Mealworm farming

[Dipstick]

Quote:

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??? : (

Quote:

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).

First off, what is your "substrate"? Oats? Wheat bran? Mixture?
Second off, where are you getting it?
Third off, how long has it been with the bettles and you have not seen any evidence of babies?
Fourth, what s the moisture level?
Fifth, what is the size of the container.
Sixth, how many population of worms/beetles did you start with in that container?

All of these things have to be answered before a dependable answer can be given.

Beyond this, microwaving the bedding before you use it from a known bad source, which is what it sounds like the real problem is, will fix your problem unless the pest is capable of moving to your clean bins. So you really need to quarantine or destroy the infected bins and start over in a different environment with new stock.

As for mites....
I have only ever had mites in my frass bins... and then only a real problem in the fully sealed buckets... dunno why.

HOLY COW they were prolific! And, the frass bins were in the same room as my worm farm... no evidence of mites in the general population bins... so... I think it is actually the frass that the mites go after. AND obviously, there was no moisture source in the frass bins. AND they were a few months old at that time. I only found it after openning to verify something else.

So... From a smaller commercial farmer's perspective... there's your solution. Search out my other posts, and you will gain a lot of very good info.

 

[Dipstick]

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?

No oats, no flour... bran only. This is important.... They come from different production facilities for starters. The pests have to be established in a colony forthe product to be tainted when you buy it. In order for that to happen the bugs must be around the food long enugh to get established in it. Thus, the longer it sits around, or the longer it sits around an established colony, the higher the risk of your batch becoming contaminated.

When you buy a less processed product, usually it has not been sitting as long outside of a package which allows pests access. In my case, I buy the bran from a farmer's coop. They have to order it specifically for me, from their processing facility. Threfore I know that it is "fresh" per se. At least it is a LOT fresher than buying it at the local grocery store where it left the processing plant where mine comes from in a large volume container, or by the unpackaged truck load, then was dumped into a conveyor system which is used by several trucks from several processing plants, and which has probably not been propperly sanitized for days, weeks, or months, if ever.

Then all ofthis now mixed material, which is probably contaminated with insects by this point, then is stored until an order comes in for processing into smaller packages.

Then that lot of packages must be stored in pallets in a warehouse until an order for it comes in. Then it is shipped to a centralized distribution center where it again sits, until that pallet quantity of 5lb bags is dispresed to your store in 1-10 bag volumes... and how long does it sit there until you buy it? getting the picture yet?

Next time you go to the store, take an ink pen and put a small dot on the side of all of the bags on the shelf... then check to see if your markes bags are still there each time you go back. See how long they sit.

This is the difference in the quality between 50LB bags from the farmer's coop and the grocery store.

All of that said to say this, prevention is worth a lot of headache. Find someon here to buy bran from, who you know buys it fresh in larger volumes.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[Dipstick]

This website has a nice chart with time ranges of life cycles.

All my first gen beetles died off in the middle of winter, note where I live, thought it was over....warmed that bin up and after a couple weeks the wheat bran was surging with hatchlings.

Aart,

about the resuls of warming up the cold bedding before disposing of it. Everyone needs to remember this come spring time.

*********

As for the website you directed folks to,

someone needs to do this to them on the subject of meal worms.

New growers need to realize that this site is about feeding birds... not raising worms... so ignore their info on that subject. They do have a lot of other good info like their general life cycle info, and how to freeze dry for storage, but most of their worm info was regurgitated from other sources, or vice versa, and is not the most dependable....

For example, using a mammal's "milk" to feed a vegiterian "insect."

Not smart.

If God intended meal worms to consume milk, beetles would have teets. The fact that they do not, should tell you all that you need to know about the quality of the info on raising meal worms on that site.

And if THAT were not enough, Think about cheese and how is it made? No... seriously, think about that for a minute. Cheese is a dairy product which has forever been known to draw and sustain mold colonies quickly. Not to mention that an 80*F, 70% humidity envorinment, is a mold spore's paradise. Now, if you wanted to avoid mold, why would you add a product which in the presence of humidity, naturally draws molds? Yeah... you wouldn't. Follow their advice and you WILL have a mold problem.

So, like I said... new folks, if your goal is to raise WORMS, then be careful with their info. But if you are preparing to feed your Chickens, then you might want to consider some of their stuff... like, where are a hens teets again? Sorry, I digressed.

OK, problem fixed.

If I sound bitter and angry with them, please consider that my first, massive, several HUNDRED dollar, failure, was the result of following their advice/instructions to a "T."

One example is that I now have an unused humidity control system, the investment for which would have been MUCH better spent elsewhere.

Anyway, thought someone ought to post this, and since you brought them up....

 

[Dipstick]

A 50 pound bag will last you a lifetime for just the worms, so you might want to also feed the hens and goats (if you have them).....OR......buy some from the local store loose by bulk or in a bag intended for human consumption. Less worry about other bugs and no storage.
Paula

I wish. I go though 50lbs a week.

 

[kubotafoot]

I wish. I go though 50lbs a week.

For meal worms????????? How the heck many do you have?

 

[Lavmoon]

Wow! I ordered 1000 beetles, received only about half of that alive, and 9 days later I have lots and lots of baby mealworms!!!!

 

[kubotafoot]

Contact the company your ordered from and give them an estimate of how many were alive...........If they are reputable, they will make good. Don't be shy. You bought them, you should get them.

 

[aart]

Wow! I ordered 1000 beetles, received only about half of that alive, and 9 days later I have lots and lots of baby mealworms!!!!

Did you order beetles or larvae(worms)? I didn't know you could order beetles........and sounds like lots of eggs in the bedding they sent.

 

[meafunkymunky]

No oats, no flour... bran only. This is important.... They come from different production facilities for starters. The pests have to be established in a colony forthe product to be tainted when you buy it. In order for that to happen the bugs must be around the food long enugh to get established in it. Thus, the longer it sits around, or the longer it sits around an established colony, the higher the risk of your batch becoming contaminated.


When you buy a less processed product, usually it has not been sitting as long outside of a package which allows pests access. In my case, I buy the bran from a farmer's coop. They have to order it specifically for me, from their processing facility. Threfore I know that it is "fresh" per se. At least it is a LOT fresher than buying it at the local grocery store where it left the processing plant where mine comes from in a large volume container, or by the unpackaged truck load, then was dumped into a conveyor system which is used by several trucks from several processing plants, and which has probably not been propperly sanitized for days, weeks, or months, if ever.


Then all ofthis now mixed material, which is probably contaminated with insects by this point, then is stored until an order comes in for processing into smaller packages.


Then that lot of packages must be stored in pallets in a warehouse until an order for it comes in. Then it is shipped to a centralized distribution center where it again sits, until that pallet quantity of 5lb bags is dispresed to your store in 1-10 bag volumes... and how long does it sit there until you buy it? getting the picture yet?


Next time you go to the store, take an ink pen and put a small dot on the side of all of the bags on the shelf... then check to see if your markes bags are still there each time you go back. See how long they sit.


This is the difference in the quality between 50LB bags from the farmer's coop and the grocery store.


All of that said to say this, prevention is worth a lot of headache. Find someon here to buy bran from, who you know buys it fresh in larger volumes.


Just my 2 cents worth.

Thank you! I will be looking to get bran! is there an easy way to move the meal worms from oats to bran? Other than the obvious time consuming process of picking them out.

 

[Latestarter]

Buy a larger container (area wise) and dump the lot into it. Add about 1-2 inches of bran on top of the entire colony, spread it around and go from there. The oats will eventually get consumed and you'll be in all bran.