Mealworm farming

[hemet dennis]

Wish I was closer.

 

[deek]

Lunch Anyone? This is what happens when you don't worry too much about it. Feed them once a week, more often if remember, and viola.

 

[Scooter&Suzie]

Uggg... I just found some kind of really pale larva eating out of a potato I had in there. They really don't look like mealworms. I had seen some gnats, or some kind of small bug flying around for the past month or so. I really don't wanna dump it all out... I finally got to the point where I can harvest! What to do, what to do... Any ideas? I plan on getting out what I can, but after that...


FYI: I did NOT freeze out the wheat bran before I added some more. It is possible that maybe I added wheat bran that had eggs in it. What do you guys think?

 

[onafixedincome]

OK, wish I were closer, unless you want to ship them to me! (but given that it's going to be WELL over 100*F this weekend, probably not!) Darn!
********
Urban, you'll do just fine. I started mine with a few thousand from Petco last fall and had little/no heat this winter (house was in the 58-62 range), and they lived and throve nicely, resulting in two bins of 'wait and see the hatch' and one large bin of beetles (about 2500, if I recall correctly. Might have been as high as 5K.)

At this point in time, I sat down and really LOOKED at my colony, which moved out to the garage/feedroom this spring:
One bin beetles (several thousand).
Two bins 'wait and see the hatch' (ie, bran beetles were kept in for a month or so, then removed the beetles and there aren't any readily visible larva yet)
Three bins of close-to-pupating larvae--these are both my feeding outs and my breeding stock.
One deep bin of small/tiny mealies that I sat and counted out 2 cups of--about 1100 larvae per scoop. Fifteen scoops in the bin, nore or less, means I have some 15,000 mealies in just that one bin! Time to split it out into about five more bins.
Two small pans of larvae waiting to beetle out
Three large pans of larva at pupation stage to make it easier to find the pupae.

My advice? Use the containers you can get that fit where you need them (shallow ones can be stacked!) Fill about halfway or so with the wheat bran, then add about 1000 mealies per pan or so, so that there's room for growth. Toss 'em a carrot as needed and relax!

 

[Scooter&Suzie]

I right now have more mealworms than I need and was thinking of selling some on craigslist. What do you guys think is a reasonable price? Petco sells them for $21.24 for a 1,000, but that sounds like an awful lot of $$$$ to be asking for.


Here is what I was thinking, what adjustments would you make?

Prices:
Each mealworm – $0.05
50 mealworms - $2.00
100 mealworms – $3.00
500 mealworms – $8.00
1,000 mealworms – $12.00
Each pupa - $0.10
10 pupa - $2.00
25 pupa - $3.00
50 pupa - $4.00

 

[hemet dennis]

I right now have more mealworms than I need and was thinking of selling some on craigslist. What do you guys think is a reasonable price? Petco sells them for $21.24 for a 1,000, but that sounds like an awful lot of $$$$ to be asking for.


Here is what I was thinking, what adjustments would you make?

Prices:
Each mealworm – $0.05
50 mealworms - $2.00
100 mealworms – $3.00
500 mealworms – $8.00
1,000 mealworms – $12.00

If you feel that those prices fairly compensate you for your time and cost and provide for some profit then go for it. Good luck

 

[onafixedincome]

Uggg... I just found some kind of really pale larva eating out of a potato I had in there. They really don't look like mealworms. I had seen some gnats, or some kind of small bug flying around for the past month or so. I really don't wanna dump it all out... I finally got to the point where I can harvest! What to do, what to do... Any ideas? I plan on getting out what I can, but after that...

Remember that freshly-molted mealies are really super pale for a while! As for the flyers...you can put flypaper in the general area, or even stick it to the underside of the bin lid, perhaps. But a hint? Make sure that no matter what, you can't get it stuck in your hair as you move around!! No amount of mineral oil can make getting the goo out, fun..........

ETA...If you have a zillion extras, don't forget winter is coming and you may wind up kicking yourself for not freezing them....I just put them in ziploc baggie and toss 'em in the freezer....

 

[DurbanGirl]

For those that use the one container method - how do you clean out the bin without losing eggs/microscopic larva? Do you clean out the frass...or just continue to add new bedding from time to time?

 

[Scooter&Suzie]

For those that use the one container method - how do you clean out the bin without losing eggs/microscopic larva? Do you clean out the frass...or just continue to add new bedding from time to time?

I just got a wire shifter to take the mealworms out of the wheat bran. I plan on then putting them in a new container with fresh wheat bran and allowing the old bin to sit for the eggs to hatch, then shift through and get the mealies, until I get no more after a month or so.

 

[DurbanGirl]

I just got a wire shifter to take the mealworms out of the wheat bran. I plan on then putting them in a new container with fresh wheat bran and allowing the old bin to sit for the eggs to hatch, then shift through and get the mealies, until I get no more after a month or so.

I was trying to come up with a much more complicated solution - so glad I asked...thank you!