Mealworm farming

[sumi]

$100 sounds like a lot of money for start-up, unless that includes the tubs, bedding, feed etc as well as the worms. I paid about €4.90 per tub of worms (±250 per tub). I meant to go big from the start, so I bought a lot of worms. If you're not in a hurry, you can start with 500-1000 worms and leave them do their thing, divide them into more tubs over time, as the colony grows and they will multiply quickly. Keeping them warm (80-90F is great) will encourage them to reproduce quickly, but expect the cycle from start-up worms to many more decent size worms to take 3-4 months.

I put mine on bran and bought big bags at the feed store. It's way cheaper than buying small bags for baking at the supermarkets and a big bag goes a long way and lasts a long time, even if you have a few tubs full. Sprinkle some chick starter crumbs in the tubs when you have little worms. The protein and other nutrients help them grow quickly and also makes for a more nutritious snack when used for feeding.

 

[tortoise]

I've toyed around with this idea. My problem being I'm too squeamish to raise them in the house and our winter temps are too cold for outdoors or outbuildings to be sustainable location

 

[tortoise]

@sumi and @waretrop is it possible to get raise enough in a summer to last through the winter? I would like to try but I just **cannot** have them in the house, it's too gross.

How are they dried for storage?

Where did you get your starters? Could I use the stuff from bait shops?

 

[waretrop]

I don't think that is possible. If you did allot of containers of them maybe you could dehydrate them or freeze them, or refrigerate them but not with only a few containers...I bought my starter worms wholesale but you can go to a bait store and get a few hundred.. Make sure you get meal worms and not supper worms or maga worms. That is a different critter.

 

[sumi]

I kept mine going through winter by keeping them warm enough to keep going. Have you got a suitable building, or room outside where you can put them?

As for storing them, I never needed to, but I know you can store them in the fridge (which is probably not an option you'd consider!)