Mealworm farming

[Ol Grey Mare]

Just sitting here moving today's beetles from the pupa bin....175 new beetles since yesterday. Retiring a beetle bin at the end of this week, birds will enjoy that.

 

[igorsMistress]

I decided one bin was enough. I'm not doing the separation thing...too much hassle. Bought 1000 baby worms from Petco and have another 1000 medium worms being shipped. Using bran and added carrots, cucumber slices and a piece of kale.

 

[Noy]

I decided one bin was enough. I'm not doing the separation thing...too much hassle. Bought 1000 baby worms from Petco and have another 1000 medium worms being shipped. Using bran and added carrots, cucumber slices and a piece of kale.

That's what I'm doing, too.
Have 500 in a smallish, covered plastic drawer. Most of those have turned or are turning into pupae already - just a few days after we got them!

And I have 500 more in the fridge, I take them out to let them eat once a week for a day, and in a few weeks I'll take them out and let them finish developing, too.

BTW, when you see yours not really moving anymore - but they'll flinch when you touch them- they getting ready to turn to a pupae! So don't think they're dead and feed them to your birds

 

[igorsMistress]

That's what I'm doing, too.
Have 500 in a smallish, covered plastic drawer. Most of those have turned or are turning into pupae already - just a few days after we got them!

And I have 500 more in the fridge, I take them out to let them eat once a week for a day, and in a few weeks I'll take them out and let them finish developing, too.

BTW, when you see yours not really moving anymore - but they'll flinch when you touch them- they getting ready to turn to a pupae! So don't think they're dead and feed them to your birds

I have 10 lbs of BSFL to feed out until winter, not planning much worm harvesting until then. Hopefully I'll have a terrarium I can set up with a reptile heater to keep them active by that time.

Last time I farmed I did the 3 drawer thing but it was such a PITA I quit and just fed it to my flock over a few days.

 

[Kusanar]

Mine are all together right now. Mostly beetles at the moment. I don't heat mine in the winter, so mine are pretty seasonal, the beetles aren't as cold hardy as the worms so they all die off in the fall, then the worms slow way down over the winter and there is a beetle explosion in the spring when everyone warms up and decides to pupate at the same time.

Last year they had bran flakes, so now they have the left over bran flakes from last year and I put a box of cheerios in this spring, all of the cereal plus the box. It's kind of funny, the beetles climb the box, the worms go in the box to pupate, and the larva stay in the food at the bottom of the box.

I have an idea to make a moisture hut for them to go in and pupate as well as to go drink (I don't provide wet food, they get all of their moisture from the humidity) but I have not tried it yet to see if it will work.

 

[Noy]

I have an idea to make a moisture hut for them to go in and pupate as well as to go drink (I don't provide wet food, they get all of their moisture from the humidity) but I have not tried it yet to see if it will work.

Curios about this drinking hut!

Update on mine:
Lots of pupa, and lots of new beetles. Some of them have damaged wings - not sure if it's from being damaged (bitten?) by the others, or because of trouble during the growth process. I'm thinking the latter...

Just a few worms left, looking happy and active in one corner while the beetles are mostly under a piece of cardboard.

Hoping they continue to do well!

 

[igorsMistress]

It's been almost a month, I had to come in here and find out because I couldn't remember. I happened to be checking out the bin when I saw a beetle just beginning to hatch...kinda cool I've never seen that before. Lots of pupae in there, plenty of worms and I caught some beetles doing their thing.

I've been giving apples mostly for moisture and a few carrots, potatoes didn't go over well. There's several layers of newspaper in there and bugs/worms are between them all.

 

[Noy]

It's been almost a month, I had to come in here and find out because I couldn't remember. I happened to be checking out the bin when I saw a beetle just beginning to hatch...kinda cool I've never seen that before. Lots of pupae in there, plenty of worms and I caught some beetles doing their thing.

I've been giving apples mostly for moisture and a few carrots, potatoes didn't go over well. There's several layers of newspaper in there and bugs/worms are between them all.

That's great! I was just coming to update, as well: I finally saw baby worms! Yay!
So now there's lots of beetles, and some big worms and a lot of baby worms.
I gave them basil the last few days - they are loving it!

I also have a second container with some beetles I collected in the barn after I moved the chicks to the run, and I want to set up - maybe- a third container, with the rest of the worms that are still in my fridge.

How many worms would you put in a container the size of a shoe box? I'm worried about over crowding them, but don't really want to run 3 containers

 

[igorsMistress]

That's great! I was just coming to update, as well: I finally saw baby worms! Yay!
So now there's lots of beetles, and some big worms and a lot of baby worms.
I gave them basil the last few days - they are loving it!

I also have a second container with some beetles I collected in the barn after I moved the chicks to the run, and I want to set up - maybe- a third container, with the rest of the worms that are still in my fridge.

How many worms would you put in a container the size of a shoe box? I'm worried about over crowding them, but don't really want to run 3 containers

Basil huh? I haven't tried that but celery tops are popular with the beetles so far. I'll try some herbs this weekend.

I put 1000 worms in a bin the size of maybe 3 or 4 shoe boxes. I'm not harvesting any right now just letting them multiply and I feel like there's plenty of room. Add a few layers of newspaper. It gives them floor space...think of it as a bug condo. I crumpled a thin stack just a bit so there's space between the pages and there are beetles and worms everywhere in it.

ETA way back in this thread there were pics of a 10 gallon aquarium with a thick carpet of mealworms in it so don't worry about crowding. How many worms do you have?

 

[malagabara]

Hello worm-farmers! Newbie here.

I started with about 1000 three weeks ago and had to leave town for 10 days (the worms were an unexpected gift) I placed them in a small drawer set with oats and two veggies per drawer, upon my return it was full of mold, now I'm sorting the live ones to a clean container and starting over.

Here are my questions:
1.What can I use to reduce moisture?
2.Should I worry about feeding this colony to the hens because of the mold?
3.Anybody using water crystals? Are they easier than dealing with veggies?
4. Any tricks to make sorting easier?

Thanks for your help! I'm excited about this farm.