It all began with a 12 year old girl who knew nothing about mealworms, she did not know that you could have a mealworm farm. One day she thought this, “I wonder if I can make a mealworm farm”. With her dad by her side, helping her set up a farm… for mealworms of course. She has been waiting so patiently for her mealworms, little does she know it’s going to be a lot easier than she thinks. Her name is Evelyn, she loves corgis, ragdoll cats, huskies and dolphins. She has 1 dog, 2 cats and 12 chickens, she loves her pets so much. Evelyn does have a favorite chicken, her name is Clover, anyways we are getting a little off topic… although, you can feed mealworms to your chickens, or any wild birds you might have flying about. Reptiles and amphibians love them too.
Mealworms love temperatures that range from 75 degrees to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, they also like dark spaces, so if you want to start your own mealworm farm/business, then I would suggest getting something that is not air tight, not see through and something they can’t climb on. Mealworms will pretty much eat any kind of potato, apple or carrot, if you have any old apples, potatoes or carrots just give them to your mealworms. Anything you can find that is moist you can give your mealworms… except for processed food. Processed food will possibly kill or make your mealworms sick, now I am not positive on that, so for your mealworms’ safety, do not give them processed food. There is a thing called Water Gell Crystals, Water Gell Crystals will soak up moisture in the air and then you can feed it to your mealworms, or you can take them and soak them in water until they get mushy.
You want to make sure your worms and pupa are not with the beetles the beetles will eat the worms and pupa for moisture. This goes back to the food, you need to make sure your beetles have something to eat and something for moisture. Mealworms are one of the easiest bugs/insects to take care of, they are also the cheapest. You would be spending about $15-$40 for mealworms (including all the stuff you need for mealworms) with the comparison of $10,000 for a butterfly farm/garden.
For the bedding, you’ll want to use Wheat Bran, or you can use Oats. I would suggest using Wheat Bran instead of oats because, the oats will soak up all the moisture of your carrots, apples and/or potatoes, or whatever you use for food and moisture for your mealworms. If you use either one you’ll have to bake them in the oven, the temperature should be 175 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes. After you bake it, put your Wheat Bran or Oats in a container for your bedding.
