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MaryPoopins5 said:
Mine did go dormant for about a month during the winter but my mom's house is always warmer than mine and she's been able to keep hers going year round! Maybe a small room with a heater would do the trick if you wanted to give it a try? They're super easy, they don't smell much at all and incredibly low maintenance!
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I have a basement, but I'm also an amputee so the stairs are a problem when I'm carrying something.
How did you and Mom get started? Is there a website?
 
Hi, Tiffany - I love the names you gave the hens, and then for your nom de BYC.

I grow mealworms, and you are right, they can put out a strong vinegary stink. But I think that happens when they are stressed or threatened. So I noticed it when I would "harvest" some for birds, or after mice tried to get into the bins. Or when they were running low on wheat bran. After they were left alone in a secure place with plenty of bran, the smell went way down (until the next time I did anything with them, even to drop in their carrots for water). I have mine in my front room, which is little used except for my computer, and storage. They have never gone dormant since they are indoors.
 
There was a useful article here on BYC that talked about setting up a 3 tier station using a Sterilite 3 drawer file holder.

You put the start out with mealworms you buy live and put those in the top level. They will progress through pupae and become beetles. The beetles will mate and lay eggs.

This top layer is supposed to have the bottom cut out and replaced with screen, so the tiny eggs and larvae fall out into the next drawer down. It's supposed to reduce cannibalism, and improve your worm productions.

The worms grow in the middle drawer and turn into pupae, which you pull out and put into the bottom drawer. It was recommended to set the pupae up on little boxes so when they hatched into beetles they would fall off the boxes, and not eat the other pupae up. You grab the new beetles and move them up to the top box and start the cycle over again.

In practice, I found that mice were climbing into the drawers. They look nice and tight until you run your fingers around and discover that there are gaps around the edges that mice can climb in. They ate all the mealworms, pupae and beetles that were down in that set up.

Now, I just have one drawer that is enclosed with a heavier cover where mice cannot get in. It still has plenty of ventilation. My worms/beetles are near a window, east facing so it doesn't get too much sun, in my house. I have only had 2 beetles escape, when I was fiddling with the egg crate I put in for them to hide under. The beetles are not very fast and really were easy to catch and return to the box.

I feed mine with wheat bran, and use carrot pieces to give them moisture. I pull out mummified carrots when I put in the fresh carrots or harvest dead or live beetles/worms/pupae for the birds. I don't use that many. The birds get maybe a couple beetles a week among 4 chickens and the same among 7 quail. I dig out dead bug bits more for the quail to supplement their game bird feed and up their protein a bit.
 

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