Mealworm farming

[DHinton]

If I did this correctly, from my phone, there should be a picture of one and a half containers of frass, a newly emerged/still white darkling beetle, and a couple of pupae, with friends.

 

[korlia]

I'm also very new to mealworm farming. I ordered 1000 worms and all seemed to go extremy well. The only problem that I have is that the beetles seem to die before they even turn black? They are still light brown.... I have one big aquarium with all the worms, pupae, etc together. Why is this? Am I doing something wrong??

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I'm also very new to mealworm farming. I ordered 1000 worms and all seemed to go extremy well. The only problem that I have is that the beetles seem to die before they even turn black? They are still light brown.... I have one big aquarium with all the worms, pupae, etc together. Why is this? Am I doing something wrong??

More details would help to determine if there is a problem and a cause. How long are the beetles living? If they are dying within a week or so, that is a problem. What is the average temperature at which they are kept? Beetles kept at higher temperatures live shorter lives than they would if temps were lower, especially if they have limited access to vegetable matter. It would also be helpful to know what you are feeding them.

It might be that everything is quite fine with your colony. The final color of the beetle is, in large part, determined by the density at which they are raised. At very low densities they may never get darker than tan. This is especially true of very new colonies. How big is your aquarium? If it's larger than 10 gallons with just 1000 worms, I would expect most of the first beetles to be very light in coloration. Even at 10 gallons, most of your first beetles could be brown.

 

[korlia]

I'm not entirely sure about the size of the aquarium, but it is definitely not smaller than 10 gallons. I think it is bigger than 10. They are fed cucumber & apple. I have tried potato but they dont seem to like it as much. The average temp is between 68 and 75 F.

I am sure some have died before a week??

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I'm not entirely sure about the size of the aquarium, but it is definitely not smaller than 10 gallons. I think it is bigger than 10. They are fed cucumber & apple. I have tried potato but they dont seem to like it as much. The average temp is between 68 and 75 F.

I am sure some have died before a week??

Hmmm, that might be a problem then. Are most dying within a week or most surviving longer? What is the humidity? Is it very moist or moldy inside? What substrate are you using? Did you wash the vegetables thoroughly before using? The pesticides on the food items can sometimes cause problems. Your temperatures sound good though.

 

[korlia]

Its difficult to say since they are only starting the beetle stage now. Not a lot of beetles yet, it just felt as if there are a lot dying? Some seem uncapable of walking, they are just lying on their backs, if I turn them back on their feet and return a bit later they're on their backs again??

No mold, its very dry in there. Low humidity. They always have access to a piece of apple or cucumber, but I must say I didn't really rinse the cucumber or the apple....

I am using oatbran and wheatbran as substrate. I nuked it in the microwave before using it.

 

[snakes]

Newbie here with a couple questions. I have the Sterilite three drawer set up. I installed some screen on the bottom of one of the drawers. Right now I only have about 30 beetles.

Starting to see eggs being laid on the cardboard. As these seem to be "glued" to the cardboard, what am I supposed to do? Scrape them off into the bin below, or will that destroy the eggs?

Also, the beetle bin with the screen on the bottom. Do I need to agitate this drawer occasionally so the eggs fall through, or will this happen by itself?

 

[kwol]

Newbie here with a couple questions. I have the Sterilite three drawer set up. I installed some screen on the bottom of one of the drawers. Right now I only have about 30 beetles.



Starting to see eggs being laid on the cardboard. As these seem to be "glued" to the cardboard, what am I supposed to do? Scrape them off into the bin below, or will that destroy the eggs?



Also, the beetle bin with the screen on the bottom. Do I need to agitate this drawer occasionally so the eggs fall through, or will this happen by itself?

Welcome.
I have a three drawer with screen too. I never had to agitate the screen. Everything seems to fall through on it's own. The only card board I ever put in is toilet paper rolls cut in half length wise to make tunnels. I never noticed any eggs on these, so maybe someone who has seen this can help. Hope it is beetle eggs and not anything else

.

 

[snakes]

Thanks. The eggs I've seen so far (not many) have been on the toilet paper rolls.

Another question. When I received my shipment of mealworms a month ago, two beetles came along by accident. I put them in a separate drawer in case they were still laying eggs. Noticed movement in the corn meal a couple weeks ago and thought I had baby mealworms.

They've grown bigger and become much darker in color, not to mention hairy, and now I'm thinking these are pests. If so, what should I do about them?

 

[chrissyr]

Thanks. The eggs I've seen so far (not many) have been on the toilet paper rolls. Another question. When I received my shipment of mealworms a month ago, two beetles came along by accident. I put them in a separate drawer in case they were still laying eggs. Noticed movement in the corn meal a couple weeks ago and thought I had baby mealworms. They've grown bigger and become much darker in color, not to mention hairy, and now I'm thinking these are pests. If so, what should I do about them?

I got those in my shipment too. I killed them, they aren't mealworm beetles