Mealworm farming

[Lacy Blues]

Hehehehe Showed my mom my mealies. First.. I got her reading this thread, she's Momma T somewhere on this site.. Second, you guys have her all excited about the idea of mealies (thanks!!!). Third she's was all cool and gross when she got a look at them. I have FIVE shed skins and there was a freshly shedded mealie when we took a peek. I call her Mildred

She's been reading enough that she wants a three drawer set-uo, but not the skinny drawer, the longer, wider drawer. Mom asks, is there anyway to increase mealie space in the same size?
Umm, yes, mom. I can cut a drawer in half, and put a bottom on, either screening, or I can cut thin acrylic and silicone glue it in place. That would give 3 double drawers per unit, and if we screen, adults in the top, feed the chickens we DO NOT yet have from the ones that fall to the bottom.
Mom says OK, cool, we're going to have to do this.

All I can say is thank goodness I desensitized my mother to bugs over 30 years ago when I was a wee thing bringing home creepy crawlies in my pockets, lol. Can you imagine the kind of training I would have had to do with her had I not put the effort in as a kid?

Your mother? or your wormie?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Hehehehe Showed my mom my mealies. First.. I got her reading this thread, she's Momma T somewhere on this site.. Second, you guys have her all excited about the idea of mealies (thanks!!!). Third she's was all cool and gross when she got a look at them. I have FIVE shed skins and there was a freshly shedded mealie when we took a peek. I call her Mildred

She's been reading enough that she wants a three drawer set-uo, but not the skinny drawer, the longer, wider drawer. Mom asks, is there anyway to increase mealie space in the same size?
Umm, yes, mom. I can cut a drawer in half, and put a bottom on, either screening, or I can cut thin acrylic and silicone glue it in place. That would give 3 double drawers per unit, and if we screen, adults in the top, feed the chickens we DO NOT yet have from the ones that fall to the bottom.
Mom says OK, cool, we're going to have to do this.

All I can say is thank goodness I desensitized my mother to bugs over 30 years ago when I was a wee thing bringing home creepy crawlies in my pockets, lol. Can you imagine the kind of training I would have had to do with her had I not put the effort in as a kid?

Hehehe! Loved this post, i am still laughing! My moms worst experience with me was snakes. I sooooo loved em! I had caught several, talking dozens here!

The little black and white garter snakes. Hid them in my dresser drawer with tons of nightcrawlers. Welllll... mom had a major surgery, had been released and was on the couch watching a movie and resting. We had a spiral staircase that was in the corner of the living room. She looked up to see snakes running down the staircase

I was outside playing and heard shrieks and screams, then my dad comes out and grabs me up. uh ohh. OOOOOOH did i ever get the paddle for that oh man

She thought she was hallucinating, or dying then remembered who her kid was.

Lacy Blues, thanks for letting me know about my link. Photobucket won't show me the public link for some reason, so here are the pics directly.














I keep trying to get a short video of the aquarium roiling but my camera keeps crapping out on me.

awesome pictures! Its addictive isn't it! I just keep adding more too, i really like the 3 drawers.

 

[krscha]

meal worms are also great for fishing too!!!

 

[bilder]

Oh great! Another project that will make my friends think I am half crazy.

Think more research is needed, but in the meantime I will start to scrounge up the parts required.

 

[azygous]

I've been raising meal worms for a year, and enjoy the little buggers immensely. But I discovered the trays are infested with mites. I tossed the tray where the infestation originated (from introducing used tea leaves that were too damp).

How can I get rid of the lice in my other trays of beetles and worms? Or am I SOL?

 

[Tomtommom]

I would try and sift the worms and beatles out of the substrate and toss it.

My hermit crabs used to get mites and bathing them in salt water (aquarium ocean salt) did the trick... Not sure how mealworms feel about salt water.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I've been raising meal worms for a year, and enjoy the little buggers immensely. But I discovered the trays are infested with mites. I tossed the tray where the infestation originated (from introducing used tea leaves that were too damp).

How can I get rid of the lice in my other trays of beetles and worms? Or am I SOL?

I haven't dealt with the problem yet, but here's what i have seen in the threads. Drop your humidity get it down low probably like 20%, start a new clean bin. move all you can of all stages. if you have somewhere dry to store the rest of them, really dry and warm you could save whats left. the intruders, most of them die off from low humidity. Wish you the best of luck, i know its got to be frustrating.

.

 

[nxb161]

i enjoy this thread a lot. i wanted to tell you about my mother-inlaw. She comes over a couple times a week to watch our little one. My wife had told her we're getting mealworms. We had venison marinating in the fridge, and she goes "are those the mealie worms?" Then yesterday I had my BOSS fodder that was just starting to sprout on my counter. She was asking my wife if those were the "mealie worms" I guess my wife finally took her to the other room to show her the mealworms so she'd know what they look like .

So we're only had them for a week, and I have 3 containers with wheat bran and one with oat bran. I noticed right away that the wheat bran mealworms dug right in, and the ones in the oat bran didn't bury themselves at all. I checked on them a little bit ago, and still none of the oat bran worms went under, they're all on the top. The oat brans is a little finer than the wheat, so maybe it is just to hard for them? I was worried about them, but after comparing them to the other containers, they actually look "nicer' I guess time will tell.

 

[eveready]

i'm about to start a mealworm farm. this question is probably very dumb. -- can i buy frozen mealworms to start with or do i need to buy live mealworms? thanks

 

[azygous]

Gee, thanks so much for the responses on how to deal with mites. I've pretty much decided to do a thorough house cleaning. And yes, I have noticed that humidity is the big factor here. It was introducing the contents of used tea bags that set this whole nightmare in motion.

Regarding the above post where you noticed the worms in the oat bran are lying on top. I've read that worms will do that when there's a mite infestation. Look very closely to the lid and sides of that container. If you see what appears to be white 'dust', look even closer. If they're moving, they're mites.

From now on, I'm only using wheat bran or grain that has been microwaved beforehand. These mites are miserable. I can only imagine how uncomfortable the worms are, since they will suck on them for their moisture.