Mealworm production - egg stage

[Maddog_photog]

Hey y’all!
I’ve got a mealworm farm production going. I’ve gotten all my starter mealworms through the worm stage... I have about 4 or 5 pupae and a boat-load of beetles. I just took all the beetles out of one bin and put them into new quarters. I’m leaving the prior old bin and substrate alone, as to allow any eggs which might be present to incubate and hatch. My concerns are 1) how will I know when they have hatched, 2) would the worms that emerge from the eggs need access to potato/carrot/apple/hydration immediately or can they wait a few hours to a day depending on when I notice them? Also, 3) could I have squished my eggs searching for beetles?

 

[Chickinie]

You will probably only be able to notice them hatched when you watch the bran very carefully for visual disturbance, then maybe if you look with a magnifying glass you might see them! Mealworm eggs take 4-19 days to hatch - they could already be hatched in there. It's best you keep something moist in the container for them. I doubt that you managed to squash any eggs because they are so tiny. You would need a microscope to see freshly hatched ones.