Mealworm farming

[Peep-Chicken]

Is it okay to use oats for the bedding in the cages? I don't have wheat bran.

 

[Sahwithchicks]

 

[Peep-Chicken]

I saw those in a old trailer around here... Not sure what they are though.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I have a quick question, hopefully you guys can answer it!
I received my order of 5k mealworms today from rainbow worms... I am really happy with the order. I found 2 beetles, one promptly flew off so I guess if wasn't the right kind. I also have found 5 of these guys. Does anyone know what they are? They have hair, 6 legs, light colored bellies, dark brown backs with a light colored broken strip.

They are dermestid beetle larvae. Pull them out as you find them.

 

[Sahwithchicks]

They are dermestid beetle larvae.  Pull them out as you find them.

Thank you. I went through allllllll of them... only found 5. Also found one pupae. I am going to give the one last beetle to the birds. It isn't going to do me much good.

Thanks again!

 

[Southguy]

I LOVE this thread! I just started my first mealworm colony with 1,000 of the little guys just over 2 weeks ago

. After the beetles lay their eggs, how many new mealies should we expect in the new batch? Thanks in advance!

 

[Latestarter]

I LOVE this thread! I just started my first mealworm colony with 1,000 of the little guys just over 2 weeks ago

. After the beetles lay their eggs, how many new mealies should we expect in the new batch? Thanks in advance!

Very loaded question... the "average" beetle will lay 150 (200) to 300 (500) eggs over a period of 1 (2) to 3 (5) months. The eggs will "incubate" for 3 (7) to 14 (21) days before they hatch. When they do hatch, the new worms (larva) will be danged near microscopic and will be near impossible to see with the naked eye. As the other eggs begin to hatch and the new larva become more numerous, you will have evidence of their presence by seeing the substrate (wheat bran - harder to see with oats as they are heavier and harder to move) "heaving" or moving with no visible mover present... There will also be more and more visible cast off exoskeletons... the larva (worms) will shed their outer shells up to 14 times as they mature.

So, if you have really poor luck and have all male beetles, you'll get no eggs.

At the other end if you get all female beetles, you'll get no fertilized eggs.

If you hit the lottery and have 1 male and 999 females, you have the potential for 499,500 babies

More realistically, lets say a 50/50 split of male female, and.. but wait, lets step back a bit...

Of the 1000 worms you got, if you bought from a reputable source should actually number more like 1200.

Now, of those 1200, you can figure to lose 15% for any variety of reasons, leaving you with 1020 worms to successfully pupate.

Of those 1020 pupa, you will lose ~ 10% for a variety of reasons leaving you 918 beetles.

Now, of those 918 beetles, approximately 7% will be mal-formed and not viable for breeding and another 3% will be gay,

leaving 826.2 (lets leave off the .2 beetle as well) or 826.

Now if THOSE are a 50/50 split male/female, then you will have 413 egg layers producing.

Now if they each lay the best case 500 eggs, you'll be looking at 206,500 eggs laid over a 1-5 month period. It would be more realistic to expect about 1/2 that or 103,250 eggs laid over a 2-3 month period. BUT... some of those eggs will not be viable for any variety of reasons, so expect a 15% loss there leaving 87,762.5 eggs. I can pretty much guarantee that .5 egg won't be viable either, so leave it at 87,762 viable eggs.

Now, when these eggs hatch, you will loose some of the "newborns" for a variety of reasons, so figure 10% of the new worms aren't going to make it.

So after it's all said and done, you will have exactly 78,986.25 worms at the end of 3 months.

Now... if you really DID start out with 1000 worms, then all the math I just shared would be substantially off... And now you may

me

Edited to say

and welcome to the thread! Happy worming!

 

[Sidhe13]

@Latestarter good maths! And a nice realistic breakdown. Kudos to you!

 

[Cluckies]

So I started my farm in October/November with 500 worms, then added 500 in December (they seemed to have alot of die off, they were from pet smart), then 1000 in February from amazon. I've seen beatles for months, and months, and months. I do not see larvae any more, or even pupa. They seem to do great making it to beetle stage then??? I've been doing them all in one container, should I do the split container Idea? I want this to be as low maintenance as possible. I will say that our home is fairly cool through the winter and the rest of the year, probably averages between 65-70, can the larvae live in this temp? Any ideas would be appreciated. I give them slices of apple and carrot every 2-3 days. here is a photo, there are alot of beetles under the half toilet paper rolls as well, the larvae I do see appear to be black and dead probably from that pet smart 500:

 

[Latestarter]

First off Cluckies... what is the substrate you have them living in? I can't make it out... You should be using wheat bran as a first choice, rolled oats (oatmeal) as a 2nd choice. Also, a temp of less than 75 is not exactly ideal... they prefer around 80. Having said that... they can survive at 65-70, but it slows everything down drastically. it will take a long time for eggs to be laid, to hatch and for the larva to grow. I do see some what looks like mature worms that are black and dessicated... That generally happens from a lack of moisture... There's no need to make it more complex... it's just gonna take more time because the temp is so low.