Raising Mealworms - Converting Worm Farm 360 for mealworms!

[Judith M]

Hi All, I searched the internet for ideas on converting my Worm Farm 360 to raise mealworms with no luck. OK.. with only an idea of my own, I got the system working well it seems and practically cleans itself, so I am sharing for anyone wishing to covert from wigglers to mealworms with a 360 Worm Factory (which is MUCH cleaner and more interesting).

I use the 2 trays from the WF360. for each colony of beetles They hold a LOT of beetles. The top tray has window screen glued in to perfectly fit the bottom of the tray. I added rolled oats with a little wheat bran sprinkled on top for added food. I also added a cardboard egg carton section (little buggers like to hide) and I feed them carrots, changing only as they shrink or get eaten as that seems to be what they like best. As the beetles scamper around, the frass, eggs, tiny worms and uneaten slivers of the rolled oats sift through to the bottom tray. To make the bottom tray leakproof, it has a piece of Clear PETG plastic .03" thick cut to perfectly fit the inside bottom and glued in place and I only keep a piece or two of carrots in there for the newly hatched and tiny worms to begin eating.

Immediately upon dumping my beetles (formerly in three containers) into the top tray, I noticed frass, slivers of the oatmeal and lots of very tiny worms dropping through the screen into the bottom tray. It appears this system is the best thing I have found yet. I plan to empty the bottom tray and sift the worms approximately every 4 to 6 weeks. I will put the worms left in the sifter in a container to grow off and feed chickens or let some pupa off and start new beetle colonies. The frass that goes through the sifter will go into another container to "sit" for a while to be sure everything hatches out and I do not through out eggs and babies.

 

[azygous]

I'm curious what a Worm Farm 360 looks like. Got pics?

 

[tigger19687]

I guess it would depend on how big the holes are in the bins, but looks good.
It won't hold a ton but nice small ?

 

[Judith M]

I'm curious what a Worm Farm 360 looks like. Got pics?

I am sorry.. my bad! It is called a Worm Factory 360. I don't have photos but you can easily find photos on the internet or ebay. Setting up my second colony of 1500 beetles per tray today as pupa morph into beetles.

 

[Judith M]

I guess it would depend on how big the holes are in the bins, but looks good.
It won't hold a ton but nice small ?

I am putting about 1500 beetles per tray and all seems to be working great since it is "self cleaning" as the wire in the top tray naturally sifts out the frass and eggs into the bottom tray where I can see tiny worms crawling around in my first colony tray. I use rolled oates for the beetles and clean corncobs and carrots. I sprinkle the corncobs with a little fine wheat bran for extra food variety for the beetles but they seem to love the carrots best. I also keep a few little carrots in the bottom tray so the newly hatched worms have plenty to eat. I have 6 trays now so I can have three colonies of beetles at 1500 per colony and all will stack up on the same base taking up very little room. Each 2 tray colony has a screened bottom top tray and a sealed bottom on the second tray to hold the frass, eggs and tiny hatchlings.

 

[tigger19687]

Ohh can you post some pics ??

 

[Judith M]

Here you go.. The Bin 1 photo is the set up with the stand and lid. The instructions on top are strictly for raising red worms but I decided they are too messy and went totally with mealworms. Since I had made the investment in the Worm Factory 360, I decided I wanted to convert it for the beetles, so ... Bin2 is a screened bottom and photo shows the active unit with beetles. Bin 3 photo is the eggs and frass that have dropped through the screen and it has a lot of tiny worms that have hatched out but they are too small to see. Bin 4 photo shows the screened empty bin I am getting ready for my new beetle colony and the Bin 5 photo shows the bin with the clear piece glued in the bottom that will catch the frass from the beetles. I just stack the screened bin on top of the one with the clear piece glued in and stack the entire unit together taking only about 16 square inches of floor space for several colonies (2 trays set up per colony).