I have 1100 coming

[sumi]

You caught me too, with the title LOL I farmed mealworms for awhile and posted about it on our sister site: https://www.sufficientself.com/threads/mealworm-farming.14316/

 

[MissChick@dee]

You caught me too, with the title LOL I farmed mealworms for awhile and posted about it on our sister site: https://www.sufficientself.com/threads/mealworm-farming.14316/

Thank you

 

[MissChick@dee]

You caught me too, with the title LOL I farmed mealworms for awhile and posted about it on our sister site: https://www.sufficientself.com/threads/mealworm-farming.14316/

That was so very helpful. Thanks again for sharing. You answered how not to throw away viable eggs when changing the bedding. Did you ever remove just the adult beetles? If so did you have a tip for that??

 

[LittleMissCountry]

Thanks!
One thing I wonder about is removing the adult beetles. How’d you do it? Did you find one way easier than the other? And was it difficult to not throw away the eggs when you change the bedding? How long did you keep your colony?

I would go through daily and pick out the dead beetles that were on top. Since I used a shallow container, they were generally on the top, in sight. The live ones tend to burrow or hide under stuff. You can change the paper towels regularly. I did once a week, but I lived in a humid climate. You don't have to change out the oatmeal until the container starts to smell or gets mold in it. The mealworms will break down the oatmeal or whatever grains you use. I used a metal sifting scoop and when I cleaned, I would sift out all the mealworms, larvae and live beetles and put them in a smaller container of oats until I got their container cleaned. You will lose some eggs when you clean, but you really won't notice much. I had my colony for a few years.

 

[sumi]

That was so very helpful. Thanks again for sharing. You answered how not to throw away viable eggs when changing the bedding. Did you ever remove just the adult beetles? If so did you have a tip for that??

You're welcome

You know, I've been trying to remember now if I ever did that... If I did, I picked them out of the tub by hand and tossed them into a new one. (Don't worry, they don't bite or do anything funny) If you lay a piece of cardboard in the tub, like I did, some of the beetles will hold onto that, so you can take it out and shake the beetles off into a new tub too. That would be quicker.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I would go through daily and pick out the dead beetles that were on top. Since I used a shallow container, they were generally on the top, in sight. The live ones tend to burrow or hide under stuff. You can change the paper towels regularly. I did once a week, but I lived in a humid climate. You don't have to change out the oatmeal until the container starts to smell or gets mold in it. The mealworms will break down the oatmeal or whatever grains you use. I used a metal sifting scoop and when I cleaned, I would sift out all the mealworms, larvae and live beetles and put them in a smaller container of oats until I got their container cleaned. You will lose some eggs when you clean, but you really won't notice much. I had my colony for a few years.

Thank you.
I have a 55 gal sized trash bag full of shredded office paper. Was thinking of using that. Would it work to cover them? It should dontcha’ think?

 

[MissChick@dee]

You're welcome

You know, I've been trying to remember now if I ever did that... If I did, I picked them out of the tub by hand and tossed them into a new one. (Don't worry, they don't bite or do anything funny) If you lay a piece of cardboard in the tub, like I did, some of the beetles will hold onto that, so you can take it out and shake the beetles off into a new tub too. That would be quicker.

 

[Aceoky]

Makes two of us.. I was like wow I gotta read this and see what's going on. I click and see "mealworms". That's just wrong deceptive titling if you ask me. Where is the complaint form at ????

Well except for the fact this is in the "Feeding and watering" section

 

[sumi]

Thank you.
I have a 55 gal sized trash bag full of shredded office paper. Was thinking of using that. Would it work to cover them? It should dontcha’ think?

I'm seeing a lot of time painstakingly fishing out worms and beetles from that paper and not a terribly easy job cleaning out the tubs, compared to when you put them on bran/oats and give them some cardboard to hide under. I used a flour sieve just for the mealworm tubs, it's awesome. Do the cleaning outside though, it's messy and you don't want to breathe in the resulting dust.

If you're going to do this on a large scale, make things easier for yourself as much as you can. You'd be surprised how time consuming this can get.

 

[RoosterML]

Well except for the fact this is in the "Feeding and watering" section

Its not like post haven't been in the wrong thread before.