Mealworm farming

[WestKnollAmy]

I haven't tried that one yet because I have so many worms and beetles. My bins are pretty large and the towers I have seen for sale are as small as my blue bin which is the smallest one I have. And with moving them for the winter into the closet the drawer system won't work there.
I like the drawer system set up but I am about to start container #6 since these guys have been multiplying so well. At one time I had thought to put them in the fridge but I like the idea of them continually making more and more and more. Especially since I want to feed more.
I have about 27 little flocks of chickens, not to mention ducks and Guineas. Every time I think someone needs a boost I feed mealies. When I want to sit and pet on some breeders in a pen I take them mealies. On nasty days when my babies can't get out of the brooder room to play in the grass, I feed them mealies. I use a lot of them!

I hated to dump the frass because I felt like there are eggs in there but feeling how compacted the frass was I am thinking now that probably not. Of course, there was a good inch of frass in that container. That was the clear one, not the blue one but I am betting the blue one is just as bad. There are mostly mealies in there now as the beetles have died off or been moved so it is probably safe to collect all the mealies and dump the container to use as fertilizer.

 

[oneofseven]

Since you have so many, it would be a good time to experiment. Just a thought.

 

[Kassaundra]

Quote:
New pupa today, actually I had one early developer last week, but this morning I have several.

10-05 new pupa


So it looks like 9 wks from pupa to pupa.
Is this consistant w/ everyone else?

Yesterday 10-10-11 I had my first second generation beetle, but my pupating mealies and my new beetles appear smaller then the original I bought at the pet store. I first noticed it in the mealies, but thought I wasn't remembering there size correctly, but now that I have new beetles I'm for sure they appear to be about 2/3 rd's the size of the original beetles. Anyone else experience this?

So far it is 69 days from pupa to pupa generation,
but 63 days beetle to beetle generation, so my colony seeems to be speeding up. Someone else mentioned their frass was warm to the touch I wonder if they are warming their own environment enough to speed up the change, a little micro climate?

I edited, but meant to quote

 

[Kassaundra]

Quote:
Something I was thinking about since I'm planning on going big w/ my colonies too is a real dresser. Take the back off for ventilation, line the drawers w/ heavy black trash bags and secure w/ duct tape. I also like a previous poster's idea of using a dead refrigerator, wiring it for heat and ventilation (small fan and light bulb) and keeping it in the garage.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I would love to experiment but I probably will have to make my own stacked system instead of using the little drawer towers already made.
We have talked about it but so far can't decide how to do it so I can get in to check on the worms. Although the shelves that you can buy for garages or work shops look to be our best bet. We have about 8 of those set ups that we are using for brooders down in the barn or Guinea Pig cages in our spare bedroom. As the piggies get older and pass away we are not replacing so we hope to be able to use one of those along with plastic tubs. We figure we can cut out the middle of a shelf and have the screen on a big tub that fits there with the other tub underneath.
I think that will be a while in the future since the piggies seem to want to live forever.
And with that set up I will spend a lot more time picking out the pupae and moving them around. The set up I have now is all life cycles in each bin so a colony just keeps going with itself. There isn't much work for me with that, other than needing to clean out tons of frass. But that isn't often. The 2 oldest tubs are the ones that need to be dumped and those have been going since July.

This is how deep they are now.

 

[Chickangel79]

I have just been out to get the chicken food, as seeing how we have a sick one indoors I thought I would grab some more mealworms for it and put the rest in the 'farm'. I put the bag down and got distracted by tv, ten minutes later I get up and they are all over the carpet !!! Have turned the house upside down making sure I got them all

 

[hannakat]

I already cleaned the frass out of my single bin cause it was so deep and mine wasn't as populated as yours. With the development going so well, I decided not to worry about any lost eggs, wormies.

What I'm saying, none too clearly, is just dump it. I used a kitchen wire strainer/sifter thing and worked with batches at a time, dumping the worms into a different container. Just use caution and stay upwind of the frass (I did it outside on a breezy day and my eyes suffered because of it). And you don't have to keep multiple bins...more can fit into the existing containers and still develop.

My single bin is now condensed to 3 small containers (but then I am freezing worms too since I don't have much use for them until winter). I plan to put 2 small, but deep, containers with wire bottoms in my single bin in order to keep the beetles separate since I want to limit their life span.

I might move some to the cool basement to slow down development. ?!?!? Did I just say that? hahaaa! Slow down the mealies!

The farm does not need to take up any more space than what you want it to and more is not always better. Find your mealie balance

 

[kizanne]

I've read I believe on this forum the frass makes good boost for your veggie garden. Makes sense because earthworms dropping are sought after.

 

[galanie]

Quote:
Oh yeah! Well any poo really is great for the garden. But worm poo just seems better for some reason. I don't say this from experience, just what I've read.

 

[oneofseven]

There's a guy here in Augusta that made his "Claim to Fame" -millions- selling fertalizer with a bit of cricket poo mixed in. Ti's called Kricket Krap. Perhaps, mealworm poo can be diluted and sold as well. Just a thought...