Building a Small Mealworm Farm
In this video I demonstrate how to setup a small mealworm farm.
WHAT IS A MEALWORM?
- Mealworms are the Larvae stage of a Beetle. They are usually raised as food for pet reptiles and birds, but they can also be eaten by humans! In fact, it is far more efficient to raise mealworms than to raise other animal sources of protein such as cattle.
LIFECYCLE OF A BEETLE
- Adult Beetles mate with each other and then the females lay eggs. The eggs hatch into tiny Larvae called Mealworms. Over a period of many weeks these grow into full sized Mealworms which can be harvested for food or allowed to continue onto the Pupae stage. This is when a Mealworm forms a hard casing around itself and becomes immobile for a week or two before breaking free as an adult Beetle to start the cycle over again.
STARTING A FARM
- You will need an enclosed container of some kind with holes for ventilation. Fill the container with grain which serves as both the bedding and the primary food source for the Mealworms. Place halved potatoes or carrots in the container as their source of moisture.
CONTROL HUMIDITY
- Avoid moisture building up in the container because this can lead to the grain becoming moldy and toxic for the Mealworms to eat. This is done by providing adequate ventilation, but also by controlling the humidity of the space in which you are storing your containers.
CONTROL TEMPERATURE
- Beetles move through the various stages of their lives most quickly when the temperature is between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. They will continue to reproduce and grow at lower temperatures, but it will be at a slower pace and you will have reduced yield. If it gets too cold they will become completely dormant until it heats back up again.
HARVESTING MEALWORMS
- It's best to harvest Mealworms when they've reached their full size just before transitioning to the Pupae stage. Place them in the refridgerator to put them to sleep, and then into the freezer to end their lives painlessly. At this point you can use them in meals such as stir fries or grind them up into Mealworm Flour.
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@cahlenlee
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Nice one ....resteemed
Very informative, thank you. I had a friend who did this when we were in grade school to feed his lizards. And he'd sell the extras back to the pet shop to buy more lizards. :)
We did this as well when I was little, but with rats and mice. The pet shop would buy all our extras for store credit for other animal food we needed. I can't believe how expensive rats are now! It costs almost $7 for a frozen one at the pet store now. Unfortunately, now the only pet store in town is a chain store so I doubt they would buy any from me.
** as of now I'm raising crickets and mealworms for my animals, and I'm pondering the idea of selling as bait.
@bobbleheadstead I love the idea of having an excess of Mealworms (or anything really) and being able to barter the extra for other goods! I hope my farm reaches that level of production.
It was back in the early 80s, but if I remember right the pet store sold meal worms $1 for two dozen. And the lizards - geckos and green anoles - my friend had were only a few dollars, so it was mostly just kids stuff. I am curious what kind of production a person could get out those beetles and worms and how much space that might require.
Yes, I love the idea of producing more than one needs to have more to trade or share with others. I'm with you on wanting that level of production.
Apparently you can get pretty big. This guy farms a huge amount all in the back of a big ventilated van:
That's a lot of money even at the 1980s prices you mentioned.
This takes me back. I used to raise some mealworms for reptiles when I was a kid! Still haven't eaten one though!
Nice! Got any tips for me?
They taste pretty good, btw ;)
Not really. You seem to be doing well and my experience was decades ago as a child.
Great post for our benefits @cahlenlee
Learnt a lot from this as always ...keep more coming
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Nice video ..followed you
nice one