meal worms

[royhaddox]

about 4 months ago I started raising meal worms for my chicks.
seems to be doing good,but beetles are starting to die off,and they have a smell to them.
I would like to keep them outside in garage but living in florida I don't know if its to hot for them.
does anybody know if its to hot here, thanks

 

[eviemethugh]

It might be too humid. From what I understand they can handle the heat, but moisture is more difficult on them.
I think mites and things that attack the beetles thrive in moisture. Might be something to look into.
We've had ours about the same amount of time and this weekend while I was pulling out new worms I realized quite a few beetles were dead, but it didn't seem like a concerning amount since it seems like they are pro creating just fine. And the only smell ours ever has is from any food they don't get to. Maybe change out the bedding and get rid of any uneaten food and see if the smell goes away. You may loose a few eggs, but better than losing the whole colony.

 

[pdirt]

Shouldn't be much of a smell. It could be from rotting (uneaten) veggies or too much moisture in the substrate. I do a single bin method and have noticed that many of the beetles will die off. I assume that more hatch than can thrive in the given space. But over the course of a year (with occasional feedings to the chickens), the populate grew from 1000 to I am guessing 10-15000.