Mealworm farming

[CluckyJay]

It is working for me. I used toilet paper, LOL. They love it and nobody gets moldy. I just put it on a piece of freezer paper to prevent it wetting the substrate. The beetles like hiding under the paper too. Since adding that, I have more beetles than I can count! Can't wait to start seeing babies, hehe.

 

[cityhermit]

They are so prolific! I've been raising them for quite a while now. I use the drawer setups, as well as larger sterilite boxes that can slide right under the bed. I've found they do very well on layer feed and so I'm using that exclusively for their bedding, along with carrots for moisture.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
The density refers to the number of larvae per unit volume. For example, 2 mealworms/cup of wheat bran would experience a lower density than would 100 mealworms/cup of wheat bran. Through social interactions and chemical cues, the larvae gain information about how many others there are around them. Presumably, they begin gathering this information at a very young age and the signals accumulate throughout larval development. If a mealworm were to develop throughout it's larval period in high density conditions and then you put it into isolation right at pupation, it has information telling it that the population is dense, even though it is in isolation. Therefore, you would expect it to prepare for a dense population as an adult and be darker colored. Does that make sense?

 

[LibertyChick]

Quote:
The density refers to the number of larvae per unit volume. For example, 2 mealworms/cup of wheat bran would experience a lower density than would 100 mealworms/cup of wheat bran. Through social interactions and chemical cues, the larvae gain information about how many others there are around them. Presumably, they begin gathering this information at a very young age and the signals accumulate throughout larval development. If a mealworm were to develop throughout it's larval period in high density conditions and then you put it into isolation right at pupation, it has information telling it that the population is dense, even though it is in isolation. Therefore, you would expect it to prepare for a dense population as an adult and be darker colored. Does that make sense?

Sounds very technical. It doesn't matter to me. I have tons of black and brown beetles, previously a very light color.

How long is it after the beetle emerges as a beetle that they can mate and lay eggs?

 

[In His Service]

OK, I have lurked long enough....My mealworms (and a bunch of pupae and beetles) arrived today.

Thanks, crazy huhn.

 

[crazy huhn]

Quote:
You are very welcome. I hope they all made it safe and sound. And once again the USPS was faster than its reputation - I am very pleased with that.
Good luck with your mealworm farming, from now on your chickens will love you even more.

 

[In His Service]

Crazy huhn...I think I saw 2 worms that might have gotten smushed by the egg carton, but as far as I could tell, all the others were alive and kicking. That's a lot of worms. The pupae were alive and well too, one was becoming a beetle just as we opened the box ... cool! The beetles were very active as well. None of them were near as icky to handle as I thought they would be.

I even had beetles crawling on my fingers. Would have posted pics, but just got my new cell phone and my son was learning how to do everything on it, so he can teach me, lol.

Thanks again.

 

[TerryLou]

Woo Hoo !

Even though I had to start all over again (son baked the worms in the sun), we got our first beetls last night. 2 beetles & one that was shedding it's pupa skin as we watched !

 

[hannakat]

In His Service ~ Yea! Let the fun begin. I'm really glad we have crazy huhn in our group!


TerryLou ~ That didn't take you long!

Meal worm farming is a great thing to share with kids. They really get into it, and I'm sure your son is learning a lot about caring for living things through this! If you live where it gets cold, please let him know that they will die when frozen too!!

Just a little forewarning!

 

[TerryLou]

He should have known better...I guess I forgot to mention he is 19 ! Anyway, he I & my 3yr old Grandaughter have almost as much fun with the mealworms as we do the chickens !