Mealworm farming

[Gallo del Cielo]

Okay, been away for a while. Busy, busy for the summer.

I was wondering...does anyone know....do spiders really like meal worm eggs or newborns?

We had 4 trays of wheat bran that we had taken beetles out of and set them on the top self of our meal worm stack. They have dates on them so we know it has been 3 months or less since we put them up there. When we took them down to check on them there are webs all through the top of the bran and there isn't a baby to be seen. Nothing. Nada!

There has been an invasion of long legged small spiders this summer in the house and we have spent countless hours killing the blasted things. Never thought about them getting into the meal worm containers and eating the eggs or newborns but really....what do spiders eat, after all?

I think I have been set back on my production now with this discovery. Usually at this time frame they would be crawling all over each other, even if small. There is nothing.

I first learned how to raise mealworms in order to feed spiders. Spiders eat insects and love mealworms. They won't eat the eggs, but they can eat larvae that crawl on the surface. Having said that, it would be tough for even a few spiders to decimate an entire colony.

Do your invading spiders look like one of these two species?:

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[Debbz]

When we took them down to check on them there are webs all through the top of the bran...

It wasn't weevil webs was it? Don't know if they eat mealworm larvae, but they sure love bran and make little cobwebs.

 

[Kassaundra]

When I first started raising chickens I didn't think anything could get lower on the food chain, as many preditors that like chicken dinner, but I guess chicken food is a bit lower!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I first learned how to raise mealworms in order to feed spiders. Spiders eat insects and love mealworms. They won't eat the eggs, but they can eat larvae that crawl on the surface. Having said that, it would be tough for even a few spiders to decimate an entire colony.

Do your invading spiders look like one of these two species?:

​

Well, yes, kinda. They have really long legs and a body! LOL I can't say they are exact though. I can't see their little bodies that well. There are usually about 2 to 3 spiders in my bins and we kill them but a few days later there are more! I am so tired of them. They remind me of the spiders that love to be in our bathroom and we have been fighting them for years. The joys of living in the middle of farm land!

I have been killing spiders from my bins all summer and have noticed a rapid decline of baby mealies since July.

DH wants to cover all the bins with screen or put lids on with tons of tiny drilled holes in the top but I fear smothering the mealies and figure the horrid spiders can get through the openings when young anyhow.

Thank you for your insight! I knew you would have the answers to this next dilemma in meal worm farming! LOL

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Well, yes, kinda. They have really long legs and a body! LOL I can't say they are exact though. I can't see their little bodies that well. There are usually about 2 to 3 spiders in my bins and we kill them but a few days later there are more! I am so tired of them. They remind me of the spiders that love to be in our bathroom and we have been fighting them for years. The joys of living in the middle of farm land!

I have been killing spiders from my bins all summer and have noticed a rapid decline of baby mealies since July.

DH wants to cover all the bins with screen or put lids on with tons of tiny drilled holes in the top but I fear smothering the mealies and figure the horrid spiders can get through the openings when young anyhow.

Thank you for your insight! I knew you would have the answers to this next dilemma in meal worm farming! LOL

I think screens are a good idea--like window screening. It would probably keep out most, if not all, of the smaller ones. I think lids with holes would still allow some to gain entry and might also cause problems with humidity build-up. I also wonder if you have Mediterranean geckos? They're common all around the south (including SC), nocturnal, and most people never realize they have them. They will clean out a colony. Your disappearing mealies reminded me of a similar situation I had years ago when I lived in New Orleans. I happened to look in the colony in the middle of the night and caught them in the act. That's when I got the screened cover for my colony.

Mediterranean gecko (not my picture):

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

When I first started raising chickens I didn't think anything could get lower on the food chain, as many preditors that like chicken dinner, but I guess chicken food is a bit lower!

So true!

 

[cluck-cluck]

Do darkling beetles need to mate before laying eggs? (i would think so, right?) Will they find each other ok in my bin??

I'm just so worried I won't get many eggs and I lost so much when my husband nearly killed the whole batch! Ugh... I don't have a ton of beetles, maybe 50 and they're not living very long either. I thought they were supposed to live for at least a month? Ugh, so worried about theses little worms!!!

 

[Kassaundra]

Do darkling beetles need to mate before laying eggs? (i would think so, right?) Will they find each other ok in my bin??

I'm just so worried I won't get many eggs and I lost so much when my husband nearly killed the whole batch! Ugh... I don't have a ton of beetles, maybe 50 and they're not living very long either. I thought they were supposed to live for at least a month? Ugh, so worried about theses little worms!!!

Yes they need to mate first, yes they will find each other just fine. The beetles in my bin have always had a wide range of living time ranging from a few weeks to a few months, it all averages out. They will lay enough eggs if they have food and shelter nature will take it's course.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Quote:
All my mealies are in the house and I swear, we do not have anything like that in here!

However, I am constantly finding spiders and spider webs across the top of my mealie bins. I have 4 little tubs that have dates on them from the first few weeks of July with absolutely no growth in them so I suspect that the spiders might have consumed all the mealies that hatched out in those 4 bins. I have killed spiders several times a week for the past several months from those bins but the spiders just keep finding them again.
I will try the screens over them but really had thought with the mealies in the house that I would not have all these problems.

 

[Kassaundra]

In the house and no screens???? Are you sure you don't have a rodent????

That gecko is awesome, sure hope we have those here.