Mealworm farming

[DickGJ]

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How tiny are the baby worms? I hear they're darn near impossible for us "ole farts" to see when they first hatch...

 

[hannakat]

They are super tiny Nadine!!! I was using a magnifing glass and just kept watching in an area I semi scooped around. I saw a wee piece of substrate move and kept watching until I saw the mealie....it was tiny tiny tiny!!

I have the ground up substrate in the second drawer... did that purposely to be able to find the little buggers!

Will definitely photograph it if I find it again....hahahaaaaaa

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I don't think we can see them the first few weeks and then at a few weeks old maybe spot them with a magnifying glass!
Really, us old farts can't see them well without one!

I am betting there were a lot of baby mealies that came with my order that I could not see because some of the meal worms are really small compared to the others now. They had slowed down eating and now have gotten their second breath. Maybe the maturing ones? They are digging the pear but the gnats or fruit flies are horrid. When I sprayed the Lysol around the table for the ants the flying creatures left for a while until I put in more fruit.
But the meal worms and beetles love fruit and I am nothing if not an old woman that likes to spoil her "pets"!

 

[hannakat]

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[hannakat]

Just found that Terro makes adorable fruit fly/gnat traps. Fill with apple/wine vinegar and a few drops of dish soap... and voila! Protect them 'pets' from pests!!!

 

[CaroleW]

Found one beetle in my mealworm farm yesterday. I've done nothing except put in some fruit or vegetable peels and then replace them as they get yucky with new peel.

This is the most low maintenance farm ever! I just keep them on the back patio in an old plastic coffee container with slots in the lid- could probably use screening for more ventilation instead since we've had a few really warm days here in Mesa AZ lately.

I did look at some literature (will look up the link and post tomorrow) that had the darkling beetle (is this not our mealworm end stage?) listed as a potential disease carrier though and need to find out more about that before I go much further. Perhaps it is refering to large poultry farming infestations, I don't know.

Has anyone here researched this issue?

CaroleW

 

[sadies chicks]

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Awesome!

Was it just a mini-wormie? Did it look any different?

 

[WestKnollAmy]

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Okay, I put out a dish on each table I have a bin on so maybe I will catch the nasty things. They are pesky. I hate removing the cover and having them all swarm out. They are not as bad as they were last week but still, I hate to see them all in my house. Although with about 65 Guinea Pigs the pests find new territory, I suppose.


I have not researched diseases of the beetle. I just wash my hands real well after handling them and try not to touch my face in the mean time.

 

[hannakat]

hah!




Are you ready folks?





Can I hear a drum roll please?






Meet Wee Wilma Worm!

~ at the tip of the top tweezer point ~

Hi Sadies Chicks..... I THINK she looks like the big ones only much, much, much, much smaller. I found her munching on a small slice of carrot!!

 

[hannakat]

Quote:
Hi Carole. Thanks for the question. I did a quick google search and did come up with some striking information. The article I read states that the beetle can cause certain disease's in poultry. I'm heading to the grocery store at the moment but will research this further.

From the preliminary read, though, it is not a particular concern for me because of my coop design and my intention to freeze them for winter consumption. Now, I do give the birds some of the worms from time to time since I ended up with so many but I've yet to see them miss eating one of them. Even the little chickies get them all. I do not throw out countless worms and walk away.

Thank you for brining this to the thread. I'm sure we'll all start doing some more homework on the subject ASAP.