Mealworm farming

[Quickster]

I really hope you are kidding about the potato chips. Lol. Sometimes you never know.

 

[Latestarter]

I think the potato chip was meant as a visual descriptor rather than a meal description

They get pretty dried out and warped after a week or two. I only check mine about weekly now, and only add carrots/apple/a wet sponge about every other week, and they are all fine (2nd generation of an initial 5000 worms divided into 2 containers). They are all (beetles still left from 1st gen and worms of 2nd gen) doing just great! I think they'll prob be fine

 

[MamaChicken4]

Does anyone know a good article or resource with info on how to start up a mealworm "farm". I know very little about it and would like to start. I need to know a lot of basics such as where to get the worms to start it and everything. Thanks.

 

[aart]

Does anyone know a good article or resource with info on how to start up a mealworm "farm". I know very little about it and would like to start. I need to know a lot of basics such as where to get the worms to start it and everything. Thanks.

You're on it...start at page one of this thread and start reading, you'll learn lots

I like this website for lifecycle and temperature info, tho I don't use their bedding technique.

 

[jenneverett]

I don't know about two weeks but I give mine thicker potato slices and when I get back after a week they are all fine and dandy. Plus, I have delicious potato chips.

too funny!

 

[southernBelle79]

I need to add new wheat bran to my farm. I started over last summer due to mites. I have been successful in round two without mites by avoiding all moisture other than the potatoes that I throw in there. Also, I add garlic powder, brewers yeast, and milk powder to my bedding. I read about that somewhere and I think it help with production, as well as mites (garlic).
I froze and baked my bedding. Over the course of the year I have added a gallon size bag of bedding from the freezer to top things off. Here's my current dilemma- I'm out of the frozen stuff. The only bran I have has been in a Rubbermaid container outside and it definitely has little black mites in it. I'm scared to bring that in the house to bake it. But I hate to have to go but another huge bag of bran.
I definitely don't want to deal with mites again.
Last summer when I tried to give my farm some sunlight to kill off the mites, most of my mealworms got baked too.
So do y'all think it is okay to bake the old bran I already have, even though it has bugs in it?
Also, can I bake it in a covered dish so they don't get everywhere??

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I need to add new wheat bran to my farm. I started over last summer due to mites. I have been successful in round two without mites by avoiding all moisture other than the potatoes that I throw in there. Also, I add garlic powder, brewers yeast, and milk powder to my bedding. I read about that somewhere and I think it help with production, as well as mites (garlic).
I froze and baked my bedding. Over the course of the year I have added a gallon size bag of bedding from the freezer to top things off. Here's my current dilemma- I'm out of the frozen stuff. The only bran I have has been in a Rubbermaid container outside and it definitely has little black mites in it. I'm scared to bring that in the house to bake it. But I hate to have to go but another huge bag of bran.
I definitely don't want to deal with mites again.
Last summer when I tried to give my farm some sunlight to kill off the mites, most of my mealworms got baked too.
So do y'all think it is okay to bake the old bran I already have, even though it has bugs in it?
Also, can I bake it in a covered dish so they don't get everywhere??

Sure, you could do that. The black insects probably aren't grain mites, they are likely to be something else, but it probably doesn't matter anyway. Bake until dead.

 

[agapefarmfhl]

Hi, My wife and I are about to get meal worms and beetles and were wanting to build a anti-sifting bin for them, my idea would be have the beetles in the top bin which has a screen on the bottom and the eggs from the beetles would fall through the screen and into the next bin where they turn into meal worms. the only thing i would have to do is take the pupae out of the bottom bin and put in another bin until they turn into beetles.

 

My question is: does anyone know what the mesh size should be of the screen so the eggs could fall through? 

 

 

Thanks,

Allen Lee

 

[southernBelle79]

Sure, you could do that.  The black insects probably aren't grain mites, they are likely to be something else, but it probably doesn't matter anyway.  Bake until dead.  

They are actually little brown bugs. Look like little tiny beetles. But I'm heating the oven now

 

[subhanalah]

They are actually little brown bugs. Look like little tiny beetles. But I'm heating the oven now

weevils maybe