Mealworm farming

[binders]

I have loads of pupae who have not turned into beetles and we are in our 4th / 5th week of my farm could they be dead, or is it still to cold here, its spring and has not been that warm ? I keep looking hoping they have hatched into beetles but still nothing. Advice please thanks Julie

Are your pupae still an off white or have they turn dark brown/black? If still a light shade (not white but not dark) then they are most probably still good and just need more time. At the beginning of this thread are some pictures of healthy, live pupae. See Hannakat's page at https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/mealworm-fam-experiences. She has posted some really good pictures. Hope this helps.

 

[Johann T]

hy, if mealworms are a concern for some of us, how good or easy or practical is to raise earthworms? I know the fertilizer coming from this guys is great! and I can use it in my vegetable garden ... any comments?

 

[hemet dennis]

hy, if mealworms are a concern for some of us, how good or easy or practical is to raise earthworms? I know the fertilizer coming from this guys is great! and I can use it in my vegetable garden ... any comments?

Earthworms SHOULD be raised outside and you only harvest 3 or 4 times a year. So exposure to anything bad would be minimal.

 

[hemet dennis]

hy, if mealworms are a concern for some of us, how good or easy or practical is to raise earthworms? I know the fertilizer coming from this guys is great! and I can use it in my vegetable garden ... any comments?

And

from Hemet.

 

[taylorashleyd]

hy, if mealworms are a concern for some of us, how good or easy or practical is to raise earthworms? I know the fertilizer coming from this guys is great! and I can use it in my vegetable garden ... any comments?

Earthworms aren't the best if you are looking for a species of worm that makes castings for the garden since they don't consume much kitchen waster. Red wrigglers and night crawlers (except european) are much better options as they reproduce quickly and like to eat. I raised red wrigglers for years. I just put them in a dark box with bedding of shredded newspaper then added a pound of kitchen scraps a week and away they went. Red wrigglers are a little easier to keep since they can survive in a wider temperature range (50-110 I think). Some species of nightcrawlers have a smaller temp range (like african nightcrawlers which is 75-110). Nightcrawlers get nice long and fat though to sell as fishing bait or feed to animals. Red wrigglers don't get near as fat and usually grow only a couple inches.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

My Garden is loaded with Red Wrigglers and the pullets love to comb through it and hunt for worms.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Purchased a 3 drawer bin system - I want to get it all setup and then order some mealyworms. My chicks love them so much but they cost me $15/each every time I head out to TSC.

So I think I understand what I need to do for the top two bins - Bin#1 is for pupae and beetles their eggs will hatch in the substrate and drop through the screen into Bin #2 where they will grow into small worms. Then I see that Bin#3 is for large worms - but how do the worms get from Bin#2 into Bin#3? And is it really necessary to separate the large from the small?

My son has agreed to help me with this project as his way to earn summer money and to offset the fact that I prefer the mealyworms to be freeze dried rather then live.

 

[freshfish]

Let me rephrase, I thought I had grain mites but after looking at pictures, dont think thats it. I have small brown bugs in my meal worm colony and in my wheat bran supply. I read you have to destroy and completely start over to get rid of them. My question is what harm will they do the meal worms? Why must you get rid of them?

Thanks, John

 

[wolftracks]

Purchased a 3 drawer bin system - I want to get it all setup and then order some mealyworms. My chicks love them so much but they cost me $15/each every time I head out to TSC.

So I think I understand what I need to do for the top two bins - Bin#1 is for pupae and beetles their eggs will hatch in the substrate and drop through the screen into Bin #2 where they will grow into small worms. Then I see that Bin#3 is for large worms - but how do the worms get from Bin#2 into Bin#3? And is it really necessary to separate the large from the small?

My son has agreed to help me with this project as his way to earn summer money and to offset the fact that I prefer the mealyworms to be freeze dried rather then live.

My 16 yr old and his friend were supposed to be doing the same thing, but my son leaves to spend the summer with his dad (cringe) and work his summer job and his friend has a summer job.

BUT!!!!! After all my attempts I just want to say......................


I HAVE A BEETLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just one, but this is futhur than I have gotten before. I haven't spent any time with them really and I have everything in one container, but there's a lot of shed skin and I can see all the game bird crumbles constantly moving and that little bugger walking around on top. FINALLY!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I have grain mites in my meal worm colony and I read you have to destroy and completely start over to get rid of them. My question is what harm will they do the meal worms? Why must you get rid of them?

Thanks, John

Hi John, sorry you have to deal with this, grain mites are a nuisance. They don't directly harm the mealworms, they eat the substrate and diminish it's value as food to the mealworms. They can also move out and make a mess--any grain product is at risk--including your chicken feed. I really wouldn't recommend destroying the colony to rid them, at least until you've tried some other methods. If you can get the humidity in the colony down below 60% or so they can't reproduce and they'll eventually die off. I realize that might be easier said than done where you live (although I see that the humidity in San Antonio is only 37% right now, I suppose it matters just how far south of SA you are). You can start by removing all vegetable matter. Your mealworms will be fine for a couple weeks without it. I have a faint memory of a grain mite outbreak we had more than twenty years ago in our colonies that we successfully treated. We needed the 20 odd colonies we had so we used the tendency for the mites to go towards the light against them. We kept the lights off in the mealworm room and put an incandescent light a couple feet away from the colony and vacuumed up all mites that were attracted to the light over a series of days. My memory of that is poor though. Others here also have experience with them, including WestKnollAmy, so hopefully they'll share their experiences. Good luck!