Mealworms - Kits - Breed Youre Own

I have been breeding my own mealworms for around 6 months now and I now have a good breeding program set up and In the near future will be in a position to offer them for sale. I will also be offering MEALWORM KITS for sale so you get a head start in youre own breeding program.

I will be supplying a detailed instruction sheet and how to keep and breed mealworms and will always be available via email or on here for any advice needed.

I hope to supply not only mealworms themselves but also enough beetles, pupae and food to give you a a good start.

Basically what happens is this the mealworms will eventaully turn into its larvae stage after a a few weeks, these in turn a few weeks later will turn into beetles, the beetles then lay eggs in the substrate( food which is basically wheat bran) then a few weeks later very small mealworms will appear. The beetles will lay eggs for up to 4 months before they die. I usually leave the for one month then move to another container with substrate in and leave for another month. You will soon have a contious supply of mealworms for very little effort.

Ideally you will need 4 x 5 litre containers for the different stages of development. I can supply these as well but I am sure you can find suitable containers. I will take photographs of mine shortly and add to this thread later today.

Id just like to know if anyone would be interested at all.

Dean

Keep me updated.

Hi,

What happened to the photographs of the containers?

I bought some mealworms from another source and tried to breed them. I ended up with an infestation of mites. The beetles were then able to use the mites as stepping stones and invaded my kitchen. Where the mites came from is not clear, they could have come from the feed or been delivered with the worms. If I have another go I'll put the feed in the freezer for a week first to kill off any possible mites, obviously I can't do the same with a new lot of worms. I will also clean any containers I use with bleach.

Regards, Terry

Keep me posted too, I find mealworm hard to come by over here and all my birds love them, so its normally only a luxury they get from time to time.

Hi.......Just read your mealworm adventure. I would be very interested in any updates..........Cliftonh.......

Hi,

Last week I decided to have another go at breeding my own mealworm after reading a little more on the subject via this wonderful internet. So l ordered 500 grams from Priors Pet Products Ebay shop. They cost £5.00 plus £3.00 postage and arrived in 2 days. Might I say I have nothing to do with this company other than being a satisfied customer on more than one occasion. The package had been opened by someone in the post-office, I assume by a thief, but was properly strapped back up again if a little light. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when he/she put their hand in.

Before the grubs arrived I bought a pack of 3 stacking plastic 27 ltr. boxes @ £4 the lot from Asda. I then also bought lids at £1.60 each and put a 5kg bag of none medicated chick crumbs in the freezer to kill any possible mites.

The worms, they are not really worms but larvae of the darkling beetle (genus Tenebrio), arrived by post the next day. Really impressed by the quick delivery even though it is the start of the silly season. The first thing I did was to separate the worms from the packaging, detritus and news paper they came in. You need a fairly large container to do this into, as all the bits have to be well shaken to get all the worms out of the folds. I them sieved the detritus (worm poo) leaving me with just worms. They are not slimy or sticky and do not pong. Firstly I took the chick crumb out of the freezer and let it come to room temperature then poured about 2" into one of the plastic stacking boxes I bought from Asda. In went the worms along with a couple of carrots sliced length ways. The box was then put on a shelf in my warm kitchen on top of a lid, which was filled with water to make a moat. The chick crumb appear to give the mealworm all the food they need with the carrots providing all their water needs, however some people also damp down news paper and place it on top of the crumbs as well. The last time I kept them I didn't find they needed anymore than carrots though and the news paper would have made a mess wetting the crumbs and making my kitchen smell like a feed store. The carrots get used up in a few days and need to be replaced with the old bits removing.

Over the coming weeks I'll feed worms to my birds but watch out for any that start to pupate. These worms will be separated into another box, along with a moat to stop an infestation of mites, to start the breeding colony. I hope to have 4 to 6 boxes in various stages in a couple of months.

If you want to learn a little more about keeping mealworm just google it or try to learn how kids in America keep them as part of a classroom project:

http://www.thewildones.org/Curric/mealworm.html

Regards, Terry

PS. My third lot of quail have hatched, all from eggs laid by my own birds, grown up and are now laying themselves. I have kept them separate from my first two lots and there has been no evidence of feather pecking. The first two lots still do it despite the so called cures.

Hi All,

Just a quick update. Of the worms left, after feeding some to my birds most days, at least half have turned into the second stage of chrysalis. At this stage they require no food or drink. I have put some of these into another container with 2" of chick crumbs and check them every day for signs of them turning into beetles. These will start another colony.

So far there is no sign of the dreaded mites, probably due-to the water traps (moats), and the only smell coming from the containers is that of the chick crumbs.

I'll post pictures if there is any interest?

Regards, Terry

Hi Terry

I would be really interested in seeing photo's. I've been considering trying to raise live mealworms for a while as its costing a fortune buying dried worms from ebay £36 for 2kg delivered.

Suz

Hi everyone

Circumstances being what they were have kept me offline and from keeping Quail and Mealworms for quite some time now. But now my life is back on track I intend to rediscover my Mealworm experiments on a larger scale obviously its going to be a few months before its up and running but watch this space. I had great success last time so I cant see a problem at all.

And its good to be back..

Welcome Back Deano always nice when the prodigals return

Yeh its good to be back and eventually put the past 6 months behind me thanks for message..

DEANO , nice to have you back mate . so you going to keep quail or are you sticking to chickens ?

Hi Mart, I have to be honest I think its going to be Quail first because of space and start breeding mealworms again...then move back into the chooks when Ive sorted some land out behind where I live but it would need to be fenced off first so a lot of work involved..so all in good time mate..add me on MSN valley_rams@hotmail.com

your already on my msn mate . if you need a hand one weekend sorting out the land then give me a shout . good to hear your going to keep quail again mate .