Mealworm farming

[Chad Cool]

Love this thread!

 

[Chickengirl1304]

I got my first 1000 a while ago and they're just now about half of them turning into pupas. The worms that haven't turned yet are very dormant is that normal?

 

[azygous]

I'm using the Sterilite three drawer bin system. The beetle drawer has a piece of window screen glued to the bottom. I keep the drawer below it empty (diverting the contents into another drawer) so I can monitor the egg production on a daily basis.



The moral of the story is my egg production doesn't seem very good. Mid-December I was seeing about 40 eggs on a daily basis. Now, it's about 20 per day. This despite having 100-125 beetles who are active and mating throughout the day. Lower temps indoors (70-75F) and lower humidity due to the furnace running may have something to do with it. I live in a warmer climate though, so the furnace only runs about an hour per day. Definitely drier than the summer months, but not that dry.



I've been providing lots of carrots and apples for the beetles and a sopping wet paper towel on a plastic lid to raise the humidity.



Thoughts/suggestions?

Snakes, a warning from one who decided to mess around with trying to increase the humidity for fear it wasn't humid enough in the trays for the critters. I live in an extremely arid climate, indoors and outdoors. No sooner had I introduced a small moist, folded paper towel to add humidity, I had my first mite infestation.

Your beetles and worms are very content with extremely low humidity, trust me. More important is temperature. 80F is optimal for egg laying and hatching and pupating. If you try increasing the humidity while also increasing the temperature, you're asking for mites.

I used to keep my colony in my water heater closet, but it wasn't warm enough. I moved 'em all to shelves beside my wood stove, which is going every day all winter long. So it's easy to keep them warm and happy at around 80F. They go through their cycles at a real good clip at that temp. You could try a heating pad or a grow light to make it warmer for your worms and beetles.

 

[kwol]

I'm using the Sterilite three drawer bin system. The beetle drawer has a piece of window screen glued to the bottom. I keep the drawer below it empty (diverting the contents into another drawer) so I can monitor the egg production on a daily basis.



The moral of the story is my egg production doesn't seem very good. Mid-December I was seeing about 40 eggs on a daily basis. Now, it's about 20 per day. This despite having 100-125 beetles who are active and mating throughout the day. Lower temps indoors (70-75F) and lower humidity due to the furnace running may have something to do with it. I live in a warmer climate though, so the furnace only runs about an hour per day. Definitely drier than the summer months, but not that dry.



I've been providing lots of carrots and apples for the beetles and a sopping wet paper towel on a plastic lid to raise the humidity.



Thoughts/suggestions?

I've had the 3 bin system going on a year now. I let the eggs fall through into the second drawer with the worms and their substrate in it, but I don't monitor egg production.
Initially, I kept the bin in my cool 70 degree home, but felt things were slow so I put the bin next to the stove on the counter top in the kitchen ( DH loved that don't you know!) and I put a heating pad under the bottom drawer for the pupae and covered the whole thing with a towel. The only moisture I ever add is through the veggies/fruit. The beetles are drinking it and eating it.

The increase in Temp is what speed up their metabolism. I wouldn't add anything for humidity but the Fruit/veggies. Keep that substrate dry to avoid problems.

 

[snakes]

Thanks for the advice everyone. What kind of heating pad would you recommend?

 

[Lacy Blues]

One that doesn't shut off after two hours and has low, med, and high settings.

 

[snakes]

One that doesn't shut off after two hours and has low, med, and high settings.

Just to be clear, we're talking about a heating pad designed for humans and not something intended for reptiles or small animals, right?

 

[azygous]

I use a people heating pad without any problems. I put it on the low setting. Since heat rises and the substrate absorbs and holds heat, you don't want it on any higher setting or you'll risk cooking them!

I also use a heating pad to make yogurt. On the medium setting, it gets hot enough to keep the yogurt at 110 degrees. You don't want the substrate getting that hot.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Just to be clear, we're talking about a heating pad designed for humans and not something intended for reptiles or small animals, right?

Yep one for human use. I keep one under my meal worms all the time and its set on low. The populations are not exploding (like I wish) but I'm not having any problems with them. Maybe one of these days I can get them to produce faster! Ugh!

 

[kwol]

Just to be clear, we're talking about a heating pad designed for humans and not something intended for reptiles or small animals, right?

Yep, a people one. Like others have noted, keep it on low.