Mealworm farming

[wolftracks]

I wish I had started with more worms this time. Last time I tried the giant worms and they all got bigger and died. This time I bought 2 small containers at PetSmart. I wasn't going to go overboard this time either. I smallish container at first and maybe down the line something bigger if it worked. Well the beetles started up and the smaller container was getting full. I started a much bigger container and moved all the beetles. I've been waiting to see if anything happens in the small container and I saw a few pupa, so thought I'd watch and watch. Today I pulled 2 more beetles out and it looks like I'm starting to get close to having the rest soon. So I thought "Well, I bet with these few pupa and those 2 beetles I'm close to being about to toss fass and use the small container for more. Then I saw movement. I was a little worried about mites, but on closer look, I have a ton of tiny worms!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The whole box seems to be moving. I had beetles in there for about 2 weeks before I bought the bigger container and decided to move them, but I had a lot of beetles to move. I think my final success was "add food, remove old food, add food, forget about the containers till you need to add or remove food!" The big container I added the usual Gamebird crumbles to and some oats. I think once these grow out, I'll try to be more on it and remove the beetles as fast as I can. Then I'll try moving the next generation for the bigger container into the small one. At least some of them. Once the big container has all gone to beetles again, I'll move them out fast too, so I don't lose many eggs if any and go back to just the Gamebird feed. I think they did better in there, but we'll see when the oats start moving. But I have wormies and I'm so happy to finally get this far this time.

 

[mychookschick]

Yes, I have loads of little wormies too! Waiting for them to grow up so I can fell confident about feeding a FEW! Not too many!

QUESTION:
I have found 4 dead beetles so far. Should I start feeding out the beetles so that I don't have a bazillion dead ones to dig out? (OK, you caught me, it is only a hundred or a little over, but it is still a lot.

) I know for sure that I have baby worms now so, what do you think?

 

[bobbieschicks]

Okay so now I see by the other posts that the beetles will eventually all die and I can pick out the dead ones by making the others scurry for cover. I find lots of live ones under the cardboard and in the egg carton - so I'm wondering how long before the beetles will all be dead? Don't they just live a couple of weeks?

How will I know if I have eggs in the substrate? How big are they? Will they look like salt sprinkled in the wheat bran?

Thanks!
Bobbie

 

[DMRippy]

Okay so now I see by the other posts that the beetles will eventually all die and I can pick out the dead ones by making the others scurry for cover. I find lots of live ones under the cardboard and in the egg carton - so I'm wondering how long before the beetles will all be dead? Don't they just live a couple of weeks?

How will I know if I have eggs in the substrate? How big are they? Will they look like salt sprinkled in the wheat bran?

Thanks!
Bobbie

I am of the opinion that they live for MONTHS... 3-4 at my place. I have never looked for or found eggs. They are very very tiny eggs.

 

[frostbite]

Yes. They can live for months. Probably not more than a year though....

 

[Cebarmlds]

If the beetles live that long do they lay eggs more than once? or do they lay eggs and just live without doing anything more?!

 

[DMRippy]

If the beetles live that long do they lay eggs more than once? or do they lay eggs and just live without doing anything more?!

I think they would lay eggs most of that time.

 

[shelbear81]

I think a lot of us BYC folks would be classified as a little nuts by others who can't understand the joy of raising chickens.

@ Hannakat -- Refresh my memory on Beaver County, PA. I'm originally from Columbia County (Bloomsburg, PA). Went into the Air Force, and ended up after 25 years retiring down here outside the base I last worked on (Shaw AFB). I miss PA. My folks still live up there...so usually get there at least once a year.

I live fairly close to bloomsburg. I am in Northeastern PA about an hour North of Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton area...

 

[shelbear81]

No question is dumb!!! It smells like oats and grains. I'm picky and clean out any dead worms and most of the shed skins regularly. The dead worms just seem to dry up so I don't think they'd smell even if left.

I've read that the warmer the temp the faster they develope. They are in my house and it's 69-72 degrees and they are still doing very well (at least I think so!!). If your house is warmer or you can keep them in a warm garage, then your colony will grow just that much faster.

The beetles are in the top drawer. They will mate, lay eggs, the eggs will hatch and a whole generation of wormies will be growing! As the worms turn into the pupae, I move them to the top drawer (actually, now to a separate container), lay them on the oats and just wait for them to morph into the beetles.

You want to make sure the medium you keep them in (oats or other wheat mixture) stays dry. I wash the kale, cabage, carrot, apple, potato (whatever they're getting that day!) and pat it dry before I set it in a drawer.

hope this helps! What's the temp in your outside room?

Dont the beetles try to climb out of the drawer?? I am very intrigued but my gag relex might not be strong enough... i could feel the tickle in my throat just looking at all the pics

 

[shelbear81]

My sister comes and stays at my house every other week end since her BF works 3rd shift and she usually messes with the worms and cleans them out while she is here. My bins have lids and she has discovered that if you take the lid off and wait a minute or two all the live ones will run for cover and bury them selves to get away from the light and the dead ones will remain on top and she then picks them out by hand. This usually get rid of all of them because most of the time all the dead bugs are top unless the live ones have buried them by moving the substrate around.

OMG!! Wait if I decide to farm mealworm for my sweet babies I HAVE TO TOUCH THEM!! OMG!! The dry mealworms gross me out!

I was really thinking about this too!!