Mealworm farming

[kubotafoot]

My son went to remove an old potato and there was mold on it and some of the oats. He picked out as much of it as he could. What should I do?

If he picked out as much as he could....it's the end. Don't stress. Just check the potato you put in more often and if it's too large a slice, they have more trouble getting the water out of it. I find larger SURFACE AREA is better than one big chunk. The more surface area (slices) the more worms can attach and feed. Have fun!

 

[heatherbree]

Hey, I'm new to this thread. I know there is a good chance this may have been covered already but I don't have time to read through 250 pages. I have been attempting to raise mealworms. It has actually been going pretty well. I had tons of tiny little babies when water somehow managed to get into my bin and all my oats molded! I am having a difficult time picking them out without getting a bunch of yucky oats too. Any suggestions? I was thinking about just dumping the whole thing out for my chickens but I'm afraid they might eat the moldy oats too? Any thoughts appreciated as I am a novice at both raising mealworms and chickens! Thanks.

 

[kubotafoot]

You don't want the chickens eating a lot of mold, so dumping it out might not be such a good idea.
First off....many folks have switched to bran for the meal worm feed. I have bins with oats alone....bran alone and both oats and bran. So far, my vote for feed is a mixture of both oats and bran. That bin seems to be doing best.
Picking the live ones out and starting them in a separate bin is good, but time consuming. I found it easiest to put a couple cups worth of the farm in a colander and shake it worked pretty good. It helped separate the mold from the worms and then I dumped them into a smaller clean bin. I left them to live there for a week or so. The mold abated and the worms, when clean went into a larger new bin and all was well. Once you get down to not finding many worms in the colander I took the sink spray and washed off the mold on what was left.....Some worms showed up and I gave them to the hens who had a party....No ill effects from all of this.
Good luck!

 

[heatherbree]

Wonderful, thank you so much. Good to know about the bran as well. I started off with oats because that's what I had. Plus I wasn't sure where I'd put a 50lb bag from the feed store. I'm going to give the colander a try. I already salvaged some so we'll see. Thanks again for the input!

 

[beverly evans]

I HAVEN'T SEEN AN ANSWER TO MY PROBLEM ON HERE YET. I HAVE TINY BLACK BUGS THAT ARE NOT WEEVILS. ARE THEY MITES? WHAT DO MITES LOOK LIKE? I'VE HAD NO PROBLEM WITH DAMPNESS, JUST THE OPPOSITE, TOO LITTLE MOISTURE. AND I THOUGHT MITES ONLY CAME WITH TOO MUCH. I ALSO THOUGHT THEY WERE CLOSE TO MICROSCOPIC IN SIZE? WHATEVER THEY ARE, I THINK THEY ARE EATING THE EGGS AND/OR BABIES BECAUSE I HAVE BEETLES ONLY, NO MEALWORMS AND NO TINY ONES EITHER. HELP??? : (

 

[Lavmoon]

I HAVEN'T SEEN AN ANSWER TO MY PROBLEM ON HERE YET.  I HAVE TINY BLACK BUGS THAT ARE NOT WEEVILS. ARE THEY MITES?  WHAT DO MITES LOOK LIKE?  I'VE HAD NO PROBLEM WITH DAMPNESS, JUST THE OPPOSITE,  TOO LITTLE MOISTURE.  AND I THOUGHT MITES ONLY CAME WITH TOO MUCH.  I ALSO THOUGHT THEY WERE CLOSE TO MICROSCOPIC IN SIZE?  WHATEVER THEY ARE, I THINK THEY ARE EATING THE EGGS AND/OR BABIES BECAUSE I HAVE BEETLES ONLY, NO MEALWORMS AND NO TINY ONES EITHER.     HELP???    : (

I am having a similar problem, they almost seem like tiny beetles the size of fruit flies. I took all my beetles and mealworms out and put them in fresh substrate(that I microwaved). So what happens if the little bugs end up in the new container too?
I also held onto the old substrate cause I am afraid there maybe eggs in there and don't want to lose any more than I have to, since I'm still establishing my colony. I did find 2 tiny worms and 3 pupae during transfer(that was exciting) and I think that out of the 1000 beetles I ordered at least 300 made it(I knew with it being so hot here that there would be some mortality on the way and then some died after getting here).

 

[meafunkymunky]

I know that the substrate that they live in needs to be cooked or frozen for a period of time to prevent bugs that may live in it. Maybe that is what it is? I forgot this process so I am wondering if i need to remove the meal worms and put them in new sanitized material. they are in oats and a small amount of wheat flour. Any advice for a newbie?

 

[beverly evans]

Quote: Well Lavmoon, I guess we have no choice but to possibly sacrifice eggs when we sift out the tiny beetles, then microwave the "bedding" to kill the pest bug's eggs. It can then be returned and the saved beetles put back in. Then we must wait til they lay eggs again. And wait for those to hatch. It is not as if I have had anything hatch! The mealworms that survived the trip all turned into beetles and it stopped there. Wait and wait some more! : (

 

[beverly evans]

Quote: Thanks! This is a very good website with most questions answered. Attention all you newbies out there....check it out! : )

 

[aart]

From what I've read on this thread.......Microwaving and freezing are not enough to kill and freeloaders.

~300 degrees for an hour, stirring several times to ensure that the substrate is evenly heated, will do the trick for sure.

Typical home freezers aren't cold enough ....... microwaving might not heat evenly enough.