MEALWORMS - Raising Them the Easy Way

[Lobzi]

After many successful orders through New York Worms, I decided to give Grubco a try since it was recommended on this site. I just wanted to let you all know what a rip-off company they are. They charged me $32 for second day (required for my zone) shipping. I would NEVER recommend this company.

 

[Renee']

Why do my meal worms die in the fridge? They die within 24 hours. Their container is vented.

 

[joebryant]

Renee' :

Why do my meal worms die in the fridge? They die within 24 hours. Their container is vented.

That's a tough one. I've never had them die on me while they were in the refrigerator. Usually they'll live for several weeks at least if I keep them fed and watered.​

 

[Renee']

The mealworms I buy at Wal-Mart do just fine in the fridge. It's only the home grown worms that die.

 

[redhen]

Renee' :

Why do my meal worms die in the fridge? They die within 24 hours. Their container is vented.

I wonder if your fridge is too cold?

 

[foweler]

There are different zones in the fridge that stay at different levels of temp and humidity. You might try a different location.

I keep mine in the the butter compartment in the door of my garage fridge. Its been working fine. It wouldn't do to have worms in the main fridge. Wife would kill me.

Your not experiencing any freezing in parts of your fridge are you? Could be too cold as mentioned above.

 

[Renee']

Nope, no freezing but the butter compartment sounds like the perfect spot. I'll give that a try. Thanks for all of the suggestions everyone.

 

[slickchik]

Hoping to revive this thread a bit...

I have been raising mealworms and now have TONS ready for harvesting... But it is a pain to try to separate the adult larva from the beetles. I put newspaper into the bin but tons of beetles go on the newspaper and not very many larva.

What is the best way to separate the larva so I can feed them to my chickens? (Without having to handpick them all out)

What about all the skin at the top of the wheat bran? I stir it up but it keeps rising to the top.

All my worms eat me out of house and home... I have to put large carrots in the bin every other day!!

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
Take large paper sacks that have been cut so they fold into two levels. Lay those on top of everything. The large, ready-to-use worms will get between the two levels.
You have too many. Give them away, feed them to the birds, spoil your chickens, throw them in a pond... whatever. Someone was selling them here on BYC for a while. Try sifting your bran with a large piece of 1/4-inch hardware cloth. The small babies will pass through, but most of the large worms and beetles will be stopped by the wire. You might even consider saving a thousand large worms, dumping everything else, and starting over from scratch.
I warned you to stay up with them or this would happen. I don't want to be someone who says, "I told you so, but I did." I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so...

 

[slickchik]

Believe me... I don't have too many. I can burn through these mealworms in nothing flat... I have 23 voracious chickens!!! Plus I have arrangements to sell some to a fellow chicken lover.

I just can't seem to separate worms from beetles but sifting everything and starting another bin sounds like a great idea.

I will use the paper sacks and let you know how it goes... But I think another colony is in order