Mealworm farming

[brahmabreeder]

I have a few questions for everyone. I just got some wormies this past Saturday and need some 'guidance'.
1) Do the beetles, pupae, and worms have to be separated?
2) When will I be able to harvest?
That's all I have for now, but I'm sure I'll come up with more.

 

[Faerie]

I have a few questions for everyone. I just got some wormies this past Saturday and need some 'guidance'.
1) Do the beetles, pupae, and worms have to be separated?
2) When will I be able to harvest?
That's all I have for now, but I'm sure I'll come up with more.

I have mealies in transit, should get them in a couple days. I know you can separate them, but I plan on just doing mine in one bin. As for harvest time, I have no clue, but I'm sure someone else will answer that for you.

 

[lbrtyldy]

I have a few questions for everyone. I just got some wormies this past Saturday and need some 'guidance'.
1) Do the beetles, pupae, and worms have to be separated?
2) When will I be able to harvest?
That's all I have for now, but I'm sure I'll come up with more.

You don't have to separate them. I do. I harvest worms from my oldest drawer of beetles. I put the pupae in their own drawers then add the newly hatched beetles to my drawer of youngest beetles. I've done different ways and this way seems to be easiest for me at this time.

You can harvest whenever you want. Depends on how many beetles/worms you bought and how many you want to feed out, etc. etc.

Looking at the lifecycle of worm/pupae/beetle can help you figure how you want to do it. You have to let some worms go to pupae so that you can keep the cycle going, but how many is up to your wishes.

 

[stelladvm]

Having several thousand worms, curious how I would separate pupae. I know a bunch of you do. Seeing as I haven't gotten to that stage, it may be self evident when I get there!! Have a great sieve that separates the worms out of the bedding/feed/frass beautifully (Thanks Fred Meyers!)

 

[Faerie]

Got my mealworms today! I ordered some from crazy huhn and I am so pleased! They are all nice and big and I even have a pupae!

 

[sueblack]

Got my mealworms today! I ordered some from crazy huhn and I am so pleased! They are all nice and big and I even have a pupae!  

Happiness is ....... metamorphosis.

Soon you will have pupa popping out in bunches.

 

[crazy huhn]

Got my mealworms today! I ordered some from crazy huhn and I am so pleased! They are all nice and big and I even have a pupae!  

Glad to see that they have all arrived safe and sound. Congratulations on your first pupae. You should soon have plenty to get your little meal worm farm of to a good start. And keep in mind that I have added a lot of Extras for your chickens to feast on right away....

 

[brahmabreeder]

How long does it take for pupae to hatch? I found my first one today!

 

[chrissyr]

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?

Hi @lenjac
I find that when i want to transfer them also seems to be the time I need to add more bran.I'm not sure if it's that they just love the toast or they're hungry. So instead of adding bran, I put a small pice of toast. I toast it because of the same reasons for heating bran. the mites. not sure if that's even an issue, but makes me feel better. I use maybe a half slice, then take the toast over to the new bin and brush them off. There may be some little worms on the toast, but i try to just brush off the beetles.
I use small pieces because I found that everyone LOVES the toast. But I don't want a big piece to mold before it's all eaten up. You do need to watch that.
In just a little bit i start getting LOTS of beetles on the toast.
I've had mealies for almost a year, and I still hate touching the beetles. So this works for me.

 

[sueblack]

I use the bottom half of cardboard egg cartons to transfer beetles. They love clinging to the underside. I have to do this a few times over 2 days but it beats other methods I have tried. Also, I put a piece of carrot under the egg cartons which helps attract them there. There are always a few stragglers but I get 95% moved this way.