Mealworm farming

[andrea98]

So I was able to cancel my order from Uncle Jim's and I placed one with ExoticNutrition which shipped out today! I'm getting excited about starting my mealworm farm! I got everything set up, just waiting for them to get here!

Ok how many & how much ?

 

[lolita117]

3,000 for $34.00 (With shipping). Uncle Jims was $28.00 with shipping, so it wasn't much more for an actual reliable source.

Ok how many & how much ?

 

[FrenchToast]

So exciting to hear all the great news.
I am glad my web page has been inspirational and I am soon to add another video when DH gets his rear in gear.
We continue to add bins all the time and keep working to make things easier for harvesting....although.....the chickens really say they can help us if we would just let them.

I just visited your website again (did so about two months ago too) and am going to start out my mealworm farm within the next few days. I bought some mealworms from Foster & Smith's Pet Store in town.
I have a few questions. Do you put newspaper down before you put in the wheatbran ? Do you put a layer of newspaper over the wheatbran as well or just on top or ????
Another question I have is do you put the cover on the lids of your containers? I was thinking I would put the covers on and drill holes for air?
I'm going to start out in just a plastic shoe box or a sweater box until they get going. I'm thinking about putting them in a closet to keep them in the dark.
We only keep our heat at about 63 degrees. Do you think perhaps I should put a cookie tin heater type thing under them to speed things up?

Wish I could remember everything I read a few months ago. I was all gung ho about starting but got busy with other chicken related things and I just hate to have to re read all of the posts !! It sucks getting old !!! LOL
Thanks

 

[onafixedincome]

Starting out is actually as easy as it sounds. Dump about 2 inches of wheat bran in a container with slick sides and toss a couple of hunks of carrot or potato in. Dump your mealies in the box, put the lid on (yep, drilling or melting holes is a good idea), and off you go!

As long as your humidity stays on the low side, grain mites aren't much of an issue, nor will fungus be. (Generally speaking.)

I just go through 'em all every day or two and pull out deads and pupae. Pupae go in a second box with wheat bran and another hunk of veggie. I check that every couple of days to add pupae and remove beetles. Beetles go in a third box of substrate (wheat bran) and will be getting swapped to fresh substrate every six weeks or so. The old beetle substrate (with eggs) will be set aside as new bins and it all starts over again.

 

[galanie]

Regarding the water, I'm really not surprised they drank like that. I have a few layers of newspaper on top of the substrate in my bins and from time to time I dump about a tablespoon of water on the paper. Not all in one spot, across the paper so it soaks right in. They come running! I used to do about a teaspoon but every day and they were growing much faster than now, but then again it was warmer in here, too.

 

[critterrun]

I just go through 'em all every day or two and pull out deads and pupae. Pupae go in a second box with wheat bran and another hunk of veggie. I check that every couple of days to add pupae and remove beetles. Beetles go in a third box of substrate (wheat bran) and will be getting swapped to fresh substrate every six weeks or so. The old beetle substrate (with eggs) will be set aside as new bins and it all starts over again.

Hi do I have to put them in differnt boxs

I have mine all in one big one

did I do it wrong???

mine are eatting alot right now
hope that means they will give me a gift soon :')

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Quote:
You should do fine. It isn't very hard. And in the months that you Farm your colony you will learn a lot from them. No matter what you read it all depends on what your situation is like. We can give tons of advice to help you but in the end, what you experiment with and see in your own colony will give you the best results.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Quote:
No, you can keep your colony all together if that works for you. I have a few bins of full colonies and they do fine. I only separate out if I need them for harvesting large amounts but to continue the life cycle I let beetles, pupae and mealies all stay together. It is pretty neat to watch. Those beetles are really busy creatures and some of the mealies seem to be training for races. And with the short daylight hours I seem to have too much time so spend it watching my bins. LOL

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

No, you can keep your colony all together if that works for you. I have a few bins of full colonies and they do fine. I only separate out if I need them for harvesting large amounts but to continue the life cycle I let beetles, pupae and mealies all stay together. It is pretty neat to watch. Those beetles are really busy creatures and some of the mealies seem to be training for races. And with the short daylight hours I seem to have too much time so spend it watching my bins. LOL

I had beetle races with my grandkids! I made a quarter-sized circle on a piece of cardboard as the starting area, then a 6-8" circle around it as the finish line. First beetle to cross the large circle wins!

 

[wolftracks]

These things are just eating non stop and getting bigger. Kind of like my chickens. Always eating and never getting anything back. I'm a failure on all counts. Morph! Darn it!