Can Someone Guide Me To Start My Mealworm Farm?

[FarmGirl01]

I bought a few dozen at the pet store and put them in a glass aquarium. Off they went. Feed, water, warmth is all you need. Good ventilation is a must. There is tons of info online. Everyone has their own way. Soon you will find what works for you best. Good luck

Right now I'm raising Dermestid beetles.

Forgot to say. Don't get the Superworms. Some ppl think they are large mealworms. Very different. FYI.

 

[SandraMort]

What's the advantage to mealworms over bsf?

 

[jm93030]

Quote:
Are you from Oxnard,CA? we are from Ventura!!!! Moved to SC in 2005.

I bought my woyms from flukers farms.

Yes I am in Oxnard CA

Are you still doing the mealworms?
can I PM you?

 

[Rozzie]

Those of you interested in starting this as a project might like to look at these links:

http://www.sialis.org/raisingmealworms.htm

This one has some pictures you might find useful:
http://www.cannibalsall.com/mealworms.html

This one is also good about info for raising these little gems. If you're feeling adventurous, they tell how to supplement your OWN protein intake with them, and even give some recipes...
http://www.hollowtop.com/finl_html/mealworms.htm

 

[aggie9296]

great links as above. sialis especially helpful. super easy to maintain and the chickens go CRAZY for them.

got 1000 worms from ebay (maybe mealworms to go?) for 17$ with shipping.

used ground up old dog food, oats and corn meal out of the pantry. 0$ since I was going to throw it out any way.

large rubbermaid bin that i tried to cut and use for something that did not work out. duct tape to close the hole. 0$, as it was going to be thrown out too.

apples or carrots for moisture source. minimal $. been in the fridge a while.

stored in a corner on the back porch and pretty much left alone.

in 2 weeks I have gotten 37 pupae and my 1st beetle. gotta get a few more beetles to un-pupate (or whatever its called) and let nature take its course.

it can be a simple 1 bin process or stacked drawers as some on the links have. i figured i'd try it. if it worked, good steady suple of meal worms. if it doesn't work, my chickens get a bunch of dead meal worms and beetles to eat any way.

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

I've been keeping a mealworm colony going for a couple years now. Very low maintenance, and the quail absolutely love them! Yes, use just plain ol' mealworms, not superworms (different species) or Giants (hormone-treated to postpone pupation and grow larger). I bought mine from Worm Man http://www.wormman.com/cat-mealworms.cfm I believe I started with just 100 mealworms for $10 and let them all pupate into breeding adults.

Mine are in a Sterilite 7-drawer http://www.sterilite.com/SelectProduct.html?id=408&ProductCategory=187&section=1 (about $20 at Wal-Mart or Target). I start a new colony in the small drawers with pupae from the colonies in the large drawers (so they're all about the same age). About 20-30 pupae at a time. I put a layer of wheat bran on the bottom, then a couple strips of paper towels on top, and give them a "panel" of banana peel for moisture (replaced when totally dried out). When the adult beetles die off in large numbers, you can remove them all and start a "nursery" in the large drawers. When the first beetles appear, you can assume that most of the eggs have hatched, and start harvesting. To harvest mealworms, I use kitchen strainers with a variety of hole sizes and just sift the entire contents through it. Very fine strainers will allow "mostly" just worm poop to pass through, which is good for keeping the environment clean. But, if you do it too soon, you'll take unhatched eggs out. So, there's a bit of an art to it.

I suggest just getting a few mealworms and learn as you go.

Cheers!

Bryan

 

[FarmGirl01]

The 7-drawer unit. A wonderful idea.

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

Quote:
Yep, it's worked great! No escapees, easy to clean, and well ventilated

 

[gmendoza]

Quote:
Are you from Oxnard,CA? we are from Ventura!!!! Moved to SC in 2005.

I bought my woyms from flukers farms.

Yes I am in Oxnard CA

Are you still doing the mealworms?
can I PM you?

Sure,anytime.and I am still doing the mealwoym thing.

 

[shelleyd2008]

I got a start from another BYC member, mostly egg-rich bedding with some small worms in it. I had to wait a while for the small worms to grow into bugs but now I'm pretty much overrun with them. Of course our house wasn't the warmest this winter so I have mostly bugs and very few worms right now, but there are some teeny tiny worms in there and tons of little aliens! So I'll be overrun with them soon enough. I'm about to take the bin outside and let the chickens clean it out for me...the top of my bin is almost black from all the bugs in it!