Mealworm farming

[OwensMom]

Hi everyone!! I compost my mealworm poo with my chicken poo, chicken bedding, feathers and any veges that go south. Kinda goes full circle. I'm to stingy to sell mine though. It all goes back into the gardens. Maybe someday... BTW I vote for A$$ Frass!! Good luck

 

[hannakat]

 

[hannakat]

Kassandra
Your colony : Beetle to beetle took approx. 65 days at temps of 76-78 degrees.

My colony: Beetle to beetle took 122 days at temps of 69-71 degrees.

Yours is developing twice as quickly as mine and even at the slower rate, I have more than enough and they're still coming! Don't know what I'd do if they were developing like yours. Can you imagine if it was an almost constant 85 degrees?! wow

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Quote:
ROFL! I love A$$ Frass! Too bad we can't use it!

Why can't we? Let's take a vote and then work on the formula http://www.pic4ever.com/images/laie_14.gif

I love the Smiley doing the formula!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Or it could be @$$2Frass......

That made me laugh about as much as the applause I get when I feed the mealies and beetles. You know the crackling sound you hear? That is just them applauding you giving them more yummies.

 

[oneofseven]

I personally like "Meally Mix - the Fertalizer straight from the worm's Frass"

 

[WestKnollAmy]

 

[hannakat]

Quote:

 

[3scorpios]

Okay, I've read about 20+ pages of this thread and I still have a couple questions. I just got my mealworms today, a package of 50 of them from Petco. I bought an aquarium to grow them in because according to this link (sited in the very first post) that's all you really need. Seems like most people on here are doing the 3-bin method and I'm just wondering if I can farm mealworms in nothing more than an aquarium? I understand they may eat some of their eggs, but will they still multiply at all? Or will they eventually die off if I don't separate the pupae and beetles?

My second question is this: I forgot to freeze my wheat bran before I added it to the aquarium and I swear I already saw a tiny mite crawling around on one of the worms....it was smaller than a grain of salt. Am I going to be overrun now w/ unwanted critters? Should I just toss all to the chickens and start over?

Lastly, thanks so much to all of you who are so diligent in sharing information with the rest of us. I apologize if my questions are a repeat, but I've been reading this for hours and I did not come across the answers.

 

[hannakat]

Quote:
1. An aquarium makes a dandy farm container. (actually, most are doing the single bin (or multiple bins) with same result as an aquarium). Don't think they eat the eggs but will munch on a dead worm, pupae or beetle, so yes, your colony will do just fine. You do NOT need to separate the stages to have a successful farm.

2. No tossing yet. Wait and see. If you have mites, they will make themselves known in great numbers. Very few people have problems with mites. It's usually from some other source (I think Amy's infestation was from guinea pig food). Some of us have taken to freezing bran and chicken food to be safe.

3. It is our pleasure to help others and keep the mealie farms growing!

We love to answer questions...ask away...

and

Welcome to the farm!!!!