Worm Farming - Superworms

This is a short how to on raising superworms. Superworms are raised very similar to mealworms as far as substrate, feed and water sources and beetle rotation. The big difference if how you get superworms to pupate.

Mealworms will pupate in the substrate, which my favorite is wheat bran, and then if left will morph into beetles. The best way to deal with this is to sift the beetles out weekly into a new substrate and then all the eggs will hatch into mealworms of similar age and size which makes sorting for feeding or packaging for sale much easier. Mealworms can be left all in one container which would be a colony where you just pick out the mealworms as you need them. The problem with this is it is much more time consuming on hand sorting and also mortality rates are a lot higher leaving the beetles and worms in the same bins. It would be impossible to raise mealworms on a commercial level in colonies.

The only real difference from mealworms to superworms is the superworms will usually not, but sometimes will, pupate without being separated off on their own. Sometimes they can hide away in a corner under something like a egg carton and morph but not often. Many people use small containers like pill dividers or small to go plastic ramekins with lids to separate the superworms to allow them to morph. I use a drawer divider which does cost most upfront then other individual containers but it is a one time cost where I could easily spend this much over several months on throw away containers that will get smashed or tore up over time. The only catch is this is a 60 drawer system and you can't use the dividers to make it 120 because the dividers are a little lower then the sides and it allows the larger superworms to climb up and out of the containers just to let anyone thinking of using these know up front.

The superworms will start to curl up but this is good because it means they are morphing and not dieing. They will not eat of drink during this phase.

After that they will pupate which looks like little aliens and they still will not eat or drink in this phase.

After this phase they will go into a final morph and turn into beetles. These beetles are much larger then normal mealworms beetles but new beetles are still white and then go to light brown and finally to black.

At this point you will move them into a container with substrate and a feed and water source so they can begin to breed and lay eggs. You have completed the cycle and are not breeding superworms.