Mealworm farming

[Cakela]

tucking the wormies in?

I'm just.. very... interested and I tend to over worry about everything. From worms to my DB.

Just don't want them to die! I don't think heat was the problem, anyways, so water bottles won't be redone.

I 'tucked them in' with some nice news paper and now they are wiggling around everywhere.

Is it normal for a few (like 3 or 4) to die? I found a few dried up ones today that weren't that before, but I have plenty (probably too much LOL) potato in there to keep everything moist, along with the water underneath.

 

[hannakat]

Okay, first thing, you don't want things moist! Anything other than the veggies can cause major problems. It's also wise to only put in what they can consume in 2 days. More is not better with mealworms!

Newspaper is great, they do love it!

Yes, there is a percentage of worms/pupae/beetles that die early. I've found that my first generation has fewer deaths than my original worms, so that is promising!

 

[CluckyJay]

I mixed borax powder with sugar and sprinkled it around where I keep my feeders. Not IN with them though! It killed the ants in about three or four days. I use it in my house to keep them away too. It isn't instant, but it is long working. You can keep it in an open container near the mealworms too. Just never in with them.

 

[Cakela]

Oh jeez I'm gonna kill these poor little things.

I have their veggies sitting on unfolded toilet paper roll centers, so it's not on the substrate, so no moisture issues there.

The water is sealed in a bottle, so it's not very moist at all.

Reading this thread before I got them helped a lot, knowing not to let things get wet and moldy.

 

[hannakat]

Quote:
Great info! Thanks!!

 

[galanie]

DE doesn't work on fire ants, nor does the borax, but it does work on other types of ants, I've found. Sure fire way to keep ants out of something though is to elevate it on like cola cans inside bowls and fill the bowls with water. That is the only way I can keep them out of my earthworm farm. Even in the middle of the garage, the little b%&@*ds will get in the worm bin unless I do this. Guess they can't swim well.

 

[hannakat]

Quote:
Love this galanie! I've wondered about the 'moat' method.

 

[Kassaundra]

Quote:
Love this galanie! I've wondered about the 'moat' method.

We have a large ant problem, at our house, I was planning on the moat solution if/when the ants find the mealies. So far they haven't found them in the spare room.

 

[OwensMom]

Quote:
Trish, been reading up on the posts that I missed. Seems that freezing is a great preservation method. Once the girls get used to eating the live worms just the sight of worms will trigger the feeding frenzy. The wiggle is not necessary!! No need to dry either-the less work the better.
All my worms have morphed into beetles. 10,000 worms(give or take a few-mostly take) make an impressive mob of beetles. They are eating like pigs and hopefully making babies. I haven't seen any worm babies but they must be around.
Now I will freeze my new generation of worms for the winter. Thanks Trish!! Lynn

 

[WyoChickenMamma]

Quote:
Thank you...I will check it out!