Mealworm farming

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
I'm reluctant to offer advice or answer questions about the multiple bin method of raising mealworms because I don't have any experience doing it that way, but I think chrissyr is right about the pupae needing some humidity to avoid desiccation. It's not a problem in a single bin system because they're surrounded by the vegetables. It couldn't hurt to put a few carrots in to see if it helps.

 

[southernblubird]

Thanks for the input. I went to add carrots to the pupae tray and found three beetles pretty cool

 

[Lacy Blues]

 

[lenjac]

Hi all,
I would like to master the use of a sieve, (containing the beetles),in order to have a consistent worm size.

Could anyone advise me as to how often the sieve is moved to a new box and the use of a water source (carrot) for the beetle?
If the beetles lay eggs on the carrot, could they be eating their own eggs? What is the best substrate to use? I have oat bran and maize meal which falls thru quite quickly.

Hope this makes sense and hope someone can help,thanks,
Jacqui

 

[sueblack]

...

Hi all,

I would like to master the use of a sieve, (containing the beetles),in order to have a consistent worm size.

Could anyone advise me as to how often the sieve is moved to a new box and the use of a water source (carrot) for the beetle?

If the beetles lay eggs on the carrot, could they be eating their own eggs? What is the best substrate to use? I have oat bran and maize meal which falls thru quite quickly.

Hope this makes sense and hope someone can help,thanks,

Jacqui
[/quote

I move my beetles once per week and use carrots. I have found carrots to be less problematic thanvother foods. What size wire are you using for your sieve?

 

[lenjac]

Quote:
So, the carrot goes into the sieve with the beetles and apparently no or few eggs are lost thru the beetles chowing down on the carrot?
Sieve holes are 1 mm which is why I bought maize meal as it falls thru very readily. Don't know if I'm doing thins efficiently or not.
Thanks for the reply.

 

[chrissyr]

Hi all,
I would like to master the use of a sieve, (containing the beetles),in order to have a consistent worm size.

Could anyone advise me as to how often the sieve is moved to a new box and the use of a water source (carrot) for the beetle?
If the beetles lay eggs on the carrot, could they be eating their own eggs? What is the best substrate to use? I have oat bran and maize meal which falls thru quite quickly.

Hope this makes sense and hope someone can help,thanks,
Jacqui

Do you mean you put the beetles in some sort of netting pouch? And then feed them in it to transfer from different bins? I would love to see pics?
To change my beetles i wait till i give them their veggies but the best thing is toast. I put a piece of toast in there and they swarm to it. usually takes a couple of days to gather them all.

 

[lenjac]

Do you mean you put the beetles in some sort of netting pouch? And then feed them in it to transfer from different bins? I would love to see pics?
To change my beetles i wait till i give them their veggies but the best thing is toast. I put a piece of toast in there and they swarm to it. usually takes a couple of days to gather them all.

I assume the pros use a sieve (round caterers sieve with 4" high straight stainless steel walls and fine mesh in the bottom) Apparently they move the sieve, say weekly, to a new tray of substrate, thereby having trays with a consistent size of worm. Can't send a pic as I failed trying this method and went back to all in together which means they need to be sorted...extremely slow and tedious.
Do you find that the worms are also attracted to the toast and therefore are having to pick them off?

 

[stelladvm]

How to know if my worms are over crowded?? I ordered 8000, and have them in several containers. They seem content, but I have read about them dying if over crowded. Also, do most of you remove the molted skin/dead worms or leave them?? Think I am going to go the one container method as opposed to separating out age groups as that has seemed to workout for Gallo del Cielo and appears as though he has been doing it as long as anybody!! (And less work!)

 

[crazy huhn]

How big are your containers? A sterlite shoe box size container can be sufficient for 8000 tiny worms, but as they grow into larger size, I use the large size underbed sweater boxes. If overcrowded, the worms will have an odor and be on top of your bran. It is not necessary to clean out the frass or any dead worms. It actually seems that the worm colony cleans that up by itself. I just add fresh bran if needed.