Mealworm farm no worms:

[Altus]

It has now been at least 7 weeks that my mealworm farm stopped producing worms. All the worms I had left turned into pupa and then into bugs, who are all very active and seems like mating regularly, but I do not get a single worm again. Not one. So the bugs will die and the farm with it. Can you assist?

 

[Hei 20]

It has now been at least 7 weeks that my mealworm farm stopped producing worms. All the worms I had left turned into pupa and then into bugs, who are all very active and seems like mating regularly, but I do not get a single worm again. Not one. So the bugs will die and the farm with it. Can you assist?

Check this page out to learn more.

Mealworm Lifecycle – Breeding Insects Made Easy
https://www.breedinginsects.com/mea...– Approximately 1,develop to the beetle stage.

 

[Hei 20]

It has now been at least 7 weeks that my mealworm farm stopped producing worms. All the worms I had left turned into pupa and then into bugs, who are all very active and seems like mating regularly, but I do not get a single worm again. Not one. So the bugs will die and the farm with it. Can you assist?

 

[Perris]

hello @Altus - welcome to BYC

Assuming your set-up is OK, the beetles will be laying eggs, and they will hatch as tiny worms; you shouldn't expect to be able to see them till they're a few weeks old. But if you pull your finger through the bran substrate, you may be able to see the bran moving - that's your baby worms.
Have a look at these sites, they may be useful for you
http://mealwormcare.org/life-cycle/
http://www.sialis.org/raisingmealworms.htm

 

[Liz Birdlover]

I've had a good mealworm farm since 2008. I use plastic bin & put the lid on leaving abt 1" open for some air, & necessary humidity is kept in. I have it sitting about 4 feet from a window so they do get the experience of day & night but not direct sun cold air transfer. My house temperature ranges from 70-75 degrees. I add some chicken pellets & always keep adding 1 sliced potato per week. I do not remove the old dried out potato slices, as they usually have worm eggs on them. I do "clean" the farm 1x in late spring but do it a certain way, I have a 2nd bin & transfer worms, beetles & larvae to new bin, add a little bit of chicken feed & fresh potatoes. I move worms over from old bin to new, as they hatch & grow & I see them. 1st hatched worms are very tiny! I still add potato slices weekly to old bin as well as new bin. There's a point in time where no new worms hatch in the old bin, usually by 2 mos or so. Only then do I dump that into the compost heap.
The only thing to watch for is if you see any moldy potato or feed, remove it. I am grabbing a few worms daily anyway so look for mold daily. How I avoid that is to set the 1st potato slices so only the skin of potato is touching any pieces of chicken feed. As more time goes by & you have dried out potato slices (they get like a rock) you can place the new potato moist slices on top of those, but stagger them. If you put a moist slice down completely covered, it will get moldy.
So...basically give worms proper conditions to flourish...temperature, humidity, food. Hope this helps!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Not one. So the bugs will die and the farm with it. Can you assist?

Welcome to BYC!

The eggs are so small you can't see them unless they are clumped together. The new meal worms larva that hatch are also very tiny hiding in the substrate.. don't throw it out or your throwing out all your new worms. They are easiest seen after a dry period.. add an apple etc.. and watch the tiny worms crawl on for feeding.

Meal worm farming was an extremely SLOW turn around here.. as it's very temperature dependent.. warmer temp,, faster growth and breeding. I would say maybe even 7 months between beetle and feeder size larva for me.. a fun experiment.. but not worth my time.. anymore..

Potatoes didn't work well for me.. Celery, cabbage, carrots were my preference.

Don't forget that the chickens don't only love meal worms.. they also love the beetles, and the pupa.. Even the dehydrated dead ones. The nutritional value of fat to protein ratio changes a bit with the developmental stage.. (analysis included in one of the following links which are loaded with general information..
Live Mealworm Information

mealworms

Patience seems key.. Hope this helps.

 

[ackie]

Check this page out to learn more.

Mealworm Lifecycle – Breeding Insects Made Easy
https://www.breedinginsects.com/mealworm-lifecycle/#:~:text=Larva (mealworms) – Approximately 1,develop to the beetle stage.

great, now I'm thinking about breeding mealworms lol

 

[Hei 20]

great, now I'm thinking about breeding mealworms lol

It is very simple to do. LOL