Mealworm farming

[Klwright1122]

How are some of you storing the worms once u havest them? Can u freeze them? I'm trying to store some up for winter. I put some (in the frig once) in a coffee container with holes punched in the top and brought them out periodically to eat--but eventually the moisture got in there and one day it was a moldy mess....
Does anyone freeze them? Will the birds still eat em?
Edited to add (...)

 

[CCourson05]

Quote:
You can package them in the oats you raise them in, then refrigerate... Kind of like how you get them from the store to start with... The oats absorb moisture...

 

[Terri O]

I was reading about all the farms and decided to do a sort on my containers again. I have not noticed this before but I seem to have some beetles hatching that are deformed. What causes this? Also I used some grains from my cupboards that had other things in them...now I have moths! SO do they hurt the colony at all? I fed most of the bedding from the big worms back to my hens because of all the "other crawlies"
I have a very small farm in 3 cottage cheese containers.
Thanks! Terri O

 

[CCourson05]

MOTHS?! I have never heard of that before???

 

[CluckyJay]

When I gave them more humidity, the beetles stopped coming out deformed. I believe they require a decent amount of humidity in order to grow properly.

 

[gale65]

Quote:
Have you ever had bugs in your flour? Those turn into moths (I think they call them pantry moths). They are VERY hard to get rid of. Insecticides don't work-I have sticky traps in my cupboard for them and I freeze all flour products plus store them in tupperware after they've been frozen at least 3 days.

 

[hannakat]

Quote:
I have been harvesting them and freezing them. I keep them in cottage cheese containers/large yogurt containers with a few layers of paper towel. They thaw out in a few minutes and become the consistency of a live mealworm. My girls are very familiar with mealworms and grab them up as quickly as live and/or freeze/dried mealworms.

Hope this helps!

 

[hannakat]

Quote:
Mine took 7 days my colony is kept inside w/ a temp between 76-78

Wow I had no idea it was that quick! I was looking up the life cycle of the mealworm and found a diagram at enchanted learning. On that site it says the pupal stages lasts from 2-3 weeks up to 9 months! (9 mos being overwintering).

It is all relative to 'temperature' .... the higher the constant temp, the quicker they develop. I keep mine at 69-72 and it takes at least 2 weeks from pupae to beetle. If you want to slow the colony down, put them in a cooler location. Speed them up...put them in a warm location. All about temperature.

 

[gale65]

Quote:
Wow I had no idea it was that quick! I was looking up the life cycle of the mealworm and found a diagram at enchanted learning. On that site it says the pupal stages lasts from 2-3 weeks up to 9 months! (9 mos being overwintering).

It is all relative to 'temperature' .... the higher the constant temp, the quicker they develop. I keep mine at 69-72 and it takes at least 2 weeks from pupae to beetle. If you want to slow the colony down, put them in a cooler location. Speed them up...put them in a warm location. All about temperature.

Makes perfect sense. Our house is about 71-72 but they are on the floor so it may be a bit cooler down there. I have tons of pupa! I hope the beetles look ok when they turn. We did have 2 beetles when I first got the worms but I haven't seen them since day 1.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Hey Trish!
Like this........?