Mealworm farming

[bobbieschicks]

Back on page 374 is the start of a discussion on microwaving/heating vs freezing the substrate. It seems freezing does not kill mites, so cooking is recommended. Microwave is discouraged because of inconsistencies in heating - you could have a large hot area and a some areas that barely got heated. And it's discouraged because of a purported difference in the properties of the wheat after microwaving. Apparently a stove would only need to heat for 15 minutes at130F. So if you micowave you will want to do so on as flat a surface as possible to avoid pockets of hot/cold areas and only heat long enough to reach that temperature level. On page 375 Hannakat gives a posting of temperatures for killing mites.

My suggestion for microwaving is put them on a flat surface bowl at 50% power and heat for a couple of minutes, test the temperature with a baking thermometer and see how close you are to 130F. Then stir and repeat.

Amy with West Knoll Farm posted that she microwaved her wheat bran and the mealies didn't like it as much as when she simply froze it for a couple of months. So you might try emailing her that question - I didn't see an answer on her website about the length of time.

I'm curious to know this answer as well - so if you find it will you please post.

Ok, one more question..... how long to you mircrowave the gains? I skipped that info as I was using spent grains (cooked already) and didn't need to heat them.

I don't have an oven at the farm..... only a microwave.

 

[Kassaundra]

For some reason I must be doing something wrong... Ive had my meal worm bins set up since the end of January..First the worms.. then eventualy they all turned into beetles...Ive seen the beetles breeding.. But no worms yet...Granted, where the worms were set up wasnt the warmest in the house, but they were active, not hibernating or anything... The last 2 months theyve been in my living room where it gets fairly warm.. I live in western washington state where if it gets to 60 degrees outside right now, were all excited..

Ive never cleaned out any dead worms or beetles in the bins, so I dont know if any of the dead worms I see in there are old ones or recent ones..I sift thru the bedding and dont see any worms...

Did I do something wrong????

Ive heard of someone putting their bin into an incubator for the heat.. I have an empty cabinet incubator that I may do that with.. Should I start with fresh mealworms or the existing beetles Ive got now??

What temperature should it be?? For hatching eggs its set at 99.5..

Im gonna go sift thru pages for my answers, but if anyone wants to chime in to help save my sanity that would be great....

If you have had a colony set up since Jan and still no young meal worms, my first thought would be where did you get them? Have they been treated w/ insect growth hormone basically making any adults sterile?

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I am sure you have meal worms but your area just hasn't been warm enough for them to become active enough to grow. Once we started hitting teh 80's outside, our humidity rose to about 55% outside and everything in the Air conditioned house jumped and grew like crazy.

I did set my mealies inside my incubator on the bottom of the cabinet and they did okay but try setting them on top of the bator, if you can. We now set all our "micro" mealies up there and they grow FAST! Once we see avalanches in the substrate then we know we have babies and they go on top of where it is warm. In 3 weeks we see them sitting up and begging for more food from us.

I wish I had more time for this thread but I have been super busy with sales this year and just can't get on as much as I would like.

 

[DMRippy]

Ok.... I bought some wheat bran

that is going to be GREAT for sifting. One word of warning to those buying wheat bran at the feed store a 50 lb bag is HUGE not like buying chicken feed. I made the mistake of buying 2 bags sight unseen..... So now I have wheat bran over load.

 

[Auscal]

Quote:
I made the above post three weeks ago, and, I'm still waiting on any sign at all of worms. The beetles all look very healthy low I am wondering if the very low humidity here is a problem - I read they like high humidity. I have noticed the favorite food seems to be fresh lettuce leaves from the garden - wondering if they are liking the moisture in it. Temps here are in the high 50's at night, and 80's during the day. Is it still a little cool for maximum production? I am trying to be patient...................

 

[WestKnollAmy]

For those of you not seeing any worms, please be patient. It takes about 10 weeks in optimum conditions to see the next generation thriving. In cooler weather or less humidity or heat than they like, it could easily take several months before you see your colony grow.

I do need to update my webpage but for those of you who have not viewed it I encourage you to do so. It may answer a few questions. Warning, it is very visual!

http://www.westknollfarm.com/Meal-Worms.html

 

[Auscal]

Quote:
Thanks Amy, somehow in all my reading I missed the 10 week part, and was remembering it being much less - it's reassuring to know that likely nothing is 'wrong" . I'll check out that link next time I am out & about with my laptop - photo heavy pages do not go well with a dial-up internet connection And, I will try and be patient.........LOL

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: I thought I would NEVER see the little baby worms... then one day.... the pile moved..... and then next time I could see the little worms. Next thing you know I have a BAZILLION worms!

 

[bobbieschicks]

I'm starting to think this three bin idea was a bad one - it's really annoying to have to open the middle drawer with the top drawer - presumably to keep any "eggs" that would drop through out of the bottom drawer and in the second one where they are supposed to grow into larva. But it doesn't flow right because often I have to open the middle drawer - and what's to prevent the eggs from dropping down then? Oh well - I'm about to get some wheat bran and when I get that new substrate I think I will change it so the bottom of the top drawer is solid again and just let all three bins contain all four stages of growth.

I do have about 10 beetles right now that look good. I also have a whole lot of pupa still and have hardly any worms left - between them changing to pupa and my chickens chowing down on them! Obviously with my hungry horde of layers I should have gotten more then 5,000 - you'd think there wasn't a bug in my yard the way they bolt to the gate when I come outside with mealies for them.

 

[Mealwormer]

Here are my setups at the moment. First pic has about 3,000 or so worms in it. For substrate/food I use oatmeal and vitamin/mineral powder sprinkled about the entire surface of the bin. I use egg containers for hides and I find these to help the meal worms generate some extra heat when they huddle together beneath them. Today I am using potato for moisture. I prefer to use a different kind of vegetable or fruit every day or two depending on if it gets eaten the first day or not. The second pic is my pupa bin which has about 400 pupa inside. Third pic is the new beetle bin which has about 60 beetles in it, although you can't see them all. I am using a piece of banana for them right now.

For the mealworm bin I use undertank heaters made for reptiles to make the meal worms pupate faster. For the past week or so I've been taking out 50-100 pupas every day. I've had these meal worms for about a month. I'm just now beginning to get 20+ beetles in the pupa bin each day, which seems about right, because before a week ago I was getting 20+ pupa every day.


Sorry for the bad pics. My camera was freakin' out.