Mealworm farming

[ajlynco]

I feed a lot of celery to mine. They like it okay but not as much as apple! They hate potatoes and they usually go bad. Maybe my mealies and beetles are just spoiled. The beetles will only touch potatoes if they are desperate.

I keep my beetles on less than an inch of wheat bran. It falls through the screen most often down into the bottom bin with eggs. There is some wheat bran all around the edges of the bin and the beetles like that okay but I keep paper and egg carton cut offs in there for them to hide in. I have over 1000 beetles in one bin and add more each week as they hatch out. Naturally, some die off each week, too as their life cycle ends. Whew! They sure stink when they die so I try to spoon those out. They are in a tub near my chair where I collapse every night to watch some TV before bed. I can't stand that smell.

Happy farming everyone!

would it be better to have oats in the top drawer as opposed to wheat bran? It seems to me that all the bran would sift thru the screen whereas the oats are bigger than the screen and thereby unable to fall thru.

 

[hemet dennis]

So about 80 degrees is best. What about the high temp at what temp would they die off ?

And do they need light and how much, or do they do better in the dark ?

 

[DMRippy]

So about 80 degrees is best. What about the high temp at what temp would they die off ?

And do they need light and how much, or do they do better in the dark ?

Dark and warm is best. I don't know when they would die sorry....

 

[OkChickens]

So about 80 degrees is best. What about the high temp at what temp would they die off ?

And do they need light and how much, or do they do better in the dark ?

Some often are in my incubator about 100 degrees or so. They do well in dark rooms. They still need air flow of some sort. Nate

 

[vclark321]

I am going to read back through everything, but I am wondering how long it takes to see actual baby mealworms after the beetle stage. I have a boatload of beetles and I have not seen any mealies tiny or otherwise. Do they eat their own? I have plenty of food in the container for them and they are warm and dark. Just wondering.... Thank you.

 

[Kassaundra]

I am going to read back through everything, but I am wondering how long it takes to see actual baby mealworms after the beetle stage. I have a boatload of beetles and I have not seen any mealies tiny or otherwise. Do they eat their own? I have plenty of food in the container for them and they are warm and dark. Just wondering.... Thank you.

They can predate on their young, but w/ plenty of food they usually do not. You have young meal worms if you have had adults for a week or more. Put a slice of bread in the bin wait about 15 to 30 minutes then go back and look at the under side of the bread slice (the one touching the substrate) you will see the tiny babies.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Through this winter it has taken some of mine 4 months to mature. The cooler air along with dry air from the furnace slowed them way down. However, it has warmed considerably in the last month and we are getting our spring rains so they have really jumped.
Don't give up!

 

[Scooter&Suzie]

Just wondering... What is the advantage of doing the three drawer system? Do they eat each other? I find it annoying to keep moving the pupa and the beetles. Is it okay just to throw them all in one large drawer?

 

[Kassaundra]

Just wondering... What is the advantage of doing the three drawer system? Do they eat each other? I find it annoying to keep moving the pupa and the beetles. Is it okay just to throw them all in one large drawer?

Several on here, including me use the one bin method. They can predate a little but if kept w/ enough food it will be negligable.

 

[AliciaM]

Spring time is in the air.. I saw Beetle porn today when checking on mine..And the sounds they make on newspaper is sooo weird...