First attempt at mealworm farming

[Perris]

the last pupae just transformed into beetles, so now it's just beetles visible. Hopefully eggs are being laid... and we will have little tiny mealworms soon

 

[ColoradoPip]

I put cottonballs into the tank for the eggs. Seems to be working so they can't eat them.

 

[Perris]

thanks @ColoradoPip I'll try that too

 

[CindyinSD]

I'm getting a package soon with ~3100 mealworms. Dam Amazon doesn't tell you where they're shipping from, but it's somewhere in NJ. I wrote and told the seller please keep the money but don't ship. Well they shipped before he saw my e-mail. What if they're a vector? There's so much we don't know.

DH (who is really paranoid about this whole thing b/c he's a transplant recipient) wants to take them to the dump. I feel this is super irresponsible if there's any chance--which I suppose there could be--who knows? I'm gonna make him dig a deep hole and just bury the box, I guess. That backhoe needs some exercise after the long winter anyway, right?

 

[Perris]

You must do what you think is right of course, but I think the chance of the mealworms being a vector must be very small indeed - they don't respire the same way mammals do, and this virus attacks the respiratory system.
I'd give the packaging a good clean over with bleach though before bringing it into the house.

 

[CindyinSD]

I can't. You're probably right, but there's no way I could secretly raise mealworms here. A mealworm research scientist who had just completed a ten-year high dollar study on the exact topic and found that mealworms cure coronavirus could not convince DH that they won't kill him. He's always been like this. The transplant docs exacerbated the germaphobia to near catastrophic levels. They're very proud of him.

 

[CindyinSD]

We've come to a compromise. We're gonna try to refuse the package (as the seller advised) but if they get left in our mailbox, I'm not sure we can do that. I have to go to the PO today, so I'll try to find someone to ask. Otherwise we'll put it outside for a couple weeks until they're long-dead and then toss it. It's supposed to get down in the teens again this weekend.

 

[Perris]

When you have beetles, they love greens. Cilantro, the leafy tops of celery, kale, etc.

they are going nuts over the carrot tops! thanks again for this tip @igorsMistress

 

[jolenesdad]

I raised them this year and gave up. The sifting and sorting got to me as I tried to scale up to really be able to use them for my whole flock. I think I will try again when I move.

here’s the few biggest tips I discovered for sorting.

also.... always wear a mask when sifting. You should wear an N95 mask but that isn’t too easy to come by right now.

there are a few things that helped me. The least expensive option that’s pretty effective is called a spider strainer. It does an incredible job sifting pupae. Find on amazon here: https://smile.amazon.com/Hiware-Stainless-Strainer-Professional-Spaetzle/dp/B01569FXVK

after that, the absolute best bar none method to sort pupae is the Space Coast Mealworm sorter. It’s. un. Believe. Able. Also expensive.
https://www.spacecoastmealworms.com/collections/mealworm-pupae-sifting-trays


And when you get really going, the best thing to have is these green sifter trays that stack and fit on a 5 gallon bucket. It even sorts all the way down to frass level for fertilizer and such. They’re super costly, but WORTH IT for time and ease of use if you have several drawer systems or colonies going. They’re traditionally used for panning for gold.
https://smile.amazon.com/SE-GP2-5-SET-Patented-Stackable/dp/B00C7YCQIQ

 

[ColoradoPip]

https://smile.amazon.com/Hiware-Stainless-Strainer-Professional-Spaetzle/dp/B01569FXVK

Oh man, I miss real Swiss/German/Austrian spaetzle, usually with some meat and gravy! And that wiener schnitzel. Those were the days! Used to have it every couple of months, then my regular travel came to an end (well before the current travel situation). Dangit, now I'm hungry.

Anyways, I agree about all of the work and went with a large 55 gallon tank and no sifting or separating. We'll see how it goes, it's still early on and so far the cycle has been happening. I did add cotton balls to protect the eggs.

The worst part is the dust, for sure, but I've noticed it really only gets dusty once there is a certain amount of frass so I've tried to keep up on changing their whole set out a little more often.

I also took a small bucket, cut off the bottom, then attached screen to the bottom. It's an awesome sifter and cost almost nothing.