Mealworm farming

[luvmesomechicks]

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and then a Sylvia and more Patricks and more Sylvias...

Yes im impatient now. But im sure ill get swamped by them faster than I think.

 

[hannakat]

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and then a Sylvia and more Patricks and more Sylvias...

Yes im impatient now. But im sure ill get swamped by them faster than I think.

As long as you keep them warm and fed.....yep!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Well, I never have heard back from Worm Man so I ordered from another place. they should be here soon and I forgot to pick up a bag of wheat bran at the feed store! Geez, I am sometimes an idiot. But I do have some oats here, just not enough, I am sure. I go to a different feed store tomorrow and I will check to see if they have bran. I know the other one does but it is across the state line and quite a drive. I won;t be back up there for about a month so now to find enough local to bed my bins.

Does it matter what kind of potato? I know, I know, I need to read more about them but I have skimmed the info on a few sites and it seems pretty straight forward.

I have lots of carrots, potatoes and an apple.

 

[DickGJ]

I just had mine delivered 2 weeks ago and I've already got more pupae than I expected already. At least 100 in the top drawer (since I have no beetles yet), and my second batch of small ones are not small anymore. They grow and molt a heck of a lot faster than I imagined. According to the date ranges (weeks) that I've seen for the different stages of metamorphosis...I think if your conditions are "ripe", the whole process is sped up exponentially. I've been raising mine in black plastic bins for extra darkness...not sure if that's the ticket or not, but I'm pleased!

 

[jomoncon]

This topic has inspired me so much, that 2 weeks ago I purchased 1000 meal worms from Petco. Then i got a plastic box & layered it with wheat bran, cut up a potato & in went the worms. The worms have grown like crazy & I now have a bunch of pupae & several beetles. I started with a plain white potato, then tried a sweet potato. They didn't seem to like the sweet potato as much. Nor the carrots I tried.

I try to pick out the shed skin & the dead ones, but some always slip through. I can't wait until I have enough worms to feed my girls!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Okey dokey, here's a question.......how do you separate out every stage? Do you scoop them up in beetle stage and move them to the next box? Or do you let them go through an entire life cycle in one bin, picking out only the worms for storing?

I read on one site to put an island in there and the beetles would climb onto it and then you could move it over to another bin. I want to use 3 bins but have a block on what to do right now.

I have only skimmed the material a few times and lack of sleep is making me very fuzzy on how to organize this. Maybe spring wasn't the best time to start this but I am in for a pound now.

 

[DickGJ]

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I scoop mine out with a tiny spoon. Most all the pupae seem to lie on the surface of the substrate (food). I don't worry if I miss a few since I've got so many already. If the larva want to eat the pupae...so be it since I figure their getting some of the best nutrients they need for development anyway. Personally, I don't worry about the shedded skins yet, and I know some folks that don't separate any of the stages. Everything is raised together just as it is in nature. As long as you provide the veggies for moisture...they're not going to go nuts eathing pupae. Since I just started my "Mealie Farm," I've opted (at least initially), to separate the pupae to ensure I get beetles. The top drawer of my 3-bin system has a screened bottom and is reserved for the adult beetles and egg laying. Supposedly, the eggs and miniscule larve will fall through the screen and enter the 2nd drawer below it and the process starts all over again. I have two 14"x 20"x6" black snap-top lid containers that is strictly for larvae development. I plan on trying to determine whether there's any quicker development between the 3-bin system made with translucent white plastic and the two black containers. At present, I'm shocked at how fast they are developing in the black containers and am fairly concerned that I won't have anymore larvae left in another two weeks. I started out 2-weeks ago with 2200 large and 2200 small mealies...the large are pupating like mad (about 50 every day), and the small mealies aren't small anymore. They started out at about 1/2" and they're all now 1' long or better. I plan on putting toilet paper tubes inside the adult bin for the beetles to hide and lay eggs. Even the adults love the dark. If you go out to your bin at night they'll all be on top of the substrate moving around and eating the veggies you've got in there...turn on a light and they start running like cockroaches for cover. They start burying down into the substrate or anything else you have in their like a folded newspaper and such!

I keep my set-up in my workshop outside and the temp in there is always in the high 70's to low 80's during the day here in South Carolina right now. Of course it's cooler at night...but jeez, if this process keeps going as fast as it is...my chickens are going to be some happy campers!!!

 

[hannakat]

I use a plastic spoon to scoop up the pupae. They are pretty easy to spot once you know what you're looking for. Every few days I do go through with the spoon after I think I have them all and stir up the medium a bit. I used the spoon to pick out worms also. For dead worms and skins, I use a skinny, pointy tweezer.

Because they like the dark, I keep a cover over them... just a piece of material, and when I open the beetle drawer, they go scampering for cover under the egg carton pieces and paper. That is the noisy drawer!

I have finely ground substrate in the second drawer and hope to be able to see the tiny worms! I'm sooo excited

I put several hundred in the refridgerator to slow some down to start up in July when my original beetles should be dead (they only live 2-3 months). My 3rd drawer is starting to empty out.....going to pupae! I bought a bin yesterday to put the next few hundred pupae. I want to have a dark, single container too, just to see how it goes. DH drilled 2 1" holes in it for me this morning and I'm gonna hot glue screening over the holes since I don't plan to monitor this as often as the 3-drawer. I agree with DickGJ that dark is good.

You're gonna have fun! Let us know when you get your wormies Nadine!



jomoncon ~ great start! Your bin looks like a good worm factory!

 

[GiddyMoon]

I checked today and have beetles. They only pupated last week. I was really shocked to see so many so fast..but I guess that is AZ for you!

 

[GiddyMoon]

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There are many people who do not do any of this. The beetles and larvae will eat dead flesh for protein. They lay so many eggs that even if they eat some, there are still plenty.