What's wrong with my mealworms?

[jlwquilter]

For me right now I’m in flat bins - not a stacked drawer set up.
I started with only mealworms 18 days ago. I already have pupae and a few have hatched into beetles.
I combined the 2 smaller 4oz bins into one so now have 2 8ox bins. The then empty bin I set up for the pupae and beetles. The pupae are on a ‘pupae bridge’ made out of a dollar store small thin plastic storage bin that has perforated sides of small and bigger holes. I cut off about 1.5 inches so it fit inside the big bin with enough head space that the pupae could lay on it plenty of space with the lid in place.
What I do is remove the pupae from the 2 mealworm bins and place in the 3rd bin on the bridge. When the pupae hatch the beetles eventually wander off the side and fall a few inches onto the bedding below. I only have a handful of beetles as of today but as they start mating and laying eggs within 2-3 days of hatch I may have a few eggs by now.
What I plan to do is give the beetles 3-4 weeks to mate and lay eggs (this will hopefully give enough time for a lot of pupae to hatch as well) then I will remove the beetles into a clean new bin to keep laying. The bin they were in will have the eggs and bridge and become a nursery bin. I read that the beetles can ‘glue’ eggs to the sides of their bin and I assume that means they can also glue them to the bridge legs as well. I will make new bridges for the new beetle bin and move any remaining as well as new pupae to this new beetle bin bridge to hatch out on.
I’ve already sifted out all the bins once to separate out pupae and frass. I’ll post that next.

 

[jlwquilter]

I’ve been watching some YouTube videos to learn more about raising mealworms. One video said that they found they were underfeeding their mealworms due to not understanding that a lot of the ‘bedding’ was actually frass. If you look closely at the bedding in the bin (clear sided bins/drawers are key here) you can see layers. The bottom layer is frass. If it’s a lot deepe than the next layer up, which is true bedding, then there’s not as much food/bedding in there as it appears at first glance. I checked my bins and found that I only had a very thin layer of bedding left. So time to sift and refresh the bins.
I had bought the stacked green sifters. On Amazon they’re a crazy $99 for the set but I found a farm store out in the western USA that sold the sifters for way less. So do some searching as you might find a better price in the sifters too.
Anyway, basically you run the bin contents thru the stacked sifters over a 5 gallon bucket. Each individual sifter will make sorting out mealworms, beetles, bedding and frass much easier and faster, although for separating frass from bedding you need a 1/30 mesh sifter which is not included in the sifter 5 piece set. However I found that a dollar store large grease splatter cover fit over my bucket perfectly and was fine enough to sort out frass from small particle bedding. I got about 1 1/3 gallons of frass out of 5,000 mealworms after only about 10 days!
If you don’t have the sifters or don’t want to buy them, there is another way to separate beetles and mealworms from the vulnerable pupae but it takes a bit more time to do. Beetles and mealworms have teeth and will clamp onto stuff. Pupae and eggs do not have teeth so can’t clamp onto anything. So what you do is use a pressed cardboard egg carton lid and sweep it thru the bin. The beetles and mealworms will clamp onto it. You move the carton to the new bin and shake it - the beetles and mealworms will fall off. Gently sweep off any that don’t fall off. Rinse and repeat until all mealworms and beetles have been removed from the original bin. What you’ll have left is pupae, bedding and eggs. You can just use a fine mesh kitchen strainer to sift the bedding and eggs out and have the pupae left in the strainer. Put the pupae on a bridge in the new beetle/mealworm bin. Use a bigger kitchen strainer with 1/4” openings (I had an old fry basket that has 1/4” openings) to sift out the mealworms from the beetles. You may have to hand pick out a few of each that get thru the mesh but not many.
Whether you buy the stacking sifters or scrounge thru your kitchen strainers, you can do a lot of separating work fast and easy using sifters.
I hope this helps.

 

[jlwquilter]

Beetles live about 3 months. If you’ve had beetles that long they may actually be new generation beetles and not the original ones.

 

[LovePBandJ]

I’ve been watching some YouTube videos to learn more about raising mealworms. One video said that they found they were underfeeding their mealworms due to not understanding that a lot of the ‘bedding’ was actually frass. If you look closely at the bedding in the bin (clear sided bins/drawers are key here) you can see layers. The bottom layer is frass. If it’s a lot deepe than the next layer up, which is true bedding, then there’s not as much food/bedding in there as it appears at first glance. I checked my bins and found that I only had a very thin layer of bedding left. So time to sift and refresh the bins.
I had bought the stacked green sifters. On Amazon they’re a crazy $99 for the set but I found a farm store out in the western USA that sold the sifters for way less. So do some searching as you might find a better price in the sifters too.
Anyway, basically you run the bin contents thru the stacked sifters over a 5 gallon bucket. Each individual sifter will make sorting out mealworms, beetles, bedding and frass much easier and faster, although for separating frass from bedding you need a 1/30 mesh sifter which is not included in the sifter 5 piece set. However I found that a dollar store large grease splatter cover fit over my bucket perfectly and was fine enough to sort out frass from small particle bedding. I got about 1 1/3 gallons of frass out of 5,000 mealworms after only about 10 days!
If you don’t have the sifters or don’t want to buy them, there is another way to separate beetles and mealworms from the vulnerable pupae but it takes a bit more time to do. Beetles and mealworms have teeth and will clamp onto stuff. Pupae and eggs do not have teeth so can’t clamp onto anything. So what you do is use a pressed cardboard egg carton lid and sweep it thru the bin. The beetles and mealworms will clamp onto it. You move the carton to the new bin and shake it - the beetles and mealworms will fall off. Gently sweep off any that don’t fall off. Rinse and repeat until all mealworms and beetles have been removed from the original bin. What you’ll have left is pupae, bedding and eggs. You can just use a fine mesh kitchen strainer to sift the bedding and eggs out and have the pupae left in the strainer. Put the pupae on a bridge in the new beetle/mealworm bin. Use a bigger kitchen strainer with 1/4” openings (I had an old fry basket that has 1/4” openings) to sift out the mealworms from the beetles. You may have to hand pick out a few of each that get thru the mesh but not many.
Whether you buy the stacking sifters or scrounge thru your kitchen strainers, you can do a lot of separating work fast and easy using sifters.
I hope this helps.

18 days?

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Interesting. I wasn’t sure I believed that the eggs dropped through the screen under the beetle drawer. You’re saying that in your experience, this works?! Please say YES!!!

YES!!! I wasn't sure I believed it either, but I just trusted in those who wrote instructions on how to grow the colony with a beetle bin. I don't know, but I imagine the beetles burrow into the wheat bran to lay eggs, and the beetles all shuffle through the bran, burrow into it and eat it - knocking the eggs to the bottom of the bin, and they fall through the screen.

I didn't use standard window screen, though. I had this pet-proof nylon screen in my basement, that has bigger holes in the mesh than typical window screen. I tested it with the wheat bran, and only tiny flakes and dust fell through. Perfect. I cut out four rectangles from the bottom of the bin so there'd be some middle support, and duck-taped the screen to the bottom of the bin.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Phifer-PetScreen-3-ft-x-7-ft-Black-Polyester-Replacement-Screen/5001916543

I'll try to get a photo tonight (you prompted me to get off my duff and take care of the wormies) of the underside of that beetle bin. Last time, it had bunches of spidery web-like stuff with whitish bits hanging here and there and everywhere from the screen. Eggs?????

Well, I'm off to work in the beetle colony. Think I'll play some Beetles songs while I'm working. Mwaaah ha ha!

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Interesting. I wasn’t sure I believed that the eggs dropped through the screen under the beetle drawer. You’re saying that in your experience, this works?! Please say YES!!!

 

[jlwquilter]

Yes I’ve only had mealworms for 18 days! They arrived in the 7th as I said in my post if that date on this thread. I’m a huge fan of research
I bought medium mealworms from Rainbow Mealworms in Compton CA. Due to ice storm in TX they took a week to arrive. Once in my bins they tore thru a lot of carrots - a whole gallon bag of frozen carrots from last year’s garden plus some baby store bought carrots I had in the fridge forever. I was surprised at how much veg they consumed.
Further I wasn’t expecting pupae so fast either. I had just resigned myself to having to wait 2-3 more weeks for pupae when the very next day I found the first one! And a handful has hatched, again faster than I expected so some pupae where in there longer than I knew.
I did have a small but noticeable number of mealworms die during the first Week. That’s tapered way off and I only see a dead one rarely now. However I am seeing that quite a few pupae seem to be dying. I read that it can be due to individual mealies not getting to the water source enough to store up water to get them thru the pupae stage. To counteract that I’ve started placing the water food source in many more locations around the bin, so it’s closer to more mealies.
I also added in an upside down cardboard egg carton in the bins along with a couple of folder paper napkins. I’ve placed the carrots (and some other foods as well) under the carton and in between the layers of the folded napkins. The mealies love hanging out under the carton and within the napkins as well as around the edges.
I’m thinking about making my flat bins into a tower/stacked structure for space saving purposes.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Once in my bins they tore thru a lot of carrots - a whole gallon bag of frozen carrots from last year’s garden plus some baby store bought carrots I had in the fridge forever. I was surprised at how much veg they consumed.

I was surprised, too. I've found that sweet potatoes are awesome for the mealies. They don't turn black like regular potatoes do, and they hold their shape as they dry out so they're easier to remove. I've also been giving quite a bit of celery. They seem to consume all of it, and there's not much left of it to clean up. We eat a lot of bananas in this house, so everyone has orders to toss the peels into the mealies' bins. When used up, easy to find and remove. Ditto to any other veg or fruit scraps. I wonder, will they eat orange peels?

.....However I am seeing that quite a few pupae seem to be dying. I read that it can be due to individual mealies not getting to the water source enough to store up water to get them thru the pupae stage. To counteract that I’ve started placing the water food source in many more locations around the bin, so it’s closer to more mealies.

Oh my goodness, really? So that's why more than half of my pupae have been dying, and probably why so many beetles have deformed wings? It's something I noticed some time ago, but hadn't connected it to lack of moisture.

I'm sure now I wasn't feeding them enough veggies and it was too dry in that room. My son warned me to watch for mold and remove it immediately as mold is deadly, so I was afraid to give them too much.
I've added the humidifier and it's working quite well. I'm noticing more activity now than over the past couple of months. And last night I gave them all about 1-1/2 gal. of sliced veggies, making sure most of it went to the eldest bin and to the beetles.

I also added in an upside down cardboard egg carton in the bins along with a couple of folder paper napkins. I’ve placed the carrots (and some other foods as well) under the carton and in between the layers of the folded napkins. The mealies love hanging out under the carton and within the napkins as well as around the edges.

TBH, last night I gave up on the pupae trays or bridge. I can't seem to get them to work well. The little buggers wiggle themselves over the edge anyway. But you've given me an idea: The middle of the bin seems to sit higher than the perimeter (very slightly), so I've found I can keep the wheat bran pushed to the edges and the pupae generally in the center. I'll put strips of dampened egg cartons around the perimeter with veggies underneath. If I'm right, new beetles will be attracted to the perimeter to hide, burrow and eat - and maybe leave the pupae alone AND make them easier to retrieve. I'm gonna give it a shot.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

If you don’t have the sifters or don’t want to buy them, there is another way to separate beetles and mealworms from the vulnerable pupae but it takes a bit more time to do. Beetles and mealworms have teeth and will clamp onto stuff. Pupae and eggs do not have teeth so can’t clamp onto anything. So what you do is use a pressed cardboard egg carton lid and sweep it thru the bin. The beetles and mealworms will clamp onto it. You move the carton to the new bin and shake it - the beetles and mealworms will fall off. Gently sweep off any that don’t fall off. Rinse and repeat until all mealworms and beetles have been removed from the original bin.

Sweep it through the bin? Can you link this video? I've never known the larvae to grab onto anything but food. Beetles, yes. The bin would contain larvae of all stages, including tiny ones just hatched; does this method catch just the biggest ones?

What you’ll have left is pupae, bedding and eggs. You can just use a fine mesh kitchen strainer to sift the bedding and eggs out and have the pupae left in the strainer.

... and a whole lot of worms of all sizes. I actually do another step before this fine mesh sifting. I use the pupae sifter, which has lots of horizontal slots that are big enough for worms to pass through, but not the pupae. THEN I'll do the fine mesh sifting to separate worms and bigger particles of food from the frass.

Use a bigger kitchen strainer with 1/4” openings (I had an old fry basket that has 1/4” openings) to sift out the mealworms from the beetles. You may have to hand pick out a few of each that get thru the mesh but not many.

I have two mesh strainers from Amazon, I think 1/4" and 1/8", and a pupae sifter from Space Coast Mealworms. I struggled like crazy last night with a bin that had been neglected. What a mess. It was FULL of larvae, pupae, beetles, frass, and dried veggies and I had to sift/sort them all, trying a few different ways to separate everything. With the 1/4" strainer I was able to get the old veggies out and gathered a few beetles - but most went through the holes along with the worms and pupae. Added the pupae sifter, and I got a mess of larvae too large to get through the slots, beetles escaping everywhere, and most of the pupae. This I had to pick through by hand.

I ended up just picking out enough pupae and beetles as I thought I'd want to keep, then just sifted frass (and probably eggs) from the rest with the 1/8" strainer. I was left with about a gallon (!) of worms, pupae and beetles. This all went into a container in my frige, and the chickens will be happy this month. Got about 2 gallons of frass/eggs, which will go in the compost pile. The rest of the wheat bran & eggs went into the bin that collects eggs. Learned my lesson, though. Never let the bin go so long that you have MANY beetles mixed in with everything else - unless it just all goes to the chickens.

Edit:
I just found this product at Space Coast Mealworms. It would make sifting live beetles out so much easier! Set it and forget it overnight. I might have to make one myself, or cough up the dough to buy one:
https://www.spacecoastmealworms.com/products/beetle-self-sorter

 

[BarnyardChaos]

I have some beetles and some pupae and still a lot of live mealworms. I don’t think I’ve hatched any new mealworms yet, although, TBH, I haven’t paid close attention. I would think that I have to have hatched some, given that I started this November 23, 2022, don’t you think? That’s about three months.

Yep, you probably have 2nd generation worms and pupae, maybe beetles too. They don't all grow at the same rate.