Raising Meal Worms-to separate or not to separate

[rocking2r]

I started a colony of meal worms. Now they are going crazy breeding and producing mealworms, beetles, etc in my fish aquarium. Do I separate the beetles from the meal worms? If so, how is the easiest way? Do I leave the used wheat bran in the bottom of the aquarium? Or do I replace it with fresh bran? Eggs in all stages are in that strata, so I'm thinking I should leave it and add more bran to the top??? I need some instructions on how to proceed please.

 

[Perris]

I separate, moving the beetles into a new drawer with fresh bran and leaving their eggs to hatch in the old. I use a kind of colander to sift them out. A month later I move them on again, and harvest worms from the oldest batch, leaving the newest eggs and youngest worms to grow on in the third drawer. Any beetles that appear in the worm drawers are picked out and moved into the beetle drawer. It's a simple system and it works for me.

 

[rocking2r]

I separate, moving the beetles into a new drawer with fresh bran and leaving their eggs to hatch in the old. I use a kind of colander to sift them out. A month later I move them on again, and harvest worms from the oldest batch, leaving the newest eggs and youngest worms to grow on in the third drawer. Any beetles that appear in the worm drawers are picked out and moved into the beetle drawer. It's a simple system and it works for me.

Thank you! That makes good sense. How many drawers do you keep going? And what are your "drawers" like? Are they like 5" deep wooden trays? I have been keeping mine altogether in an aquarium. They are all mixed together. So I will need to get another drawer or something to put the beetles in. can you suggest something?

 

[Perris]

I started a thread on it when I started the farm, to which many people contributed and which you might find useful; photos of my setup are on #77, https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/first-attempt-at-mealworm-farming.1350136/page-8
It's a three drawer plastic type, which is big enough for my flock.
Good luck!