Mealworm farming

[TheSpiceGirls]

New question for all of you. So my meal worm farm is full of tiny mealworms and still a bunch of beetles. So it won't be too much longer before I can start feeding the worms to the hens.

Do you set aside some worms to keep the farm going? Or are there just enough eggs down in there that I can't see that they will continue to grow. No, that won't work, I have to let some worms grow up and turn into the white grub things that turn into beetles. What do you all do?

 

[hannakat]

TheSpiceGirls ~ I plan on keeping a nice number of worms to keep the farm going. Since I want the maximum number for winter supplementation, I plan on freezing most but keeping some from varying age groups to let pupate and morph. Since beetles are only supposed to live 2-3 months, I'm assuming my current beetles are almost at their limit.

Of the ones that pupate at the end of the year, I'll let those continue in order to start the process over again in the spring. It take about 6 months from beginning to end. Although, the worms I freeze won't be fully mature. Just my plans. And I do plan to continue the 3-drawer in addition to the big tub. I feel there is maximum output in a controled colony but I guess until the beetles in the bin die, and the worms become bigger, this is really only an assumption on my part.

Interested in hearing how others will be doing it.

 

[crazy huhn]

Hello all you mealworm farmers from another mealworm farmer.

I am breeding my own mealworm supply now for a couple years and have great success. Finally I do have so many in probably 8 to 10 sweater boxes that I am selling them locally via CL and other media just to pass on some nice savings to other animal lovers, because I was tired of paying $7 plus tax at our reptile store for 100 low quality worms with even half of them dead already.

Anyways, I have just started to catch up on all these posts in regards of mealworm farming and forgive my ignorance if that question has already been answered, but how do you freeze/freeze dry your mealworms properly? I usually always have enough worms even during the winter, but I am just curious.

 

[hannakat]

crazy huhn ~ Hi! I'm not sure yet. Gonna have to experiment to find out. Last winter I bought 4 containers of freeze-dried meal worms so I hope to be able to do it also. I THINK freeze them first....might just leave them that way until I need them. Since I'm still months away from doing it, I haven't done the research yet.

I started out with only 1000+ worms and am worried that if I let these babies grow and pupate, I won't have enough live worms to feed throughout the winter. There's no doubt that I could be wrong though!

I could slow down the rate of growth in the single bin by putting them in the basement, and that's another option I guess.

How many do you estimate that you have? How many chickens are you feeding? When you sell them, do you count them?

Thanks so much for your input!

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Quote:
I thought I posted a reply but I don't see it. I was curious about freezing worms. Are you freezing full grown worms and then tossing those out to the chickens? How long would you keep them in the freezer? And what do you freeze them in?

 

[crazy huhn]

Quote:
My guess is that I have at least 500 K. And trust me you will be fine with just letting nature go its course by letting the babies grow and pupate, because you do want a continues supply. I probably started out with just about the same amount.

I am feeding 17 girls and they love the worms. Even the shy chickens come running when they see me with the worms.
And your last question: yes, crazy me does count out the worms when I sell them. I have tried and still do it occasionally with measure cups and digital scales, but I do take pride in whatever work I am doing and so all the worms I am selling have pretty much the same size, are all guaranteed alive when they leave my house, have a beautiful nice golden color and they come straight out of the breeding bin. They have never been refrigerated and are all fed organic bran, ground chicken feed and organic veggies. I have seen a competitor advertising 100% organically grown, but he feeds the cheap feed store bran which is fine but just not organic.

, . I have sold just 100 mealworms to a neighborhood kid with reptiles, but also 120, 000 to someone hosting a fishing tournament (counting those worms has taken me a loooonnnngggg time....). But my practices seem to be good: I do have customers coming back over and over again. I always give a minimum of 10% free Extras and believe it or not, one customer comes back each and every month for 10,000 worms and drives 240 miles round trip for it. I guess I am doing something right. It actually has become fun to breed the worms for me, make a little extra money on the side and meet some incredible interesting people this way.

 

[Sus]

Please, excuss my newness......Freeze Mealworms?????
I hadn't heard of this. I've just started raising mealworms for our little flock but to freeze extras would be a wonderful way to control numbers!
Would you mind explaining?? How long can you freeze them? thaw them before feeding to hens, I presume???
Thanks for your help.

 

[Chickangel79]

Ok, fine, you lot win. I can process chickens but I don't like mealworms, or beetles.

I have read all 56 pages, much to my childrens insistence that they are hungry, (remind me to feed them )

BUT I AM GOING TO DO THIS.

You're all cruel lol.

 

[Klwright1122]

Ok...I read and read and read....I read one post which linked me to an older meal worm post and then found this one--55 pages long...so I read the first 15 and then skipped to the last 10 or so...this is fascinating and something I really want to do.... It seems relatively simple but some people have multiple stage bins that I can't seem to get my head around--I'm sure it's not nearly as difficult as I am thinking...

The top drawer with the screen holds mature beetles who lay their eggs and they falls through to the drawer below....there they hatch and feed until they are larger worms...where some are harvested and/or frozen for chickens...the rest are left their to pupate into more beetles..and then those beetles are hand picked out of the bin and moved back up to the top? Is this right?? Is yhere a third drawer? How time intensive is this moving of things around??

I saw some pics posted on here where bins had sheets of newspaper on top of the bedding. What's the purpose of the paper?

I get the impression that egg cartons provide a place for the beetles to lay eggs? I guess this isn't used in the drawer method?

If I choose to do a bin with all levels of development...how hard is it to harvest? Do most just scoop out whatever you get and put in fridge since the chickens will eat every stage, dead or alive?

When the oats and grain seem to look low (less than 4 inches thick) we just poor more in--on top--or do I need to worry about taking precautions in not smothering the colony?

Do I stop feeding them when they pupate in to the second stage..that white thing before a beetle.?

Ok...I am also concerned about gnats, fruit flies, and ants...etc. It is pretty humid here in Lillian. I plan on putting a lid on it. Anyone
have problems with this? I plan on keeping it in my barn/garage... My husband will kill me if his work area becomes infested with gnats
while he is working...he already puts up with my worm bin!!!

Ok..that's probably enuff ?s for now... Now to research a worm supplier that won't cost an arm and a leg to ship.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
I can answer some of your questions, but not about the multiple drawer method of raising them. I use a single bin method, mostly because I'm lazy when it comes to raising mealworms. I don't know if there is any difference in productivity between the two methods, there aren't any data on that as far as I know (I think it would be interesting to have). Hopefully others will help in this area.

I saw some pics posted on here where bins had sheets of newspaper on top of the bedding. What's the purpose of the paper?

I get the impression that egg cartons provide a place for the beetles to lay eggs? I guess this isn't used in the drawer method?

I don't use newspaper but I do use egg cartons. It seems to increase beetle activity during the day time and gives them an area to socialize.

If I choose to do a bin with all levels of development...how hard is it to harvest? Do most just scoop out whatever you get and put in fridge since the chickens will eat every stage, dead or alive?

Well, that depends on a number of factors. When I was raising mealworms in a more leisurely manner I'd put a potato in there and they'd be so hungry (because I hadn't fed them in a week or more) that they'd bite on to the potato and I just shake them off into a container. Now that I'm trying to increase production for the chickens I'm keeping vegetables in there all the time and this method is less effective. So, lately I've been just picking them out by hand; I don't mess with the dead ones.

When the oats and grain seem to look low (less than 4 inches thick) we just poor more in--on top--or do I need to worry about taking precautions in not smothering the colony?

Do I stop feeding them when they pupate in to the second stage..that white thing before a beetle.?

I use bran and just dump it on top of everything, they don't mind. The pupae don't eat, but you have to provide beetles something to eat as soon as they emerge.

Ok...I am also concerned about gnats, fruit flies, and ants...etc. It is pretty humid here in Lillian. I plan on putting a lid on it. Anyone
have problems with this? I plan on keeping it in my barn/garage... My husband will kill me if his work area becomes infested with gnats
while he is working...he already puts up with my worm bin!!!

If you put a lid on it that limits air exchange, expect trouble. Maybe you can make a screen lid for your container that would limit access by anything fruit-fly sized or larger but allow for the free exchange of air? Also, fruit flies won't be a problem if you don't feed fruit. Fortunately, I haven't yet had ants discover my colonies, which is rather surprising. Good luck!​