Thanks so much for your video! I’m just starting a darkling colony and unlike other videos, your is simple and to the point!! I greatly appreciate it!😊
HI, I have a problem with the beetles eating their eggs and young in a ferocious manner, turning the substrate over to get to them! The beetles are 2/3 weeks old and have been mating for 1/2 weeks. I have managed to recover several pieces of apple and kiwi which have their eggs and young on them and have put them into a separate container to protect them. I was hoping to leave the beetles mating and laying eggs in their respective containers for a couple of weeks before taking them out, as you are doing. They have plenty of food to eat but it's not stopping them eating their young! Do you have any suggestions please?
I'm having the same problem. I watched a beetle lay eggs on cardboard, turn around, and eat them. I have siphoned 3 times over a month and no babies yet. I'm worried.
I cannot give you an answer to that as I’ve never had issues with them eating their eggs. Mine will dive down into the substrate to lay their eggs but I’ve never had issues with them eating them in the 2 years I’ve been raising them.
I know this is sort of old and you might not see it. I hope so though. My daughter has reptiles so I am trying to help her raise some mealworms. we have beetles now, fresh. only a few are black. They're in a separate bin. They have oats, carrot, a moist small paper towel, and a thin apple slice. my beetles don't move much. they act like they're slowly dying. yours seem to move quite a bit. I can't help but wonder if I have done something wrong. I'd hate to have gone through all this trouble and spent the money for the stuff, just to have the beetles die. the pupa move more than my beetles. something has to be wrong. thanks for any tips edited to add. I wonder if it is my oats? They're plain oats but they seem to have a lot of powdery stuff. edited again to add: I just used the oats I had in the cabinet. my dad gave them to me, not in the box. just a gigantic bag. I didn't see a point in buying more when I had the jumbo bag. he told me they are quick cook oats. is that a bad thing?
Hi there! First off, congrats on raising the mealworms for your daughters reptiles! Next, it sounds like you have too many sources of “water” happening all at once which could end up being harmful with mold. I only give what they can consume in a 24hr period. Next, I don’t know much about oats as I have never used it. I only use Wheat bran that I get from the local feed store (it’s used for colicking horses). Something definitely doesn’t sound right I’d your pupae are moving more than the beetles. Is it cold where you are? Cold will slow them down a bit.
These guys are more active in warmer environments, hence why when you buy them from pet smart they tell you to keep them in the fridge.(which slows down their metabolism)If I were you I would buy a reptile heating pad and place it under your setup(make sure your plastic won’t melt)
I have a question. What if I just want to start a colony without feeding purposes? Will they keep breeding until it’s no more room? Or do they balance themselves out?
I’m not sure what you mean by “without feeding purposes”. I don’t really know the answer to that as I’ve not attempted to do that so I have no personal experience to reference.
@@AxelFoley-sb5rethe adult beetle has a limited life span, they’ll die in a few months. So even tho you don’t need mealworms as a food source, you’ll always need to raise mealworms so they can become pupa and replace the beetles as they die
Question, why use the super fine seive if you dump it back in with everything else? Just curious, I don't think we have the super fine one, and we're getting ready to sift for our first time today!
What goes through the fine sieve is the frass and goes in garden and house plants to feed the soil. That fine sieve will still get eggs in it from passing through previous one. Sometimes you’ll STILL have eggs that get through even the fine one.
So, now we have nurseries with teenie, tiny mealworms in them. Do the carrots have to be carrot peels in the nurseries or can it be long slices of carrot which would be thicker? If just carrot peels, how do you keep the substrate from going moldy? I'm finding the wheat bran going moldy from the carrot peels.
@@KrusinTheSierra I can't even thank you enough. This is a new venture for us as we will be using them to feed all of our backyard birds. We were spending a fortune buying them. Your videos and advice are absolutely excellent and have really helped. Also, your bins always look so clean and well maintained! That was pretty important to me too! Thanks again!
@@Tiny_n8ture I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the videos! Yes I understand where you are coming from! When Covid hit I wanted to make sure I was feeding my chickens healthy yet cheaply! I grow them barley fodder every day too! So we only supplement with commercial feed.
I’m not raising them anymore as I developed an allergy. Please please use a respirator mask when working with them. But I’d usually remove the beetles every 10 days to 2 weeks and put them in new wheat bran. Thank you for watching!
They definitely fly but I'm guessing there are sub species and like cockroaches some fly some don't. I've actually seen them fly around 2 or 3 times in the 2 years I've been breeding them. I often see them split their shell to reveal the wings but usually they don't fly. I often use a fan and on at least 2 of the 3 times I have seen them fly the fan was on so perhaps they need a specific set of circumstances like overcrowding, insufficient food for colony and maybe a certain breeze to help lift off. (I don't know, just surmising) the ones that do get away seem to always end up on my bed (I live on one floor and my bedroom is next door to the room I use for the beetles) so maybe attracted to body heat again I don't know for sure.
Hello! New to mealworm raising (small scale/personal use) and one thing I'm wondering is what you do with all of the beetles. I understand they can live for quite awhile and if all are reproducing you would have quite alot of beetles every couple months. Do you have them live out their life cycle naturally or have another plan in place for too many beetles? Thank you!
Putting the Beetles back in the tote with the eggs, don't the beetles eat them when they hatch? I just move my beetles to a new bin with new egg carton since they will lay eggs on them also, i'll give it about a month and then use the egg carton's again.
My darkling beetles appear to be eating eggs as soon as they lay them. They have plenty of food and moisture (wheat bran substrate, carrots, potatoes, Romain lettuce). Why are they doing this? I've sifted into two baby bins starting a month ago. No baby larva.
Not enough room in those bins for all the worms that will hatch. They go into a much larger container. The next time the beetles get clean WB then there will already be little hatched out mealworms and that’s just fine. The system works for me.
MEALWORM LARVAE STAGE 2-3 weeks Each mealworm eats a tremendous amount and grows a lot, molting (shedding its exoskeleton) many times as it grows. It then enters the pupal stage (this stage lasts from 2-3 weeks, up to 9 months, if the pupal stage over-winters). The pupa does not eat and seems inactive, but it is transforming itself into an adult. BEETLE EGG STAGE 4 to 19 days The mealworm undergoes complete metamorphosis. The female darkling beetle lays hundreds of tiny, white, oval eggs, which hatch into tiny mealworms (the larval stage) - it takes from 4 to 19 days to hatch. PUPAE STAGE about 1-3 weeks After about 1-3 weeks the pupae metamorphose into beetles. BEETLE STAGE about 2-7 days After about 1-3 weeks the pupae metamorphose into beetles. At first the beetle is white/light beige with a soft shell, and then it darkens and hardens to red, brown, and finally turns dark brown/black after about 2-7 days.
Животные
Thanks so much for your video! I’m just starting a darkling colony and unlike other videos, your is simple and to the point!! I greatly appreciate it!😊
I’m glad you got some help from it! Are you growing for reptiles or chickens or?
Very interesting and informative.
Thank you
I appreciate this. Thanks
Glad it was helpful!
One tip for dark limb beetles don’t make large air holes! They escape I have now found 2 loose ones 😳
That’s for sure
New video loaded
HI, I have a problem with the beetles eating their eggs and young in a ferocious manner, turning the substrate over to get to them!
The beetles are 2/3 weeks old and have been mating for 1/2 weeks.
I have managed to recover several pieces of apple and kiwi which have their eggs and young on them and have put them into a separate container to protect them.
I was hoping to leave the beetles mating and laying eggs in their respective containers for a couple of weeks before taking them out, as you are doing.
They have plenty of food to eat but it's not stopping them eating their young!
Do you have any suggestions please?
I'm having the same problem. I watched a beetle lay eggs on cardboard, turn around, and eat them. I have siphoned 3 times over a month and no babies yet. I'm worried.
I cannot give you an answer to that as I’ve never had issues with them eating their eggs. Mine will dive down into the substrate to lay their eggs but I’ve never had issues with them eating them in the 2 years I’ve been raising them.
I know this is sort of old and you might not see it. I hope so though. My daughter has reptiles so I am trying to help her raise some mealworms. we have beetles now, fresh. only a few are black. They're in a separate bin. They have oats, carrot, a moist small paper towel, and a thin apple slice. my beetles don't move much. they act like they're slowly dying. yours seem to move quite a bit. I can't help but wonder if I have done something wrong. I'd hate to have gone through all this trouble and spent the money for the stuff, just to have the beetles die. the pupa move more than my beetles. something has to be wrong. thanks for any tips
edited to add. I wonder if it is my oats? They're plain oats but they seem to have a lot of powdery stuff.
edited again to add: I just used the oats I had in the cabinet. my dad gave them to me, not in the box. just a gigantic bag. I didn't see a point in buying more when I had the jumbo bag. he told me they are quick cook oats. is that a bad thing?
Hi there! First off, congrats on raising the mealworms for your daughters reptiles! Next, it sounds like you have too many sources of “water” happening all at once which could end up being harmful with mold. I only give what they can consume in a 24hr period. Next, I don’t know much about oats as I have never used it. I only use Wheat bran that I get from the local feed store (it’s used for colicking horses). Something definitely doesn’t sound right I’d your pupae are moving more than the beetles. Is it cold where you are? Cold will slow them down a bit.
These guys are more active in warmer environments, hence why when you buy them from pet smart they tell you to keep them in the fridge.(which slows down their metabolism)If I were you I would buy a reptile heating pad and place it under your setup(make sure your plastic won’t melt)
Thanks for this information. Extremely helpful. Do you put carrot peels into the nursery of baby worms even before you can see any of them?
No. Not until I see movement.
@@KrusinTheSierra Thanks so much. Have a great day!
New video just loaded
I have a question. What if I just want to start a colony without feeding purposes? Will they keep breeding until it’s no more room? Or do they balance themselves out?
I’m not sure what you mean by “without feeding purposes”. I don’t really know the answer to that as I’ve not attempted to do that so I have no personal experience to reference.
@@KrusinTheSierra no I’m saying what if someone just wanted to keep them as pets and not as feeders for animals.
@@AxelFoley-sb5rethe adult beetle has a limited life span, they’ll die in a few months. So even tho you don’t need mealworms as a food source, you’ll always need to raise mealworms so they can become pupa and replace the beetles as they die
Question, why use the super fine seive if you dump it back in with everything else? Just curious, I don't think we have the super fine one, and we're getting ready to sift for our first time today!
What goes through the fine sieve is the frass and goes in garden and house plants to feed the soil. That fine sieve will still get eggs in it from passing through previous one. Sometimes you’ll STILL have eggs that get through even the fine one.
I stopped raising mealworms about 2 years ago as I became highly allergic to them
How often should you remove the beetles from substrate? Weekly?
Biweekly
@@KrusinTheSierra i was just about to question that answer thank you
great question
1 black bettle lay how many Eggs ? How long those eggs are hatching?
In her lifetime she can lay around 500 eggs
It takes anywhere for 4 days to 2 weeks or more to hatch depending on its conditions.
@@KrusinTheSierra Thanks for your reply
So, now we have nurseries with teenie, tiny mealworms in them. Do the carrots have to be carrot peels in the nurseries or can it be long slices of carrot which would be thicker? If just carrot peels, how do you keep the substrate from going moldy? I'm finding the wheat bran going moldy from the carrot peels.
Sounds like you’re offering too much for them to eat. They should be able to consume within the day. If they don’t then you’re feeding them too much
I feed by either peeler or coined
@@KrusinTheSierra I can't even thank you enough. This is a new venture for us as we will be using them to feed all of our backyard birds. We were spending a fortune buying them. Your videos and advice are absolutely excellent and have really helped. Also, your bins always look so clean and well maintained! That was pretty important to me too! Thanks again!
@@Tiny_n8ture I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the videos! Yes I understand where you are coming from! When Covid hit I wanted to make sure I was feeding my chickens healthy yet cheaply! I grow them barley fodder every day too! So we only supplement with commercial feed.
How long do you wait between separating the beetles from eggs. And thank you for this making video!!
I’m not raising them anymore as I developed an allergy. Please please use a respirator mask when working with them. But I’d usually remove the beetles every 10 days to 2 weeks and put them in new wheat bran. Thank you for watching!
Where did you get your sifters from any links to the places of possible
Amazon
There is a 5 pc set and then I got the 1/30th screen separate for frass
www.amazon.com/SE-GP2-14-Patented-Stackable-Sifting/dp/B00C7YCQIQ/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1516071544&sr=8-3&keywords=stackable+sifting+pan&th=1&linkCode=sl1&tag=spacecoastmea-20&linkId=5993c320bfc4ce19daf253bc8c70764e&fbclid=IwAR2zblJ_d2qoLvx7BEcLYKLgySPz29hg9p-mTq-lpI-i_V0iQfsNMp5e6y4
@@KrusinTheSierra thank you so much! ☺️
Space coast website has best prices
Google was telling me mealworm beetles fly! I take it that’s not the case from watching your video?!
Mine have never flown lol
They definitely fly but I'm guessing there are sub species and like cockroaches some fly some don't. I've actually seen them fly around 2 or 3 times in the 2 years I've been breeding them. I often see them split their shell to reveal the wings but usually they don't fly. I often use a fan and on at least 2 of the 3 times I have seen them fly the fan was on so perhaps they need a specific set of circumstances like overcrowding, insufficient food for colony and maybe a certain breeze to help lift off. (I don't know, just surmising) the ones that do get away seem to always end up on my bed (I live on one floor and my bedroom is next door to the room I use for the beetles) so maybe attracted to body heat again I don't know for sure.
Do you ever have mealworms hatch in the 5gallon bucket?
Thanks for the video...
The substrate from the beetle bins gets moved to a different bin than the 5gal bucket once I’m done separating beetles. So in this circumstance no.
Hello! New to mealworm raising (small scale/personal use) and one thing I'm wondering is what you do with all of the beetles. I understand they can live for quite awhile and if all are reproducing you would have quite alot of beetles every couple months. Do you have them live out their life cycle naturally or have another plan in place for too many beetles? Thank you!
I let nature take its course. I’ve found that I never have an abundance that I can’t keep control of.
From what I’ve read their lifespan is 6 months to 2 years.
But I’ve found it to be around the 6 month mark or less
Feed some to your chickens.
Putting the Beetles back in the tote with the eggs, don't the beetles eat them when they hatch? I just move my beetles to a new bin with new egg carton since they will lay eggs on them also, i'll give it about a month and then use the egg carton's again.
I’ve never had an issue doing it the way I do. I’m not concerned with the beetles eating a few before the next time I switch out the substrate.
My darkling beetles appear to be eating eggs as soon as they lay them. They have plenty of food and moisture (wheat bran substrate, carrots, potatoes, Romain lettuce). Why are they doing this? I've sifted into two baby bins starting a month ago. No baby larva.
What makes you think they are eating them?
How long were the Beatles in the substrate?
Does it matter how many beetles you put in one bin?
I mean you can definitely overcrowd them
Do what works for you and your set up. If they are in a larger bin they can have more to a bin. If smaller than not as many.
Y not just make the new tray the beetle tray and the egg covered one the mealworm bin? Keeps the eggs together
Not enough room in those bins for all the worms that will hatch. They go into a much larger container. The next time the beetles get clean WB then there will already be little hatched out mealworms and that’s just fine. The system works for me.
Are you sure it's a 1/18 and not a 1/8
The numbering on the tray itself is a GP2-18
Yes it’s 1/8”
What is the size of mesh sifter for sifting frass from wheat bran
1/30th
What r u using? Oats or wheat bran
Wheat Bran
@@KrusinTheSierra Thank you
How long after they mature into beetles do they lay eggs?
MEALWORM LARVAE STAGE
2-3 weeks
Each mealworm eats a tremendous amount and grows a lot, molting (shedding its exoskeleton) many times as it grows. It then enters the pupal stage (this stage lasts from 2-3 weeks, up to 9 months, if the pupal stage over-winters). The pupa does not eat and seems inactive, but it is transforming itself into an adult.
BEETLE EGG STAGE
4 to 19 days
The mealworm undergoes complete metamorphosis. The female darkling beetle lays hundreds of tiny, white, oval eggs, which hatch into tiny mealworms (the larval stage) - it takes from 4 to 19 days to hatch.
PUPAE STAGE
about 1-3 weeks
After about 1-3 weeks the pupae metamorphose into beetles.
BEETLE STAGE
about 2-7 days
After about 1-3 weeks the pupae metamorphose into beetles. At first the beetle is white/light beige with a soft shell, and then it darkens and hardens to red, brown, and finally turns dark brown/black after about 2-7 days.
In short..... about a week
Do you need to separate them
You should yes
@@KrusinTheSierra will they eat the worms? I know they eat the pupae
@@user-xg8ij1hs3x I’ve honestly never left them in long enough to find out lol
Substrate?
Wheat bran
When they lay egg when they mate
I’m not sure what you are asking
Can you tell us the species name?
Tenebrio Molitor