Mealworm farming

[Dipstick]

Dipstick, the excessive moisture is most likely killing them. I wouldn't add any moisture beyond that contained in relatively dry vegetables (carrots, potatoes, etc.). I live in one of the driest places on the planet, where humidity and annual rainfall are typically measured in single digits and my mealworms do very well. Your colony is most likely experiencing a fungal (entomopathogenic) or bacterial infection, which should run it's course once the moisture is removed.

BTW, welcome to

and welcome to our mealworm thread. Oh, what kind of fish are you raising?

I started with nearly no potato and nearly no moisture, and they died three times as fast as when I began to add moisture sources. That is why I did this. I will be cutting back to see if the problem goes away.

As for the fish, we plan on a combination of feeder goldfish as a distributor to pet shops as well as directly to the public, tilapia, possibly trout, and or blue gill or perch. We will have approx 4-5 300 gal tanks in a special set up for higher than normal population.

 

[Hypertay]

I was wondering if anyone had tried anything other than plastic totes to keep their meal worms in. I plan to try this asap but plastic totes are not a readily available commodity around my place. Does anything else work?

First container I used was a spherical glass cannister shaped like a pumpkin topped with a piece of metal screen material for an air gap, held down by the glass cannister lid. They were moved into a 10 gallon glass aquarium with lid when they began molting into bugs. You can also use any 3-4" (or more) tall plastic or glass food container with a top, if you put an airway in it. Remember the larger the container the more worms can grow, but the smaller the container the more portable your colony is. The tops are not to keep the worms in, but rather to keep other pests out. (I found a couple of tiny spiders running around in some of my containers that are not completely covered, who knows what life stage they were after in my bins. I have to check them every day now!)

 

[Hypertay]

I started with nearly no potato and nearly no moisture, and they died three times as fast as when I began to add moisture sources. That is why I did this. I will be cutting back to see if the problem goes away.

As for the fish, we plan on a combination of feeder goldfish as a distributor to pet shops as well as directly to the public, tilapia, possibly trout, and or blue gill or perch. We will have approx 4-5 300 gal tanks in a special set up for higher than normal population.

I think that if you started with 5000 worms in the one container and those are the dead out of it, that doesn't look horribly bad. Out of 100 pet shop worms, about 30 died before pupating. And out of 1000 from Amy, about 25-30% died but so many lived to adulthood that I have 8 bins going, worms everywhere. I think you should stop with the humidifier though. I had mold and mites in my aquarium when I kept a wet napkin in a plastic baggie along with carrots potatoes and apples. Way too much moisture. I put a 60watt bulb on the outside and took away the napkin, and only gave them 1 carrot at a time. They bounced back quick and I've been feeding out those worms and some of the bugs. Also, your potato slices are moldy. Potatoes go moldy so fast, and you shouldn't have any moldy food in there. I had to replace potatoes every 2 or 3 days until I totally switched to carrots. Don't worry, once you stop using potatoes they will eat the carrots.

I am excited about your fish project! My husband has just started watching all those videos on youtube about aquaponics, and he really wants to do it here. Tilapia and perch with salad greens and duckweed growing on top! Please document and post links!

 

[Matanah Meadows]

Ok, sorry I don't have time to sift through 570 pages on meal worm farming! But, I was hoping someone might know what is going on with my worm bin. I'm not sure if it is fungus spores or what but outside of the bin (as if kicked up in the air) is almost like a dryer lint and is almost like skin color. Inside that same stuff is growing (?) on some of the rotting kitchen waste, primarily the bread. Any ideas of what it is? Is it a spore and if so, is it good or bad? So far our meal worms are fantastic and growing like mad. We got them back in August (2,000) and they are on their second cycle. They are in a huge under-the-bed plastic tub with a screen top and oatmeal substrate and fed kitchen scraps.

Thoughts?

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Ok, sorry I don't have time to sift through 570 pages on meal worm farming! But, I was hoping someone might know what is going on with my worm bin. I'm not sure if it is fungus spores or what but outside of the bin (as if kicked up in the air) is almost like a dryer lint and is almost like skin color. Inside that same stuff is growing (?) on some of the rotting kitchen waste, primarily the bread. Any ideas of what it is? Is it a spore and if so, is it good or bad? So far our meal worms are fantastic and growing like mad. We got them back in August (2,000) and they are on their second cycle. They are in a huge under-the-bed plastic tub with a screen top and oatmeal substrate and fed kitchen scraps.

Thoughts?

Look carefully at the substance, with a magnifying glass if possible. Do you see grain mites?

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
The problem is the disease was already present in your colony when you got them. Most of the diseases of mealworms are moisture-dependent.

That's quite a range of fish! In our aquaponics system we grow tilapia, a fish well suited for our hot climate.

 

[Matanah Meadows]

Look carefully at the substance, with a magnifying glass if possible. Do you see grain mites?

I can't see the mites, but from other posts I think that is what it is. So gross! Without sifting through the hundreds of posts...what should I do? I don't like all this crud all over my garage, but the mealworms need some protection...

 

[laura877]

Will chickens eat Earwigs. I have them all over and could catch some when they come out.

 

[carolwfuller]

OMG maggots. I had something stinky rotten in my trash can in the garage. When I pulled out the plastic bags the can was full of maggots-thousands of them. I put it outside on its side intending to wash it out. Well, those curious chickens came running and they made short work of the mess. I never even had to wash the can-it was licked clean. I would like to say the eggs tasted even better but they were always just great.

 

[mrsrgbj]

Newb here and wanting to get into raising mealworms, how many mealworms do you feed at a time per bird or how do you ration out the worms. Iv got some pretty aggressive ladies that might not share