Mealworm farming

[gaitngirl]

I started with some that were being sold on CL and got hooked. My 1 1/2 lbs + cocoons turned into a worm obsession, lol. I now have: 5 worm bins, 1 Worm Inn (which I won online along with 2 lbs. of red worms), and a Can-of-Worms tower (bought on Craigslist).
They are a bit pricey but Bentley (from Redwormcomposting.com) is a great source. He's in Canada but ships here. His worms are always in great condition when they arrive and he has a great composting/vermiculture blog. And, no, I don't get paid for the plug, lol. I've just found his site very entertaining and informative . . .

 

[Fryze]

Thank You thank you gaitngirl! I will check this out

 

[kwol]

Put some watermelon rinds in wiht the beetles today and they are loving them. I thought I would put some in with the worms and see what happens. I am going to watch them closely to make sure thay do not mold.

 

[onafixedincome]

I get my mealies from Rainbow Mealworms in California and love the result. Well packed and generously counted!

Birds that will eat mealies: (http://audubon-omaha.org/bbbox/bbrp/mealworm.htm)

Mealworms are easy to raise. Only a few basics need be followed to start and maintain a mealworm colony for a constant supply. In addition to bluebirds, mealworms will attract a wide variety of popular bird feeder visitors. The Midwest birds listed below LOVE mealworms and may even have a preference for them over and above black sunflower seed. In other geographical areas an even greater variety of birds will be attracted to mealworms.

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[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]American Robins[/FONT]
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[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Indigo Buntings[/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]House Finches[/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Rose-breasted Grosbeaks
Chickadees[/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Rufus-sided Towhees[/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Northern Cardinals[/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Chipping Sparrows
Downy Woodpeckers[/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Field Sparrows[/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Nuthatches[/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Song Sparrows
Red-bellied Woodpeckers[/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Juncos[/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Hairy Woodpeckers[/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Grackles
Catbirds[/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Blackbirds[/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Blue Jays[/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Tanagers
Brown Thrashers[/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Orioles[/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Mockingbirds[/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Evening Grosbeaks
Warblers[/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Purple Finches[/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Vireos[/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Brown Creepers
Kinglets[/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Carolina Wrens[/FONT]​

 

[EddieJ]

Hello BYC peeps,

Posting a few pics of my beetle bin....its going crazy. I'm pulling as many beetles and pupa out of the 2 other bins nightly...probably 100 of each per night. Plus, ( dont ask me why ) but I bid on an auction for 500 beetles and won. lol Going to start a new colony with those.

The girls and I are having fun...they let me do all the work and they just wanna watch.

I do have a lot of dead larva and pupa in the other 2 pans. Lesson learned on keeping the food from being buried. It ended up rotting and destroying about 1/4 of the bin. I'm trying to pick them out as I can. Next thing I need is sifting tools. Not sure what to use.

Any ideas or suggestions for getting pupa/beetles out of the larva? Or cleaning EVERYTHING outta larva?

Thanks
Eddie


I forgot the darn pics.... lol

 

[SigningChickens]

Whoa! That is awesome! I can't wait for mine to look like that!

 

[MalMom]

Hello BYC peeps,

Posting a few pics of my beetle bin....its going crazy. I'm pulling as many beetles and pupa out of the 2 other bins nightly...probably 100 of each per night. Plus, ( dont ask me why ) but I bid on an auction for 500 beetles and won. lol Going to start a new colony with those.

The girls and I are having fun...they let me do all the work and they just wanna watch.

I do have a lot of dead larva and pupa in the other 2 pans. Lesson learned on keeping the food from being buried. It ended up rotting and destroying about 1/4 of the bin. I'm trying to pick them out as I can. Next thing I need is sifting tools. Not sure what to use.

Any ideas or suggestions for getting pupa/beetles out of the larva? Or cleaning EVERYTHING outta larva?

Thanks
Eddie


I forgot the darn pics.... lol

Holy cow, that's a lot of beetles!

 

[gaitngirl]

Eddie - I picked up a kitchen tool at Walmart for sifting. It's a small strainer with a handle. The holes are small enough to let bran meal, micros, and eggs fall through but not the larva and beetles. It seems to work great so far and it was under $3.

 

[bbsnooks]

Has any one figured out a good way to sort.
I would like to develop .. 3 tubs.. rotating.. in worm beatle/ egg and pupae.. ready to mature.
so that .. i can know which bin to feed out of..
I started with 8000 .. and have lots of pupae and beatles now. few worms.
( if i were to do it again.. i would have sorted into 4 groups when i recieved them
1 to feed out.
2 to start the developing colony
3 & 4 to go in fridg so to delay maturation.. )

I have the walmart.. trey system.. and like it very well.
.. I have middle bin with the sifted older bran.? maybe eggs.. and mature beatles.. their good.. to go..
bin on top has pupae.. and new fresh.. baked bran.. ( to try and get.. 3 cycles going.)
3rd bin.. is mixed.. worms pupae and beatles. every thing happened real fast..

i had some molding in one trey.. and i just cleaned out every thing.. and tossed the bad bran.
and after sifting .. sorting.. they all went thru a molt again.. ( handeling seems to have them molt.. ? any one notice this.)

My trouble .. is when it comes time to feed meal worms.. my strainer is.. not able to separate the bran from the worms.. ?
any suggestions.. on good tools..

also.. it's very time consuming.. to pick out pupae.. to .. get the bins on a cycle..
Is it worth the time.? will they hatch. in cycles if I sort pupae now.. or am i wasting my time..

or.. is there other way's of separating the 3 stages..
thanks for your experience..

thanks you postes while i was typing..
is there a chance.. walmart has a photo on the web.. of your tool?

 

[BScott03]

I'm not sure if I've asked this before and it may seem like a silly question, but at what stage do you begin feeding them? I got mine last week and gave a small bowl full to my 2 week old chicks and they went crazy over them!! I love seeing them so happy!