Mealworm farming

[azygous]

9 worms left....86 pupae...385 beetles! I need a bigger Beetle Barn! The idea was great but I didn't plan on near 400 beetles being in there! I fear it may be too small and they may not breed to the best of their ability. I am also worried about them laying eggs in the layers of paper, and the eggs not falling through the mesh bottom.
The current Beetle Barn is 10.5 x 5.5 x 5.5 inches approx.
Thoughts? Opinions? Advice?

The beetles are the only form of meal worm that requires surface area on which to "perform". So it's more important for the "beetle barn" to be longer and wider than deeper.

But kubotafoot is right. You're micromanaging. Give them enough room and they'll lay lots of eggs, and their activities will sift the eggs down through the substrate and through the screened bottom. The worst that could happen is a few eggs may be left behind, hatch and morph into worms. It's okay. The beetles won't hurt them. When I find baby worms in the beetle tray, I tweezer them out and put them in the worm tray. But you don't HAVE to do it.

 

[Sidhe13]

Thanks guys
I keep count more as a curiosity, but I am now reassured that I am not overcrowding them. I may end up making more of a "tray" design than the container they are in right now...but I will wait until the next lot of beetles since I don't want to be disturbing these ones more than necessary...

 

[christine9]

I have had nothing but beetles for at least a month. I was just about to feed them all to the chickens and give up. The other day I was straining out some of the little carrot pieces and saw baby worms! It's crazy. I can't believe it. This batch's success is most certainly due to the container. I decided to splurge and get the 10 gal fish tank. I've seen it here so many times but the air circulation and surface area it provide are totally worth the space it takes up. Woohoo!

 

[Bugseye]

Good news about the aquarium! My colony in a 9 gallon Sterilite has taken off! I regularly scoop out big fat mealworms. If I don't bring them out to the girls, they wanna know what's up and let it be heard. Yak, yak, yak.

 

[kubotafoot]

I hate to sound like a broken record here, but be patient! Things happen not because of you, but in spite of you. Meal worm farming is a cinch to do, it you just give them time to do their thing. Beetles, yes need top space to "get it on." They mate on top, not in or under the feed....period! So therefore the size of the open top area is crucial to their mating. Not babies need to "germinate" and then hatch, oh and did you realize they hatch microscopically and not full worm size? Well, if not, now you do. So then they need to be kept warm (80 degrees F is nice for them) and then they grow.......Most all of what I have written is done in full view, but we tend to not see it, as everything from eggs to hatch and growth is so very small. Just keep the temp in a nice warm range and forget them for days, even weeks at a time. They will be fine with warmth and veggies for water to be sure all stages of life are covered. " Patience is a virtue. A lot more couldn't hurt you!!" That was the old adage I heard from my grandparents over and over again! And then, when you least expect it, one day you'll go over a look and........

Oh baby, oh baby, oh baby! Hey....Humans take 9 months to make a baby but before that, they need years to grow up to be able to make a baby. You can surely be patient for a few months, no? Congrats on the hatch and growth. Do not throw it out!

 

[Varglet]

Catching some beetles in the act the past couple days. Beetles are popping up like there's no tomorrow. I'm going to invest in a second 3 drawer deal, seeing as I started with 2,000 mealworms.

There are several dead soldiers, but not hardly enough to worry about. I do have a few beetles that aren't formed properly (wings messed up), but I put them in with the rest anyway. I'll probably start feeding those to the chickens soon, since they don't seem to be able to dig into the oats. They're pretty much always on top or under the TP tubes when I open the drawer.

 

[azygous]

As long as beetles are alive, you can assume they are doing their job, eating oats, mating, and laying eggs, the last two activities taking place on surfaces. Their favorite surfaces on which to lay eggs are newspaper squares and inside toilet paper tubes. Beetles do burrow into the oats, but it's usually to eat them or to get warmer or to escape the light. Therefore beetles do not need a deep container, surface area being far more crucial to their "job".

 

[Sidhe13]

Can anyone tell me how long beetles live for? Or their peak reproductive age?

 

[azygous]

It varies greatly. I've had beetles live up to three months. I've observed that the fewer the beetles, the longer they live, and the reverse - the more there are, the greater the mortality rate. That does seem to track what happens in most populations, though.

 

[misfitmorgan]

i was trying to read thru the thread but after getting to page 47 i decided to skip to the end lol.

So my question is this....i want to order mealworms, i want to use wheat bran for the substrate but the closest store with bulk wheat bran is 45 mins away....so has anyone tried farina? IT is cream of wheat so wheat food stuff still...and someone keeps giving me boxes of it which i dont eat so i thought it might be a good use and viable until i can get to the store later this month.