Mealworm farming

[kubotafoot]

Sorry for the stupid typo. Meant not gloating.....really!

 

[Quickster]

I'm wondering just how true it is that the incident of cannibalism is low. I was separating my pupae and then transferring them to the beetle drawer when they molted. I went away for the weekend so took the pupae that were going to molt in the next day or two and dumped them in with the beetles. When I came back a large amount of them were dead, with holes eaten in them. There were also a lot of bad looking beetles. They don't look like they will be capable of reproducing. I'm guessing they got gnawed on some before they molted too. I'm guessing a big part of this is that i just dumped them on the top in a pile where normally they would be spread out and somewhat tucked into the oats.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I'm wondering just how true it is that the incident of cannibalism is low. I was separating my pupae and then transferring them to the beetle drawer when they molted. I went away for the weekend so took the pupae that were going to molt in the next day or two and dumped them in with the beetles. When I came back a large amount of them were dead, with holes eaten in them. There were also a lot of bad looking beetles. They don't look like they will be capable of reproducing. I'm guessing they got gnawed on some before they molted too. I'm guessing a big part of this is that i just dumped them on the top in a pile where normally they would be spread out and somewhat tucked into the oats.

All of the quantitative science has showed that cannibalism is low in this species when reared under appropriate conditions. Your dead ones could have holes eaten in them after they died. Deformed beetles are relatively common, it's usually a wing issue and they generally are able to mate. It would be highly unlikely that any pupae bitten before eclosion would complete metamorphosis, so the beetle damage would have had to have happened post-eclosion. I think you have to look to your rearing conditions for answers. Do the freshly eclosed beetles have access to moist vegetables?


I was struck by what @KefirGuy said at the end of his lengthy first post because it is so true.

Quote:

Finally, if you're not convinced, look at this colony. I acquired it in 1987 and it had been in operation for at least a decade prior. I've never separated pupae or beetles and it performs exceedingly well. If cannibalism were a problem how could the population be so dense?

 

[aart]

I'm wondering just how true it is that the incident of cannibalism is low. I was separating my pupae and then transferring them to the beetle drawer when they molted. I went away for the weekend so took the pupae that were going to molt in the next day or two and dumped them in with the beetles. When I came back a large amount of them were dead, with holes eaten in them. There were also a lot of bad looking beetles. They don't look like they will be capable of reproducing. I'm guessing they got gnawed on some before they molted too. I'm guessing a big part of this is that i just dumped them on the top in a pile where normally they would be spread out and somewhat tucked into the oats.

Low humidity can cripple both pupae viability and beetle emergence.

 

[Quickster]

First off if they are still in pupae form with holes in them, how would they be bitten post eclosion? They never made it to eclosion. They got plenty of carrots the day I left, and it is plenty humid here. Every day I pick the pupae out and put them in a small drawer. A different drawer each day. So generally the pupae in the drawer hatch into a beetle the same day. I say on average I get 20-30 pupae a day. There are usually one or two that do not survive to beetlehood (lol). When I left for the weekend I dumped two drawers into the beetle drawer. one drawer had an unusually large amount of pupae. So it would seem probably that 4-6 of the pupae would die in the process. But when I came back I probably had 20 dead pupae with holes in them. A significantly high amount of pupae that did not survive. And same goes with the beetles that didn't turn out quite right. My colony isn't huge so its pretty easy to tell the increase percentage of "not right" beetles.

In such a large colony as yours, it makes perfect since that they thrive. There are just so many of them that plenty will survive to molt in to pupae, and then on to reproduce as beetles. And I don't think there is a good way to tell how many baby meal worms get eaten. Its not a big deal, they are bugs that multiply like crazy. It was merely an observation with my colony that I was sharing.

 

[dragonbabyx3]

Hey Everyone! I want to add in on this Obviously I am not going to read through 718 pages Although I did go through about 400! Needless to say thanks to this post I was confident in starting my own mealworm farm! I work at Petsmart, so I brought some mealworms home from work and got it started. About 2 days later a science teacher came into work and he was telling me that he was given a tank filled with little brown worms and he had no clue what they were, or what to do with them. So I showed him the mealworms and he verified that is what he had. Apparently this system had been going for about a year. I told him I was jealous that he was graced with a system already set up. He offered me half of it So, I have picked it up and started separating mealworm from pupae, and beetle as well. Set up a 3 drawer system. It's working out great!!! I was also given hissing cockroaches because he could not make them live. Needless to say after I got over the ick factor They are thriving as well- which is surprising because I don't know what the heck I am doing LOL. So if anyone knows about those I would appreciate some input! supposedly you can feed the babies to chickens and the freshly molted ones as well! Anyway, Just wanted to say thank you for the informative posts!

 

[beverly evans]

Quote:

This is what a highly productive colony with all life stages should look like. Granted, at the point these pictures were taken the colony was due for a couple of inches of bran, but the surface would look much like this within a day or so of adding it. Keep in mind that they will spend most of their time in the top two inches anyway.
Thanks for your answer. I just couldn't see any bran and thought what would they eat? I guessed the pumpkin would be enough. So even if there were a lot of bran there they would all be on top and you wouldn't be able to see it anyway?? : )

 

[beverly evans]

Hey Everyone! I want to add in on this Obviously I am not going to read through 718 pages Although I did go through about 400! Needless to say thanks to this post I was confident in starting my own mealworm farm! I work at Petsmart, so I brought some mealworms home from work and got it started. About 2 days later a science teacher came into work and he was telling me that he was given a tank filled with little brown worms and he had no clue what they were, or what to do with them. So I showed him the mealworms and he verified that is what he had. Apparently this system had been going for about a year. I told him I was jealous that he was graced with a system already set up. He offered me half of it So, I have picked it up and started separating mealworm from pupae, and beetle as well. Set up a 3 drawer system. It's working out great!!! I was also given hissing cockroaches because he could not make them live. Needless to say after I got over the ick factor They are thriving as well- which is surprising because I don't know what the heck I am doing LOL. So if anyone knows about those I would appreciate some input! supposedly you can feed the babies to chickens and the freshly molted ones as well! Anyway, Just wanted to say thank you for the informative posts!

Hi! Google "nubia cockroaches". I think that is the right word. I you can stand as you say, the "ick factor", you will get a lot more bang for your buck with these critters. They aren't nasty like our normal roaches. : )

 

[subhanalah]

Low humidity can cripple both pupae viability and beetle emergence.

this all over. This is the problem with the dying pupae and messed up looking adults.

 

[subhanalah]

Hi!  Google "nubia cockroaches".  I think that is the right word.  I you can stand as you say, the "ick factor", you will get a lot more bang for your buck with these critters.  They aren't nasty like our normal roaches.  : )

dubia roaches, not nubia. Very good suggestion! You're on point be!