When you start this meal worm farming, the best thing is not to over think it. These are tough insects. So this is what I do. Use 1 large plastic bin. Throw in your crumbled chicken feed, oatmeal, bran(start with wheat germ from the kmart)and carrots or celery. Not to much greenstuff. You want it to disappear rather quickly. You don't want mold. Next add mealworms. They will level mix, burrow under things and make themselves at home. Now watch you worm and enjoy. They will do their thing without you. If you start with a simple system it is much less intense. Later as time goes on you can experiment with your bin . Worm farming is fun and addictive.
On that note, my husband was disgusted with my determination to worm farm. He tolerated my obsession but certainly didn't encourage it!! So as the worms pupatedI began a beetle bin to see what would happen. Every morning I would hunt for pupa, put them in the beetle bin and watch. Then one am my husband got up before me and I found HIM hunting in MY bin. This am he got up first and when I came into the kitchen(yes, they live in my kitchen on my counter) he proudly announced "I found 115 pupae this morning!!!". Give your family time to acclimate.
I use paper towel cardboard rolls to collect the worms. They seem to like crawling into the tubes. It is easy to upend the rolls and collect the worms into a container to gut load.
I bought 10,000 worms 2 weeks ago for around $100. They are more robust than those from the pet store and finally I was able to feed a decent meal of worms to my girls. I'm careful about the numbers that I feed since i want to have plenty through the year. I want to have a self-sustaining farm like some on here.
Gotta run now. Going to walmart to buy another bin. My husband was giving me advice about buying another bin to begin another colony. This from the man who told me not to be rediculous just a few monthe ago!! Have fun,Lynn
On that note, my husband was disgusted with my determination to worm farm. He tolerated my obsession but certainly didn't encourage it!! So as the worms pupatedI began a beetle bin to see what would happen. Every morning I would hunt for pupa, put them in the beetle bin and watch. Then one am my husband got up before me and I found HIM hunting in MY bin. This am he got up first and when I came into the kitchen(yes, they live in my kitchen on my counter) he proudly announced "I found 115 pupae this morning!!!". Give your family time to acclimate.
I use paper towel cardboard rolls to collect the worms. They seem to like crawling into the tubes. It is easy to upend the rolls and collect the worms into a container to gut load.
I bought 10,000 worms 2 weeks ago for around $100. They are more robust than those from the pet store and finally I was able to feed a decent meal of worms to my girls. I'm careful about the numbers that I feed since i want to have plenty through the year. I want to have a self-sustaining farm like some on here.
Gotta run now. Going to walmart to buy another bin. My husband was giving me advice about buying another bin to begin another colony. This from the man who told me not to be rediculous just a few monthe ago!! Have fun,Lynn
