Mealworm farming

[kubotafoot]

Rainbow mealworms at Amazon.com is the best price I could find. They shipped well and I had a lot of different life stages from them, just what I wanted to start to grow, myself. I did tell them when I bought I was NOT feeding them out at the start, but wanted to grow a colony, so perhaps they have different packages for different needs. Worth a try to tell them what you are looking for as different stages are great for raising.
I feed mainly potato peels, carrots and thin slices of squash. They loved banana peels but they attracted fruit flies.

 

[Heardy]

Hi there. New to BYC and mealworm farming. I'm just wondering if anyone has come across this with their beetles?

It is like they have been eaten or dried up. About a quater of my new batch of beetles have it... :/

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Hi there. New to BYC and mealworm farming. I'm just wondering if anyone has come across this with their beetles?





It is like they have been eaten or dried up. About a quater of my new batch of beetles have it...

I've occasionally seen this, but I'm not entirely sure what causes it. That about 1/4 of them appear this way seems very unusual. Are you raising them in a single bin or a separating pupae from the larvae in multiple bins?

 

[Heardy]

I am raising them in a single bin but as this is the first generation there is only beetles in the bin at the moment.It is quite dry here at the moment but they are in a substrate of rolled oats with apple for moisture so I don't see why they would feed on each other. I have even added a wet sponge on a plastic lid to see f that makes a difference.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I am raising them in a single bin but as this is the first generation there is only beetles in the bin at the moment.It is quite dry here at the moment but they are in a substrate of rolled oats with apple for moisture so I don't see why they would feed on each other. I have even added a wet sponge on a plastic lid to see f that makes a difference.

Sounds good. Try to get some wheat bran if you can to add to the rolled oats. Also, make sure you have consistent access to moist vegetable/fruits. More frequent feedings of very thinly sliced potatoes or apples would be better than less frequent feedings of thicker chunks.

 

[pdirt]

 
I am raising them in a single bin but as this is the first generation there is only beetles in the bin at the moment.It is quite dry here at the moment but they are in a substrate of rolled oats with apple for moisture so I don't see why they would feed on each other. I have even added a wet sponge on a plastic lid to see f that makes a difference. 

Sounds good.  Try to get some wheat bran if you can to add to the rolled oats.  Also, make sure you have consistent access to moist vegetable/fruits.  More frequent feedings of very thinly sliced potatoes or apples would be better than less frequent feedings of thicker chunks.

I made the mistake of not feeding vegetables often enough at first. I had a huge die off in the summer (about 75f) when they must've been trying to multiply and I was a bit too lax about offering veggies. Now that I am feeding more regularly (whole carrots), they are thriving, even in the 68F temps. The larvae are much plumper and active. In one section of the bin they go through two entire large carrots in about 4 days. Other sections are slower and after about 4-5 days I put in fresh carrots because the previous ones have dried out some. Having enough moist veggies seems to make a big difference. I agree, also add some wheat bran, they love the stuff.

 

[kubotafoot]

When I first started to farm, I fed a carrot or two or some potato skins now and then. They grew, but when I started putting in A LOT more vegetables (I slice them thin so they get the juice out easier) they thrived. Never knew hydration was so important to their growth.

 

[azygous]

I'm experiencing, what appears to be, a larger than normal beetle die-off. No sign of mold. The substrate is rolled oats. They get whole baby carrots every few days so always have a moisture supply.

I'm thinking they're just too many of them in the two small drawer stacks. They are kept separate from the larva, and the third drawer in the stack catches the eggs which I transfer to a growing bin as soon as I notice movement.

In the growing bin, as soon as the pupa hatch into beetles, they get transferred to the beetle drawers. There are now quite a few beetles, so I am wondering if over-crowding causes die-off.

Might it be a good idea to create larger beetle bins?

 

[aart]

I'm experiencing, what appears to be, a larger than normal beetle die-off. No sign of mold. The substrate is rolled oats. They get whole baby carrots every few days so always have a moisture supply.

I'm thinking they're just too many of them in the two small drawer stacks. They are kept separate from the larva, and the third drawer in the stack catches the eggs which I transfer to a growing bin as soon as I notice movement.

In the growing bin, as soon as the pupa hatch into beetles, they get transferred to the beetle drawers. There are now quite a few beetles, so I am wondering if over-crowding causes die-off.

Might it be a good idea to create larger beetle bins?

Maybe...are you sure they are just not at the end of their time?
It's hard to keep track of 'ages' as the reproduction and hatching rates cover a wide range.
Do you keep them warm?

 

[azygous]

I thought maybe that was it - they were just getting old. But I've had beetles live far longer, it seems, than they now are. Yes, they are kept around 75 degrees.

I'm going to go ahead and build them a larger condo and see if it results in less die-off.