took some plastic totes and cut off the top and glued screening material to the tops. So when I can put the pupa in the beetles drawer. When the pupe morph into beetles, they will stumble of the to top and into the wheat bran below.
I have found that styrofoam egg cartons are not good for the larvae. They eat right throigh it. That cannot be good for them.

That's an interesting idea to avoid any eating of pupae by beetles,
unless they just start eating the pupae before toddling off the edges of the screens.

What is supporting the screens, looks like it might be taking up a lot of space in the bin below.
Man, that's ALOT of pupae!!

 

[Kusanar]

Quote:
I put my pupae in a small container with moist paper towels to help them maintain their moisture and aid in morphing. You could take this a step further and keep damp paper towels on the top of the screens, then the beetles would be less likely to munch pupae as soon as they "hatch" since there would be a moisture source up there with them.

 

[weidnercharm]

So far..... 1500 pupa.
The beetles can walk under the totes and have access under from all sides. It is like 4 corner posts with the top frames. I glued the screen to the plastic.
I do worry about the beetles munching on the pupa, so i think i might add something up there with them to detract from that. Celery seems to be great for that.
Once most of the. Hatch, I will remove one of the totes. This is the beginning stages of my fatming and needed to let most of my worms pupate.

 

[weidnercharm]

That is a terrific idea! Thank you.

 

[weidnercharm]

I now have lots and lots and lots and lots of beetle.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Nice.

 

[Kusanar]

I think I'm getting ready to go to all beetles. I'm working on a water solution for them, I'm being stuborn and insisting on giving them water rather than veggies... I found one solution that works, it just dries out too fast... I think next try will be water beads, cheap and they can't drown in them.

 

[Latestarter]

... I'm being stuborn and insisting on giving them water rather than veggies...

Why be stubborn? I mean there's no need to re-invent the wheel and no need to make things more complex than they need to be...