Mealworm farming

[gale65]

Do they like celery? Normally I have lettuce that they seem to love, but my dd miscalculated how long it would last (we actually buy it for our rabbits) and we are out. I put some parsley in there but then noticed the celery I bought for thanksgiving dinner and wondered if they would like that...

 

[anklebiter]

Quote:
Thanks for the reply. I wasn't too concerned with the deformed beetles, I never bothered with them. If they live and produce, fine. If not, the others will 'take care' of them. Sure, the 1 bin method is easier. I wouldn't mind being more 'hands on' with these guys if the results were worth it, I already have the 3-drawer bin and plenty of aluminum window screen. It won't cost me a thing to setup a 3-drawer bin system for the mealies. It would actually be a slightly smaller version of the 3-drawer system I use for Superworms. I know first hand it works great for Supers.

Amy - that's pretty cool, I never thought of giving them pumpkin. I don't see why not though. Mine actually enjoy clover from the yard. They seem to like it more than carrots.

 

[andrea98]

Ok so what exactally is the screen for ?.. I got that you put it in the top drawer & than what ,,, do the eggs fall thru? So in the top are beetles right ? Than when do you move them to the bottom shelf? I'm so lost here ...

lol feel free to

 

[onafixedincome]

If you aren't sure that they might like something, by all means, try it!

Just make sure it's either peeled or REALLY clean if there's any possibility that it was sprayed.

Heck, I didn't have anything else when I got my latest batch and tossed in hunks of a broken up pomegranate; turns out they love the white stuff but don't particularly like those yummy seeds, although they'll suck 'em dry if they must.

Everything I've given them so far has gone down eventually (yep, I've been doing this what, a week now?? LOL!

)--parsley stems were considered primo, celery stems (these aren't commercial celery, a friend grew them for seed, so they're pretty small stems), pomegranate and apple cores, although the applecores were only 'eh' and had to be pulled before they started to rot.

Have a place I can get mealies for eight bucks a thousand over 3K, but thinking hard about space and the utter fascination shown by the cats over the noises from the bin...flashbacks of Amy on her hands and knees vacuuming up mealies....hm....

 

[anklebiter]

Quote:
Ok, here's the rough process. Mind you there are plenty of YouTube videos on making these, and will show/describe them better than I can here.

The bottom of the top drawer is cut out, leaving about a 3/4" lip of plastic on the bottom. The aluminum screen wire is glued to this lip with hot glue. Basically a drawer with a predominately screen bottom. The bedding 2" deep allows the beetles to remain in the upper area of the bedding, since they don't burrow very deeply. The eggs fall down into the substrate (oats in my case) and some will actually fall into the drawer below it. The main purpose is that the newly hatched worms instinctively burrow down - protecting them from possibly being eaten by the beetles. When the burrow down, they fall into the second drawer - separating themselves from the beetles automatically. About once a month or so, I'll take the contents of the 2nd drawer (small supers/newborns/eggs) and move them to the bottom to grow out. The bottom drawer, being empty, is then placed into the middle section (with a thin layer of bedding) for the process to start over. Occasionally i'll take the contents of the bottom drawer and move them to a larger growing tub, so as to allow continued monthly rotation of the 2nd and 3rd drawer.

As I said in my first post in this thread, i'm using this process for Superworms (Zophobas Morio), but many are now using this process for Mealworms as well. It does work, and less chance of cannibalism using this method. More work and more 'hands on', but it really makes a difference with the Supers.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Quote:
Mine eat celery just fine. Lots of moisture in that food.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Okay! I had a call today from someone that said they heard you can make flour from mealies! That was a

and a

response from me. But hey, what you do with them after you buy them I don't care.

 

[andrea98]

Quote:
Ok, here's the rough process. Mind you there are plenty of YouTube videos on making these, and will show/describe them better than I can here.

The bottom of the top drawer is cut out, leaving about a 3/4" lip of plastic on the bottom. The aluminum screen wire is glued to this lip with hot glue. Basically a drawer with a predominately screen bottom. The bedding 2" deep allows the beetles to remain in the upper area of the bedding, since they don't burrow very deeply. The eggs fall down into the substrate (oats in my case) and some will actually fall into the drawer below it. The main purpose is that the newly hatched worms instinctively burrow down - protecting them from possibly being eaten by the beetles. When the burrow down, they fall into the second drawer - separating themselves from the beetles automatically. About once a month or so, I'll take the contents of the 2nd drawer (small supers/newborns/eggs) and move them to the bottom to grow out. The bottom drawer, being empty, is then placed into the middle section (with a thin layer of bedding) for the process to start over. Occasionally i'll take the contents of the bottom drawer and move them to a larger growing tub, so as to allow continued monthly rotation of the 2nd and 3rd drawer.

As I said in my first post in this thread, i'm using this process for Superworms (Zophobas Morio), but many are now using this process for Mealworms as well. It does work, and less chance of cannibalism using this method. More work and more 'hands on', but it really makes a difference with the Supers.

Thank you... I guess I didn't figure they would be small enuf to fit thru the holes in the screen ... I have a box that is a little bigger (maybe twice) of a shoe box with oats in it .. I'm gonna start there & when I get beetles I'm gonna go with the 3 drawer set up ... Is it natural to be excited about growing worms lol

 

[Kassaundra]

I will happily eat my mealies second hand, when I put my chickies eggs in my chocolate cake!

 

[oneofseven]

Quote:
Send me some when you do.