Mealworm farming

[sonally]

I think a watched meal worm never pupates! I "worried" at my meal worms for weeks... I decided to somewhat ignore them and they went crazy! That was late summer.Now I am on the second generation and I have a zillion babies! Remember that they seem to like darkness... so I keep 2 -3 layers of newspaper (misted with water when the weather is dry (rarely) or the heat is on (often, lately!). Good luck! I know my girls will enjoy my farming efforts when the snow is here to stay and other buggy treats are unavailable !

 

[dlee]

Quote:
That mostly depends on temps, the warmer the colony is the faster they eat, molt, grow.

Just thought I'd let you all know what I've done because I have about 60 hens & roos. I live in East Tx. & it freezes a few times in the winter. I stopped the 3 drawer system so I could grow more worms, so I could cut down on buying $$$ feed. I now have a wooden box 5ft. x 2 & 1/2ft. x 6 inches deep. I have about 3 to 4 inches of wheat bran. The box is lined with plastic liner. I bought 5000 worms last month & will order 5000 more this month plus I put in all the ones from the 3 draws. All I feed them are potatoes, apples & celery. To keep them warm during cold weather I cover part of the wheat bran with heating pads. That way they can get close to the pads or farther away, what ever amount of heat they want. I'll try to upload a pic but I never did it ( hope it works ). The pic is in my profile or somewhere. along with a pic of me & my mules.

I'm just an old farmer & mule skinner, not a computer guy.

. Just can't get the pics where I want them ???

I can click on "uploads" at the top of this page & the pics are there. Hope you can find them.

 

[Kassaundra]

Couple of questions dlee, where is your box inside or outside? Is your box on the ground or on legs / table? How many are you planning on harvesting per day? Do you plan to replace layer feed w/ mealies entirely or just cut back on layer feed?

 

[dlee]

Quote:
Hi Kassaundra, My box is in a carport type tent outside. I have lots of insulation around the box. A few weeks ago it got down to 34 degrees & the worms were fine. The box sits on legs about waist high. I will feed lots of worms along with milo & veggies from our garden & greenhouse plus kitchen scraps. Right now I can only feed a small amount of worms a day but planning to increase as the worms reproduce more. The layer feed is getting way too expensive here as we are retired & living on very small income. We are trying very hard to become as selfsupporting as we can. I have the mules saddle broke & trying to train them to pull the plow & wagon. Wish me luck, as the only animals ever I've had were dogs many years ago.

We welcome all the suggestion we can get. Been following this thread from day one, so learned lots already.

 

[oneofseven]

Quote:
Hi Kassaundra, My box is in a carport type tent outside. I have lots of insulation around the box. A few weeks ago it got down to 34 degrees & the worms were fine. The box sits on legs about waist high. I will feed lots of worms along with milo & veggies from our garden & greenhouse plus kitchen scraps. Right now I can only feed a small amount of worms a day but planning to increase as the worms reproduce more. The layer feed is getting way too expensive here as we are retired & living on very small income. We are trying very hard to become as selfsupporting as we can. I have the mules saddle broke & trying to train them to pull the plow & wagon. Wish me luck, as the only animals ever I've had were dogs many years ago.

We welcome all the suggestion we can get. Been following this thread from day one, so learned lots already.

Hi and welcome to the Wild World of Worms.

 

[CluckyJay]

Who is feeding their mealies garlic? I added some organic garlic bulbs to their in and they are just swarming it.

 

[ipana]

Who is feeding their mealies garlic? I added some organic garlic bulbs to their in and they are just swarming it.

Very interesting, Cluckyjay. What is the benefit for doing this? Perhaps, chickens with bad breath?

No, seriously, if there is some value, it would be worth looking into it. Garlic is not cheap, even though I grow my own. I may prefer to make some Asian dish rather than let the worms have it. Share your thoughts when you get a chance.​

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Quote:
Never thought to add garlic bulbs. We plant them or use them in cooking.

Nifty idea though. I will try that.

 

[Kassaundra]

Quote:
Hi Kassaundra, My box is in a carport type tent outside. I have lots of insulation around the box. A few weeks ago it got down to 34 degrees & the worms were fine. The box sits on legs about waist high. I will feed lots of worms along with milo & veggies from our garden & greenhouse plus kitchen scraps. Right now I can only feed a small amount of worms a day but planning to increase as the worms reproduce more. The layer feed is getting way too expensive here as we are retired & living on very small income. We are trying very hard to become as selfsupporting as we can. I have the mules saddle broke & trying to train them to pull the plow & wagon. Wish me luck, as the only animals ever I've had were dogs many years ago.

We welcome all the suggestion we can get. Been following this thread from day one, so learned lots already.

Being on legs is good, that way if/when the ants find it you can put legs in a dish w/ oil or water to keep them out of the bin, I would do it profilactically if it were me especially w/ the bin outside. Do you have a "plan b" if you lose power in the winter? How much kitchen / garden scraps will you have in the winter?

 

[CluckyJay]

Garlic is a natural immune system booster. It is also repelling fruit flies from my bins.

I have about ten billion plants growing all over my place so cost isn't a factor. I know when my tooth gets infected garlic gets rid of the infection pretty quickly. I don't think it would alter the taste of eggs or meat since its just a gob added to a meal worm bin. The mealies sure as heck like it though, I was surprised.