First attempt at mealworm farming

[igorsMistress]

When you have beetles, they love greens. Cilantro, the leafy tops of celery, kale, etc. Slicing potatoes and apples will help prevent mold as thin slices are sucked dry pretty quick. You can use newspaper in layers, think wormie condo, to give your colony more space without having a bigger bin. I just slightly crumpled so the pages didn't stick together and put it in there.

 

[Perris]

thanks for these tips! that's very helpful @igorsMistress

 

[ColoradoPip]

Seems to take forever for those first beetles to hatch.

With the eggs...don't be fooled, if you sift everything out you are likely to find small worms have hatched. I thought nothing was happening until I did a full clean out and found lots of small worms.

 

[Perris]

With the eggs...don't be fooled, if you sift everything out you are likely to find small worms have hatched.

thanks @ColoradoPip for another top tip!

 

[Cathy F]

Seems to take forever for those first beetles to hatch.

With the eggs...don't be fooled, if you sift everything out you are likely to find small worms have hatched. I thought nothing was happening until I did a full clean out and found lots of small worms.

ColoradoPip, thank you for this tip! I checked when I got home and I found some tiny little worms in the dust . So exciting!

 

[Perris]

we have beetles! 1st ones hatched last night

 

[Fluffyflufffluff]

Yesterday I bought my first live mealworms and set them up in what I hope will be a suitable mealworm farm. I am starting this thread to chart its progress and share the experience with those thinking of doing the same - and, no doubt, as we go on, to ask for help from those who have already been there, done that! Youtube is great for the initial research stage, but nothing beats Q&As with other people in real time for a proper understanding of something, as Sokrates might have said.

If you are feeding dried mealworms: they can be offered year-round but in small quantities. You can place dried mealworms in their own feeder or mix them in with seed or suet. exactly what we're doing.

 

[Cathy F]

we have beetles! 1st ones hatched last night

Yay!! So exciting

 

[Perris]

the last of the starter batch of mealworms has now pupated. The pupae are transforming into beetles at quite a rate. And the ever increasing number of beetles can be heard munching through the bran and desiccated greens! I think I'm supposed to move the beetles on now to the cleaned out drawer to breed there; can anyone confirm or correct?

 

[CindyinSD]

I haven't done this, but let me see if I remember... Assuming a three-drawer (or box) system:

1. The top drawer has a screen bottom of some type of your choosing. Beetles belong here, in their meal. As they lay eggs, the eggs fall through the screen into the meal in the second drawer.
2. They hatch there into teeny worms. The worms grow in and are harvested from this drawer. What you don't harvest, will pupate. Remove the pupae by picking, or there's a purpose-made sifter you can get (don't remember where) specifically for pupae.
3. Put the pupae in meal in the bottom drawer. As they morph into beetles, remove them to the top drawer.

There's more to caring for them, but as I understand it, that's the basic rotation.