Mealworm farming

[Kassaundra]

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I don't remember the corn husk pic or the corn cob idea.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I remember about the corn cobs and thought that was neat but we feed them to the horse so I did not keep any back for the mealies. I was pretty sure since ours were a bit wet/green still that it would draw gnats. I bet the mealie bins would have loved them though!




I have found that my bins smell when the beetles start dying. I have one bin now that has a lot of dead beetles, a mix of ExoticNutrition and Speedy Worm and it has a rank odor. The ExoticNutrition bin alone was not too bad and I wondered if it was because they were "organic" fed.
I seldom notice any odor and had the thought that maybe the mealies were taking care of their home by cleaning up any waste but with DH moving the beetles to a new bin each week there isn't anyone there to clean up because the eggs haven't hatched or they are too tiny to do any good.

 

[bobbyc1970]

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Ahhhh i was going to try this too. Found mine love apples have 5 bins now. two are so over populated now. might have to start a new one or get them ready for freezing. The pupae are everywhere.

Been using tin foil for adding damp paper towel for moisture. But now the mealies are eating the foil.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I don't put anything in the bins unless I do not care if they eat it. I use newspaper, paper plates, paper towels, computer paper, empty toilet paper rolls etc. They put holes in everything like that. And they like to hide under it, in it or crawl on it.

Celery was not as big a hit with my bins as the apple. That was their all time favorite and pumpkin was a close runner up! But they consumed the celery in about 2 days. They still do not care for potato for some reason. Low moisture content?

 

[bobbyc1970]

Potatoes dont go over to good here either.

The foil with the damp paper towels really sky rocketed my population here. Was having a alot of dead beetles before the damp towels but now they are thriving

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I haven't tried to up the humidity in my bins. The house gauge says it is at 58% in here and I had thought that was okay.
I do have a few cups that I thought I could set down in the bins with wet paper towels in them. The creatures could not get into them but the moisture would be in there. I just worried about starting mold since the humidity in the house was already up over 50%.
The bin in my bathroom closet is doing well though I did open the window quite a few days last week. I like cool weather even if the beetle bins do not.

 

[Kassaundra]

Those of you using the damp paper towels, how often do you remoisten them? Do you take them out to wet them or just spritz them w/ water?

 

[bobbyc1970]

i take mine out every two or three days. But check for the smaller worms in there. Dump the rest out. I use this also for moisture and works awesome

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[hannakat]

My house also tends to be dryer in the winter. I have a bowl of water in the oven with the 2 containers of mealie babies. With the light on 24/7, figured the extra moisture in the air would be beneficial.

Does anyone have separate mealie colonies growing in different substrates. I've recently noticed a significant difference in speed of development between wheat bran and rolled oats....just wondering if anyone else is doing this as well.

 

[Kassaundra]

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Which one is performing better?