Mealworm farming

[pinkmartin73]

I separated all my live beetles to a new container today so that the babies in the original container can grow and not be eaten. Hoping there are still lots of eggs in there to hatch as well. I also keep pupas separate. I just go thru every few days and move whoever has changed to the appropriate new home. We are out of actual mealworms. I may order some more. Should I order from a different source this time so they aren't all related? Does that matter as far as keeping them going?

 

[BriardChickens]

Looks like lots of babies at the moment. They must have laid eggs before everything went dormant.

I'll have to update in a few weeks when we have tons of big worms. LOL

 

[pinkmartin73]

Looks like lots of babies at the moment. They must have laid eggs before everything went dormant.   I'll have to update in a few weeks when we have tons of big worms. LOL

That's great. Kinda like when you find money in your coat pocket from last year lol

 

[BriardChickens]

Exactly free money. Hubby's comment was "gross". But then, they survived on their own for 6+ months!! Can't beat that

 

[pinkmartin73]

Exactly. My hubby just ignores the worm farm and hope eventually I grow out of it. He doesn't see the future savings from farming worms. He sees the current expense of setting up the farm and buying worms but not letting the chickens eat them.

 

[pdirt]

Hoping someone can help here!


I moved my 18 month old mealworm colony outside and covered it with chicken wire. It's been out there for about two months now. Recently I'm seeing some rogue invaders... Small fuzzy caterpillar type things. They are about the size of a mealworm. They are brown and have two longer hairs that look like a tail. I can't yet tell if they are a detriment to the colony or not. I still see beetles and mealworms. Anyone know what they might be? I will try to get some pictures of them tomorrow.

Been involuntarily offline for a week+.
Can you post pic of invaders?
Might want to put window screen around mealworm farm?

Thanks, aart. I think it's good to get offline for mental flossing now and then

Well the invaders left as soon as they came. Didn't get a chance to take a pic. I haven't taken the best care of the colony this summer, as I plan to feed out the entire contents before winter. We're in a new place and there isn't a good place to bring the worms indoors to, well, not a place my wife would be happy with!

 

[Kusanar]

I'm impressed with how fast my worms are growing. I hear that people have beetles for a few months before seeing the micro worms, mine, I put 5 beetles (granted, adults already) in my container, in 1 month 2 beetles had died, I still have at least 1 female and 1 male, not sure about #3 beetle, and I had 1/4 inch long worms everywhere. Looks like they are growing a lot faster than most people's on this thread...

 

[Arielle]

Quote: The window screen might work for some invaders . . . .though I think I will be using a finer mesh as I just found fruit flies in the meal worm bin, grrrr, probably attracted by the sliced apples. THanks fot the suggestion on the screen, as I would never have thought of the finer material.

 

[Arielle]

The mealworms arrived just a couple weeks ago now, thanks to Crazy Huhn, and I have a couple questions. The mealworms seem to gather into the corners and cause lots of moiture build up there, with the bran clumping together via mold I suspect. THe center area is covered by an upside down egg carton and covers about 3/4 of the surface area. . .. . Thoughts? SUggestions???

Son is doing the mealworms as a boyscout project.

 

[aart]

The mealworms arrived just a couple weeks ago now, thanks to Crazy Huhn, and I have a couple questions. The mealworms seem to gather into the corners and cause lots of moiture build up there, with the bran clumping together via mold I suspect. THe center area is covered by an upside down egg carton and covers about 3/4 of the surface area. . .. . Thoughts? SUggestions???

Son is doing the mealworms as a boyscout project.

Pull out any wet clumped bran and the apples.
I use carrots in summer, to avoid fruit flies and excess moisture...apples work fine in winter tho when it's dry in the house and no fruit flies around.