Mealworm farming

[jwcutt]

does anyone get powdery little spots on the side of their container, dont think its mites, or any of the other horrids, my feeling its just powder from the fras and wheat bran, but its hard to tell... I first thought it may be eggs but its clean about an inch above the substrate then the spots start... also thought it may be eggs at first then rethunk it and realized they cant get up that far LOL...

 

[hannakat]

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Doesn't sound like anything.... what do you use for substrate? The plastic seems to get 'charged' and you'll often find shed exoskeleton hanging about on the sides.

Can't be eggs and not mites. The colonies are dusty so it's probably just substrate dust.

 

[oneofseven]

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Yea! I love it when I see the 'earth move' in the colony! Love it when I hear it before I can see it too.

With my small colonies, if DH messed with them, he'd get his hands smacked!!

This is the only farm I can take care of myself.... thankyouverymuch.... so let me at it!! hahaaa

I'm so glad they're keeping up with demand. Any feedback about the 'designer' bags? teeheee

Might have a SMALL issue in my second drawer developing....found

mites

Under a piece of uneaten apple, I found a pile of what I thought was mold so I scooped it out into another container. I was inspecting it for any scooped wee wormies when I noticed even SMALLER things moving about in there. Yep...mites. (shhhhh...ain't saying the word out loud.) I'm thinking that because of the moisture from the apple, and the current house temps, I managed to get the right conditions for mites going. They are in the wheat bran that I had in the freezer but did not nuke.

Checked the other containers and didn't find anything else so I'm thinking it's just the one and it was moved to the oven as well....warm and dry.... we shall see... not too worried at the moment cause I couldn't find any more than what was in that 'pile'.

Glad to read where mealie farmers are getting up and running.

So many happy chickadees!

Hope it turns out well. After you heat up the substrate try putting some air circulation to keep it dry. That's what I was told.

 

[jwcutt]

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Doesn't sound like anything.... what do you use for substrate? The plastic seems to get 'charged' and you'll often find shed exoskeleton hanging about on the sides.

Can't be eggs and not mites. The colonies are dusty so it's probably just substrate dust.

thats what i was thinking but just wanted to see if others experienced the same thing... yeah ive noticed the plastic gets charged much more in the dry air of course, but even in the summer when the humidity is low... funny thing dryness LOL seems to static charge plastics...

 

[WestKnollAmy]

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LOL I do hate sharing my meal worm farming but with him out of work I suppose he wants to feel useful. I am hoping all goes well with out my strict over bearing self, micro managing his every move.

The meal worm farming does seem to keep you busy and delighted! Your DH can help with the chickens instead.

OMG! My DH is sitting in the kitchen talking to a bin he just put together last night. He pulled it up to him and is telling them the facts of life. Like they don't know what to do!

Thank goodness DD is out on a date!

I love the way you sent different colors and designs! I pick out a bag that fits close to the person that I am sending them to. Obviously a guy would not want pink on his bag whereas a lady may not want one of the bolder designs. You have made it a lot of fun! And when I advertised I said that you had made the designer bags. I am certainly enjoying them. I hope the meal worm recipients enjoy them, too. I did have one mishap with the new design from a member on here that got one. He got the surprise you did when he opened the box! I swear they are untying the darn things sometimes, though he said it was still tied. So somehow they are unfolding it so I have once again redoubled the material and loop numerous times while tying on each side.
I have thought I might have to eat more Egg Drop soup from the Chinese take out so I can use those plastic containers to ship in.

Oh, no! Not mites!!! That is the biggest pain to deal with. I hope you eradicated it already and it won't spread!

Keep us updated!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

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Awww! Thank you! That is so sweet! I do what I can to send plenty of extras and make everyone happy.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

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Oh, well I thought when they were on the side near me that they wanted to be fed and talked to and when they are on the other side I figured I had bad breathe. But what do I know?

 

[anklebiter]

Ok, time for an update on my order from eBay seller Tastyworms.

The order arrived today via USPS Priority Mail. It was shipped out Wednesday instead of Tuesday, but no big deal.

The mealies (all 1750) were alive and fine, but many were loose in the box, and a few crawled out of the lower corner of the box. I don't have any idea how many I lost this way in shipping, but couldn't have been too many.

What happened was the mealies were packed in 2 Styrofoam cups with perf. lids. The mealies ate right through the cups in several places during shipping and were running rampant in the box itself. Not the best way to ship mealworms! There were also a few crumpled up sheets of newspaper in there (which were full of mealies too), I guess to keep the cups from bouncing around while in transit.

Sorry, no pics because the wife has the camera with her - but you get the idea...

Next time i'll order from Amy or someone on here. Sorry all!

 

[rachelcb80]

Just got my mealworm package from WestKnollAmy today! Thank you so much! Funny the first thing I read about when I came to this thread was the "designer bags" because that's the first thing I was going to comment on! Super, super cute! I was cautiously opening the box because I didn't know if there would be worms going everywhere and then I saw the bag. I was like, "What a great idea!". Thankfully my worms were not smart enough to have untied it and all were safely contained in the bag. I do a lot of sewing (mostly quilting but other home decor and garment stuff too) and I'm so using this bag idea for gift stuff if that's okay?

I had a question about the dreaded mites. I microwaved my wheat bran (feed store bran in a 50lb bag) for about a minute and then let it cool before putting my worms in it. I'm going to use a three drawer system but haven't gotten the screen put in the top drawer yet. Other than microwaving the bran, what else can I do to avoid mites? I'm in Mississippi and even in the dead of winter we have like 55% humidity going. Is that a level that will encourage mites? Any suggestions on ways to avoid them would be very appreciated!

 

[oneofseven]

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From what I've been told, they thrive on the moisture in the food. Just heat up the substrate like you did each time you add more. That should not be too often. They can't be eradicated completely from the house, because they are everywhere and like many things including cheeses and breads and powered foods.