Mealworm farming

[Sidhe13]

Thanks Bugseye! I will remember the newspaper for when i have beetles!

 

[Latestarter]

Thanks Bugseye! I will remember the newspaper for when i have beetles!

Sorry about your losses to the fox.

Don't wait for beetles to place newspaper in the bin. Also, the size of the bin is only an issue with respect to trying to cover the bottom a couple inches deep in substrate/food for them. The DEPTH of the substrate is not critical, but the overall SURFACE AREA they have available (hence the newspaper to make condos) factors as to how many critters you can have total.

I have layers of newspaper in there ALL the time! The worms go in between the pages for safety to pupate and all of them (except the pupa) will eat the newspaper as well. The beetles stack up between the pages and you'll generally find a huge pile under the bottom or lowest sheet. The only problem with newspaper in there is after it's eaten up and as wimpy as a wet Kleenex, it's a bear trying to shake the beetles and worms off it to place new stuff in there. Ah well... just another part of the job

 

[Sidhe13]

Do you put anything between the pages of newspaper? or just lay a few pages in on top of the bedding? Do you put the apple/carrot/etc on top of the newspaper or under it?

 

[Latestarter]

Nope, nothing between the pages except a little air space. I take the ad/circulars/inserts (grocery adds, coupons, etc.) that come in the mail or stuffed in the center of most newspapers and just thrown the whole thing in there. If it's a full sized paper, then it is folded in 1/2 lengthwise, then I fold it again width wise (so quartered size? Hope that makes sense). So depending on how many pages there are in the item, it could be 10 "pages" thick, or even more. Each individual layer creates another "condo space" for beetles (about to pupate as well as pupa already there until they hatch) primarily and worms secondarily.

When I check on them or need to add carrots/veggies/moisture sources, I just pick the paper up by the fold, and "shake it out" to get all the critters out from all the various levels, or as many as I can get to fall out, then add the moisture source and put the paper right over the top of everything. They very quickly crawl back between the layers again. Any excess moisture on the food source is wicked up into the paper rather than down into the substrate, thereby helping prevent mold issues too.

 

[kubotafoot]

Just got to read this.....So you use the glossy parts of the paper, too? I was always told not to do that because of possible poison in the inks.... Very interesting.
BTW..... My beetles and larva do not like to be in the dark.....I experimented with light and dark in the same fish tank. Everything was equal and many more mealworms and beetles came to the side with the light and they sit on top of the feed (wheat). Maybe mine are just sociable???? LOL!
Paula in CT

 

[Latestarter]

Hi Paula in CT

I should/could have been a bit more specific... I wasn't referring to the more expensive to create, high gloss add inserts, but the base paper/newsprint paper inserts or newsprint itself. Typically here the high gloss ones are single sheets or only a couple of sheets anyway... I think if you put some pages of paper in there, you'll see what I was referring to in a matter of hours... they will crawl/move between and under the layers. My beetles tend to form like a mating ball under the layer of paper that can consist of thousands of beetles in a ball extending up to 2 inches down into the bedding under the newspaper. they just hollow the area out and create a huge pile under there. Gives "sociable" a whole new meaning!

Might be that they moved into the light side for the warmth? Don't know the temp environment you have them in but I'm originally from New England and even a well heated home can have "cool" spots this time of year, especially (in the room) where we might decide to keep our meal worm farms

Also, it seems that as my worms start getting close to the pupation stage, they move up to the surface and tend to stay there.

No matter in any case... as long as it's "working" then the chickens get the benefits

 

[kubotafoot]

OK....Will try out a little newspaper in the bin. Sounds like a safe haven.

To the folks who had a fox attack. My sorrow and prayers go out to you. We had a weasel (maybe.....dodn't see it, but came through a very small dig out in the fenced area) and killed 5 and left 2 for dead. One made it in a dog crate in the LR, but the other had severe nerve damage to it's neck and we had to put him down as he couldn't lift his head even after 3 weeks of rehab to drink. Those are the times I just HATE farming/ranching!
If your fox got into the hen house, you'll need to line the floor with wire. We dug down about 4 inches andf lay chain link fence and then put the dirt back with added sand on top. Drains well and the hens have been safe since until this last attack in the fenced yard. Always something to keep us on our toes.

Here in CT, it is too cold even in the house for good meal worm growing right now, so I do have a painter's light on a stand with a 75 watt bulb on top of the bin. The worms migrate to that side and sun themselves in the winter. In the summer, mine still stay mostly above the feed and waste. They do not like the dark....Strange, but even when I cover them completely, they stay always on the top.

 

[evemfoster]

They probably come to the light because its warmer near the light.

 

[Latestarter]

I guess you just have bugs that did not read their owners manual/instructions

 

[Bugseye]

What Latestarter said. They seem to like room to roam between the sheets of paper. I just add the carrots or whatever along the edges of the paper right on the substrate, and they throng to it.