Mealworm farming

[Mavrk]

I'd estimate it's 2in deep and they've been in it 2 weeks. Does it need changed already?

No, just let them be. It might take time for them to go lower or they may stay on top. No problem with that.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

How do you know if you have mites in with your worms>???

Can you see them?

Also if you do have mites can they transfer to your chickens?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Is it going to make a difference if you do overcook the bran. Its not burnt. just a little darker?

if its not burnt its ok, I just cook it like 20 min at 250 in the oven.

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[Chaneys Ranch]

They're baaack! The grain mites have reared their ugly, little, microscopic heads again in my worm trays.

I had succeeded in killing them off a few weeks back by leaving the lid off the offending tray and letting the substrate dry out near my wood stove. This morning, I sifted the castings out of that tray and another containing much older worms that I've been feeding to the chickens. After sifting the two trays, I combined the two populations since there weren't many left of the older worms. Then I filled the tray with fresh wheat bran that had been both microwaved and then kept in the freezer for over a week.

Just now, I noticed two, dime-size white "blooms" on the sides of the tray in opposite corners. I checked it through a magnifying lens and yes, they all have eight legs and are in motion. I moistened a tissue with some rubbing alcohol and wiped off the blooms, then left the lid off the tray by the wood stove for another drying out, although the substrate seems perfectly dry.

So, microwaving AND freezing appears not to be a curative, because they wasted no time in appearing.

UGH dry them out again... I like baking the stuff better. That stinks

I tried to read through as much as I possibly could but didn't see it. Where do I get the bedding for the worms?

your feed supply store should have it. I got mine at tractor supply.

So my worms are always on the top of the bran along the sides of my container (it's a storage tub with lid that I cut vents in). Is this normal??

yep! they like the corners

 

[LaBella]

Just sharing my progress.... I have reached page FOUR HUNDRED!!!!!!!
Most of my larvae have pupated, I have a few that are being greedy, and eating everything while the others get down to the business of becoming adults.
Dratted teens, looks like they're the same whether they're humans or bugs.

The beetles have made little "love shacks in the chunks...
See, I decided to feed them water by dribbling about a teaspoon on their substrate. It worked for me, lol. The the worms tunneled in the solidified hunks of wheat germ, and not the beetles are living in those tunnels, having evicted the worms. Very fascinating.

 

[erinszoo]

I've been doing this for a couple of months now but I just have them in a single container instead of the drawers. I'm planning on making a drawer system this summer when I have upped my population some as I only started with 250. They have all pupated and laid eggs which have hatched and are growing again so I guess I'm being successful at this. It has provided endless fascination for my cats who love to lay beside the tank and watch the worms wiggling around. The only thing odd that I've been noticing is that they all seem to congregate in the middle of the tank in one big mass instead of scattering around the whole tank. Is that normal? I was thinking maybe they were too cold or something because when I first put worms in they were scattered everywhere and didn't do this massing thing. Only since they hatched new ones have they been massing.

 

[LaBella]

Yesterday my youngest daughter, play sister and I watched a pupa mostly unwrap itself and become a beetle.
It was absolutely fascinating. I ran out of time when the legs were loose, but the wings weren't out yet.
I need a camera with a HUGE memory card (or two) so I can film it. We KNEW that one was about to change, it was dark in the right spots and unusually wiggly, and so we started watching and watching, and then all of a sudden LEGS!!!

 

[yyz0yyz0]

I tried to read through as much as I possibly could but didn't see it. Where do I get the bedding for the worms?

In mine and most I've seen the "bedding" is just a deep layer of food, which for me is rolled oats. I do have a couple layers of newspaper in mine also so they can hide under it if they wish.

 

[equinealot]

How long does it take for the meal worms to turn into beetles?

 

[Hypertay]

How long does it take for the meal worms to turn into beetles?

Only a couple of weeks if you keep the temperature up! The warmer the better.

Although I swear we have a few worms that refuse to pupate, they are so fat and eating everything!