MEALWORMS - Raising Them the Easy Way

[redhen]

okay...i need help here...i have a ton of the beetles now....and not many meal worms..(i started out with 500 meal worrms)..*must be because they all turned into the beetles?* so....now what do i do?

 

[vermontgal]

redhen - I think we are both waiting for the beetles to breed -- sound like you must have a lot more than I do - I definitely have a lot fewer than a ton.

The beetles will lay insect eggs, which will hatch into the mealworms. I'd love to know more about what to expect in this phase, too, and how long it will take!

Would it be a good idea to add some middle-aged meal worms now, before the beetles have their own babies, to have diversified ages? Or should I start a separate but parallel colony, with a different age-cycle?

 

[redhen]

Quote:
i hope someone chimes in here! thanks!

 

[basicliving]

It really depends on the temperature. It can take up to three weeks - BUT over the winter, our house is kept very cool, and all of mine went dormant. The beetles died off and it took about two months for me to start seeing the larvae. If the temps are 70 - 80, you could start seeing the larvae within a few days. But, if your temps are still cool like ours, it could take a lot longer.

 

[redhen]

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sooo, the beatles die? then the worms come? lol..i'm confused!

 

[ResidentEvilRock]

The warmer it is, the quicker the cycle happens. You take the beetles and put them in their own container with wheat bran. Then, they will lay eggs and soon more meal worms will hatch. Then take the beetles and put them in another container with new bran so they can make more worms. See where I'm going with this? Just keep the beetles moving to new bran so they can lay more eggs and you'll be fine.

 

[vermontgal]

I caught my mealworm beetles having sex in the kitchen in the middle of the afternoon today!

Thanks, ResidentEvilRock and basicliving, for your tips. Apparently it is warm enough for them, although it's only around 65°F in the house right now. (Outside, today, we had snow flurries most of the day.)

Redhen - do you understand the life cycle? or what are you confused about?

If you buy mealworms, they will eventually turn into pupae, and thence into beetles. Then the beetles mate, the female lays eggs, and the eggs hatch into meal worms. These new mealworms will turn into pupae, and thence into beetles. The new generation of beetles mate... (etc.)

While the chickens would be happy to eat these critters at any stage of the life cycle, most people feed the chickens mealworms -- maximize protein while minimizing the number lost along the way due to just not making it to adult hood (beetlehood).

 

[redhen]

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ooh, i thought it was a stork that brought babies!!! UGH! thanks for clearing that up for me!

 

[vermontgal]

Hey redhen - forgive me - didn't intend to be condescending?! I didn't know if you were getting confused about that pupa stage...

I think on this forum it is actually the silkie who brings (hatches) the babies.

 

[warmfuzzies]

This is soooo cool! I told my DH about it. He is less then thrilled.

But then I told him how much the chickens would eat it, and it would save on our feed bill.....

I already want redworms, could I keep redworms and meal worms in two rubbermaid tubs in our basement? That would be so nice.