Mealworm farming

[TrystInn]

I have a cabinet above my hot water heater that is warmer than most of the house, so that is where I plan to put the boxes.
Hopefully that is a suggestion that you can use.

I'd have to hang a cupboard over the woodstove! Let me know how it goes!​

 

[oneofseven]

I would think so. They only get to the 80s or 90s. If you can handle it with your bare hand, it should be good.

 

[oneofseven]

I found my first baby wormies. Ican't wait till they get bigger.

 

[binders]

Got my 2000+ worms today. I now have a fairly fun bottom drawer that is squirming around!

I transferred the beatles from my single bin into the top draw also. Hopefully I will see some movement in the middle draw sometime soon.
I do have a question about the middle drawer/top drawer. Do you have do move/shake the substrate in the top drawer to get the little worms and eggs to fall through, or is the movement of the beatles enough to stir things around and let the little larva and eggs fall through the screen?

 

[binders]

Quote:
It's a good day!

 

[oneofseven]

Quote:
From what I've seen on youtube, they just fall through.

 

[hannakat]

Quote:
I used the same size as our window screens...don't know the exact measurement for the openings...sorry!


Quote:
Lots of hope!!

They will still develop, just slower. Put them on your dryer from time to time for a boost....or in a sunny window maybe???

Amy ~ Sounds like you have it under control!! Yea! DH really is a big help with brain storming. Sooner or later one of you will come up with a perfect solution.

 

[hannakat]

Quote:

Quote:
Try it and let us know.... maybe put it in a tin of some sort and set the farm on it??? Do some experimenting and let us with colder homes know what you find.

Quote:
It's the movement of the beetles. The majority of eggs and wee wormies fall through but there are still some that don't. Everytime I was in the top drawer, I'd pick up the carrot (or whatever) and catch the worms, scooping them up quickly and transfering them to the second drawer. Some still evaded me .... and grew up living with the beetles.

 

[Kassaundra]

Just thought I'd share a little info going on, on another thread regarding meal worms. A poster or two on another thread have noticed that when they feed their chickens mealies the egg shell color darkens and brightens. They have commented on this happening several times when they would run out of mealies to feed the girls a couple of days later their eggs would change color then when they would start feeding them mealies again the eggs would change back to the darker / brighter colors.

Anyone notice this w/ their laying chickens and mealies?

It seems that high copper content food (such as quinoa) might darken/brighten the blue/green egg color, and so I did some research and found out mealies are actually pretty high in copper (and calcium) content, so that could explain changes in the colored eggs (maybe) but a whole other chemical (from the blood not the liver) is responsible for the brown, so not sure how that is affected. Anyway just curious.

 

[hannakat]

Quote:
I'm just dense..... I still don't understand what is 'hatching' and dying. Is the pupae dying or the beetles dying? If it's the pupae, I'll repeat...."Try putting the pupae into a small container (butter/cottage cheese/Tupperware) with a 1/4" layer of bran. Lay a piece of newspaper or bit of egg carton in there and then lay a small bit of lettuce/dandelion/kale leaf on that. Close the lid. Check it every day for the beetles, removing the beetles as you find them."

Let us know what you end up doing/finding out!!