Mealworm farming

[Urban Chaos]

We've had a mealworm farm for about 3 months in dirt in a large aquarium. It is teaming with the beetles, however, when I search for the "worms" there are none. I see dried up ones, and adult ones, but where are the "worms"?. We have been feeding the beetles to the chicks just because that is what we have. Advice? And believe me, I have looked for the grubs.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I am incredibly busy and I still squeezed it in.

I found some info here on BYC and through the many websites I found on the Net. I am still trying to read them all!

You and your chickens will get huge benefits from this! High protein and cheaper feed bills, especially if you can produce plenty of mealies.

I spent over an hour with DD yesterday picking out the pupae but you do not have to do that. There are a few ways you can set up your worm production area. I am learning as I go since what works for one does not work for all. Some people keep all stages in one bin while others use the 3 bin method.

I have found it to be fairly cheap but I always have lots of fruits and veggies on hand. The oats were already here and I just picked up a 50# bag of wheat bran for $11 to use as bedding, too. Plastic bins were $6 each at Dollar General.

I believe I will benefit greatly from using worms to feed to chicks, breeder birds and even sick birds. I plan to have a ton of these things to feed to all my birds and cut back on grain.

Not sure how long in the freezer but I plan to put mine in the fridge for as long as 3-4 months, I hope.

 

[hannakat]

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From what I've read, mealworms need a wheat product to live in. Quick oats, wheat mill, wheat flour. Did you start out with worms that pupated into the beetles? This is very interesting!

 

[hannakat]

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[WestKnollAmy]

Yeah, I agree. I do not think dirt will work well for them. They may do that in a natural setting just fine but they know where to bed down and you have forced them into this environment so maybe taking out the dirt and putting in oats or something wheat will help.

I can say from my very short experience that I will not do oats in the mealies again. Beetles, yes, but finding the pupae in the oats is very difficult. DD came home again today and found numerous ones to move over to the beetle bin. I couldn't find too many. Her eyes are much better than mine.

Eventually I plan to get the oats out of the mealies (or should I have said that vice verso?) and only have the wheat bran. Maybe then I can find pupae as they develop.

 

[hannakat]

Wheat products are the natural environment for "meal" worms. They are not found anywhere else. The darkling beetle (which WE all want!) is a pest to farmers and producers where wheat products are held in large quantities. They don't want the mealworms or the beetles or the pupa because they spoil the wheat products. This is why I've said not to worry if a beetle escapes.

And again, it takes 2 beetles to tango

 

[hannakat]

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I haven't had trouble finding them in the oats but I'm having a terrible time finding the wee wormies. Do you have wee worms yet? I have the very fine stuff in the second drawer but haven't found anything wiggling yet

 

[hannakat]

I had to go research raising mealworms in dirt and this is what I found. I also found another site with lots of good wormie information!


Copied from other sites.
********and the sand and dirt......... they are mealworms, not dirtworms. you gave just about correct instructions for raising nightcrawlers, or earth worms.

mealworms live by eating differnt grains, I keep mine on wheatbran, or rolled oats. you can also use cheap dry breackfast cerial. I have about 5,000 in my room right now, i breed leopard geckos, and raise the mealworms for them.




**********Mealworms
Mealworms are the larvae of the darkling beetle species Tenebrio molitor. They have four stages of life; egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The larvae are used to feed birds, fish, reptiles, and exotic pets. Although they don't have the best nutritional value and have a lot of chitin in their exoskeleton, they can be gut-loaded and dusted to make them better insect feeders for pets.

* Gut-loading is simply feeding them nutritional foods prior to feeding to them to your pet.

Setting Up
Setting up to raise mealworms is very easy and it doesn't take much effort or supplies to be successful. There are very complex systems all over the Internet with screen-bottomed containers or multiple containers for each stage of life, but they aren't necessary. Getting started should be kept very simple. Upgrades are alway possible later once the colony is established.

Supplies:

•Container with a lid
•Oats (rolled oats, not packaged oatmeal)
•Mealworms (a couple dozen is a good start)
Poke some holes in the lid of the container to allow air in. Mealworms require good ventilation and doing so helps prevent mold from growing. Mold is a sign that there is too much moisture.

Add some oats to fill the container half way. This allows the mealworms to dig around in the oats and keeps them from trying to escape through the air holes.

Add the mealworms to the container, put the lid on, then place the container in a dry, dark area.

The mealworms will eat the oats and grow then transform into pupae then into beetles. The beetles will breed then lay eggs and the cycle starts all over again

Keeping It Simple
The simplest way to setup a colony of mealworms is to use the container the oats come in. Pour half of the oats into a ziplock storage bag to save them for later use. Poke some holes in the top of the container the oats come in. Add the mealworms to the container then store in a dry, dark area. This way is very simple and inexpensive and will quickly get the colony started.

Upgrading
As the mealworm colony grows, larger or multiple containers may be necessary to keep the colony healthy. Some people move the pupae to a new container to finish out the metamorphosis into beetles. This allows them to not be disturbed by the active larvae and sets up another colony as well. Once the beetles emerge, they will begin to breed and lay eggs in the new container.

Multi-drawer Sterilite containers are good for this purpose. Screen can be hot glued into the bottom of the upper drawers to allow the newly-hatched larvae to fall through to the drawer below. Cat litter boxes or other Rubbermaid or Sterilite containers can be used in the same way. Use your imagination and creativity - the possibilities are endless. We use the plastic containers that we have left over from the croissants we buy from the bakery at the grocery.


Gut-Loading
Gut-loading can be accomplished by feeding higher quality foods than the regular oatmeal. Keeping the mealworms in dry dog or cat food and adding unsalted sunflower seeds to it is one way. There are foods available at some big box pet stores for gut-loading crickets that can be used as well. Baby cereal is another. Try different things you have on hand until you find something that works for you...............

You can finish reading this article at: http://hubpages.com/hub/Raising-Mealworms-to-Feed-Your-Pets

 

[WestKnollAmy]

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Keep repeating it and I will eventually remember all this!

I only started thinking about this again 2 weeks ago so for me to have this much stuffed into my head by now is pretty good!

And thank you, Hannakat, for all the work you are putting into helping us! I am glad you are my mentor in this endeavor!

 

[ChickenTaco]

Sorry if this is question has been answered, but what water source do you give your mealworm farms?