Vermicomposting, worm bin, composting with worms community and forums
I am planning to start a meal worm colony, but before I pull the trigger my wife wants to know more about the beetles part of the equation. Do any of you have any experience with darkling beetles? Are they pests at any point? From what I've read, if you give them a food source they will stay put.
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They are simple!
cheapest oatmeal and carrots for moisture.
the beetles cant crawl out of plastic bin, they mate like a brothel, die off after laying thousands of eggs, which turn into worms, they grow in same oatmeal, then turn into what we call aliens. which are pupae stage and then form beetles.
the only thing i would do different is change the oatmeal after your worms hatch. some of my second generation of aliens did not fully mature/morph due to what looks like meal powder or mold.
Thanks. I've been reading that wheat bran is also a good food source.
I brew my own beer, so I have plenty of spent grain. I just need to figure out how to dry it.
Maybe in a cake pan in the oven on low heat. I tried feeding it to my red wiggers, but it doesn't work well in a worm bin.
Just curious, what do you do with meal worm?
BTW, did you check your inbox? I replied to your Q re. VB48 there.
Sue,
Mealworms are used to feed fish, chickens, reptiles, for fishing, for bird feeders, etc. They seem to out-multiply red wigglers too. There are bait companies that ship 150,000-200,000 per week.
I also think their development stages are fascinating.
It's a part of my nature to look for ways to make money without spending a lot of it on the front end. Meal worms seem to fit the bill the more I research them.
How does this compare to red wigglers?
20 beetles = approximately 350 adult mealworms in 200 days I'm no mathematician, but I don't think it's even close :-) And they sell for about the same per 1,000 count. The drawback is that they are only in the larvae stage for 12 - 14 weeks. So give that advantage to the red wigglers. I don't see it as a replacement to my vermicomposting, but as a supplement to it.
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A dollar per 100 isn't bad if you have large #'s to work with. We're avid bird watchers too, so if they don't sell we'll just feed the birds in our backyard.
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