Mealworm farming

[GCMealworms]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your colony. We have about 90,000 now headed into the millions and I would hate if that happened. That would be several years of work down the drain. We always keep the bins open, only put a few pieces of potato or carrot in the bin at a time and do not allow the bins to become over crowded with worms. This all helps to keep the moisture level down.

 

[Lynn Manes]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your colony.   We have about 90,000 now headed into the millions and I would hate if that happened.   That would be several years of work down the drain.   We always keep the bins open, only put a few pieces of potato or carrot in the bin at a time and do not allow the bins to become over crowded with worms.   This all helps to keep the moisture level down.

Thank you for the sentiment and advise. Yes at 90,000 that would definitely be a devastating loss . We'll be starting over soon.

 

[Lynn Manes]

how did you get too much moisture?  just wanna learn. thanks

I usually had placed only a few small carrot pieces in the bin. But I had alot of apparently way too wet carrot scrapings, and my birds and rabbits are too fussy to eat them. So I thought the mealworms would like them. Obviously I must have put way too many in the bin. The moisture built up and pretty much soaked everything. I didn't tend to them every day, and that's why it happened. Next time I'll know better. What a big waste over my own ignorance.

 

[Cluckies]

I've recently had alot of die off in my farm, I used a 10 gallon aquarium, I started with 500 worms in October 2014, then added 500 in November, then 1000 worms in February 2015, every thing was going great until about a month ago, then everything started dying, big worms, little worms, pupa, beetles. The only thing I think might have been going on was they got too crowded maybe? last week I bought 2 big totes, maybe 18" by 30". I separated the beetles from the worms and put them in the bins with new wheat bran which i froze for 24 hours as usual. Is there any other reason besides over crowding that I would have alot of die off suddenly? Since i put them in the new totes, i've not had much die off, only a couple worms and maybe a dozen beetles, but they may have just been at that age... oh yeah, I give apple slices every other day or every day if needed and I take out the old slices when I add new. it is very dry in there so the old apples are usually dried out at that time.

 

[lovemealworms]

I've recently had alot of die off in my farm, I used a 10 gallon aquarium, I started with 500 worms in October 2014, then added 500 in November, then 1000 worms in February 2015, every thing was going great until about a month ago, then everything started dying, big worms, little worms, pupa, beetles. The only thing I think might have been going on was they got too crowded maybe? last week I bought 2 big totes, maybe 18" by 30". I separated the beetles from the worms and put them in the bins with new wheat bran which i froze for 24 hours as usual. Is there any other reason besides over crowding that I would have alot of die off suddenly?  Since i put them in the new totes, i've not had much die off, only a couple worms and maybe a dozen beetles, but they may have just been at that age... oh yeah,  I give apple slices every other day or every day if needed and I take out the old slices when I add new. it is very dry in there so the old apples are usually dried out at that time.  

ok i got a few questions that the answers can help figure it out. How often are you sifting out frass and adding new grain. Why are you feeding them apples. How many are in there, about how many cups worth. What temperature are they at. Hope this doesnt seem too nosy. Trying to help.

 

[azygous]

Regarding die-offs, it's very discouraging when that happens, and it can happen to anyone.

I find that worms and beetles do much better if kept in shallow trays instead of deep totes and aquariums, with not more than two or three inches of substrate. I certainly would avoid containers of substrate that are a foot deep or more.

I sift out the substrate after the worms are about a month to six weeks old, washing out the tray and adding new bran. I then sift through the frass to find any tiny worms that hatched late. Sometimes I'll find thirty to fifty that are about an eighth of and inch long.

Massive die-offs can occur when there are too many beetles and worms and not enough to eat. Fungus can kill, too. That's why I only use carrots for my moisture source. Beetles are even more likely to die-off when things get too crowded or too many dead beetles are left in with the live ones. The dead beetles give off a very putrid odor if allowed to pile up. Chickens love them so don't just toss out the dead bugs.

As far as freezing to kill mite eggs, that's risky. I've even had mites survive microwaving. Now I heat the bran in the oven at 300 degrees F for a minimum of twenty minutes, turning off the oven and letting it cool inside the oven.

There's nothing worse than mites in your worms, and although they don't really harm the worms, when the mites go walk-about on the shelves and floor beneath the worm trays, it's a tad embarrassing. I had a house guest one time when that happened, and I was lucky he was so understanding and not squeamish since I keep the worm colony in the living room.

You can increase surface area and give the colony more living space as well as more to eat by adding square sheets of newspaper. Worms especially like folder paper to gather in between just prior to pupating, and it makes it super easy to collect them to feed to your chickens.

 

[Cluckies]

Quote: I added new wheat bran every 3 weeks or so, sifted frass only every 2 or 3 months. I thought you could feed them apples for liquid (drinking) How many worms and beetles? Not very many any more, maybe 200 worms, 25 pupae, and in a different bin 30 beetles maybe? Before the die off, probably 4 or 5 thousand worms, a couple hundred beetles? I was feeding about 30 a day to my birds this fall when they were molting, before the die off.
They are now at approx. 75, although I did have it up to about 80-85 for 3 or 4 weeks before I had the die off. so now I cooled it down a bit. I was wondering if maybe it got to dry in there? it was pretty dry in that room due to the higher heat. I've noticed some of the pupae now, are deformed when they are becoming beetles, like they can't make it out of the pupae shell or something... The apples are usually dry the next day, or after 2 days, then I replace it.

Regarding die-offs, it's very discouraging when that happens, and it can happen to anyone.

I find that worms and beetles do much better if kept in shallow trays instead of deep totes and aquariums, with not more than two or three inches of substrate. I certainly would avoid containers of substrate that are a foot deep or more.

I sift out the substrate after the worms are about a month to six weeks old, washing out the tray and adding new bran. I then sift through the frass to find any tiny worms that hatched late. Sometimes I'll find thirty to fifty that are about an eighth of and inch long.

Massive die-offs can occur when there are too many beetles and worms and not enough to eat. Fungus can kill, too. That's why I only use carrots for my moisture source. Beetles are even more likely to die-off when things get too crowded or too many dead beetles are left in with the live ones. The dead beetles give off a very putrid odor if allowed to pile up. Chickens love them so don't just toss out the dead bugs.

As far as freezing to kill mite eggs, that's risky. I've even had mites survive microwaving. Now I heat the bran in the oven at 300 degrees F for a minimum of twenty minutes, turning off the oven and letting it cool inside the oven.

There's nothing worse than mites in your worms, and although they don't really harm the worms, when the mites go walk-about on the shelves and floor beneath the worm trays, it's a tad embarrassing. I had a house guest one time when that happened, and I was lucky he was so understanding and not squeamish since I keep the worm colony in the living room.

You can increase surface area and give the colony more living space as well as more to eat by adding square sheets of newspaper. Worms especially like folder paper to gather in between just prior to pupating, and it makes it super easy to collect them to feed to your chickens.

Thanks, I'll put the bran in the oven from now on. I've not seen any mites, but then I don't know what they look like, but i've not noticed any odd bugs at all. I did keep the old frass/bran in the aquarium as there are tons of tiny worms in there that I can't sift out yet as they are too small, as they get bigger i'll add them to the worm bin. (I did sift out the dead worms and beetles, and live worms and beetles that were bigger).

 

[azygous]

Yes, your problem could have been substrate that was much too dry. Do you have vented lids on the containers? I live in a hugely arid climate, even worse in winter. I add carrots every other day, and I feel the substrate with my fingers to keep it, not wet or damp, but ever so slightly moist. The lids help keep in the moisture.

You can keep using apples as long as you're watching very closely for mold. I like carrots because they won't mold as easily.

If your dead worms were black and dry, then they might have died of thirst. The same goes for pupae turning into beetles. I get more deformed beetles when it's too dry. But you don't want too much moisture that you're inviting mold which will kill as fast as too dry conditions. What were you using to keep them warm? I've found that direct heat may create a hot spot that gets way too hot and will kill the worms. I now use tubs of hot water under my trays instead of the electric warmers I used to have.

If you have any mosquito netting, I find that I can stretch it over the strainer and it will let the frass through, but not the small fry larvae.

 

[Cluckies]

Yes, your problem could have been substrate that was much too dry. Do you have vented lids on the containers? I live in a hugely arid climate, even worse in winter. I add carrots every other day, and I feel the substrate with my fingers to keep it, not wet or damp, but ever so slightly moist. The lids help keep in the moisture.

You can keep using apples as long as you're watching very closely for mold. I like carrots because they won't mold as easily.

If your dead worms were black and dry, then they might have died of thirst. The same goes for pupae turning into beetles. I get more deformed beetles when it's too dry. But you don't want too much moisture that you're inviting mold which will kill as fast as too dry conditions. What were you using to keep them warm? I've found that direct heat may create a hot spot that gets way too hot and will kill the worms. I now use tubs of hot water under my trays instead of the electric warmers I used to have.

If you have any mosquito netting, I find that I can stretch it over the strainer and it will let the frass through, but not the small fry larvae.

I did not have lids on the containers. I was using the forced air furnace, opened the duct wide, shut most others in the house, I also used a seedling mat under the aquarium to try and increase the heat, I shut it off after they started dying, but then they just kept dying, I didn't know if it was coincidence or not

I think I may have just had a perfect storm of heat, dryness, and over crowding... yes, the worms turned black and dry when they died. do you put the tubs onto a heating mat or pad to keep it warm? or do you only keep the tubs under there until they cool?
Thanks for all your guys' help!

 

[jacobashearer]

I want to start meal worm farming for my chickens how to i start?