Making Feed from Japanese Beetles

[Hopperkiller]

How did you trap them. Im contemplating building some sort of trap for june bugs. But they come out when chickens on roost. Intersting experiment you have there!!

 

[lazy gardener]

Ron, you can keep the popcorn this time. Just seeing all those JB makes me nauseated. I tried freezing some JB, and the stench convinced me that I'll simply just feed them out fresh. Seeing them brings the memory of the stench back! I wish you the best with your effort, Centrarchid. I actually encourage trap crops around the perimeter of my yard. They are very fond of Evening Primrose. I make several trips around the yard during JB season, collecting them so the flock can go bobbing for beetles.

Now, here's a thought: I wonder if it might be possible to use pheromone to attract them and get them to breed in a specific area. Then, wondering... if the larvae might be grown out in a different fashion, but along the same idea as BSFL. I'm thinking the larvae are not as stinky.

 

[Dayrel]

Good luck! Just curious, how did you catch them?

That's the easy part. They sell pheromone-based traps that attract them from all around. They land on the slick plastic and fall down into the bag and can't get back out. Shocking how quickly you can fill the bag.

https://www.amazon.com/Spectracide-Japanese-Beetle-Trap2-56901/dp/B008JDRV98

 

[centrarchid]

It can get more gross. We are about to run a bunch through a meat grinder to see if we can make pellets. I am pretty sure it will smell enough to gag a maggot.

 

[Blue Tiger]

Soybean meal might have a purpose other than nutritional that might make effort practical. Pellets smelling like sillage which can be down right pleasant.


Sieves used to screen pellets made of Japanese Beetle biomass and heat treat treated soybean meal. Sizes are 0.157 inches, 0.0787 inches, and 0.0394 inches.

Sizes produced by sieving; top left largest, top right second largest, lower left second smallest, and lower right outright fines. All but fines in size range of available on market and they would be salvageable if wetted.

Better than 95% of mix run through meat grinder dried into the coarsest size that is most desired. Pink, red, and orange colors eye can see not showing in photograph below.

Blue Tiger = centrarchid

 

[Blue Tiger]

Image below depicts appearance of pelleted formulations where half (right) of soybean meal used in formulation above is replaced by wheat flour and all (left) of the soybean meal is replaced by wheat floor. Neither diet contains binding agent used in the first diet, yet pellets holding together well. Pellet integrity is improved in both formulations resulting in fewer fines that are potential waste. The diet on left appears darker with less chunky pieces where pellets would break, The coarse nature of soybean meal my need to be addressed by grinding. Fish are hammering both diets so chickens will almost certainly do same when they get the chance.

 

[Blue Tiger]

Analysis concerns above realized. Must work from fresh product. Mass trapping will be next round of concern.

 

[centrarchid]

Japanese Beetles are flying in a big way. A single trap captured enough beetles in 8 hours to fill a 5-gallon bucket. Still, too many beetles got to blue berry patch. Another problem is early captured beetles died in reservoir. Beetles need to be fresh when they go into feed mixing procedure.

All has the makings of being an even bigger beetle year than last and last was a record.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

I'm absolutely LOVING this thread! Brilliant work @centrarchid and thank you SO MUCH for sharing this with our community!

 

[h2oratt]

My friend just bought a freeze dryer machine. 2K but it works well more eggs, fruit and yogurt. It must. Be how they make the freeze dried meal worms.