Harvest of Single Bin of Crickets| Basic example of method | Cricket Farming

Sped up to 2x speed. Typically, I will do 6 bins at a time, removing each section and Frass from each bin before moving on. Find the work flow that works best for you.
For more info, visit:
www.gymneatcrickets.com

[@JCWren]

Disclaimer: I haven't even gotten started yet and I also like to overthink things. Watching you clean those bins makes me think there could be an easier way. Maybe take one of your bins and cut most of the bottom out, then cover it with some #8 mesh screen. Set this into another bin that has a couple pieces of 2x4 laid on their side in the bottom, so you have at least ~4" space at the bottom (more would be OK) . In the harvesting bin, tap out all your egg crate pieces so you have only crickets and frass. Up-end this into the bin with the wire mesh, then tap it clear. Then take the wire mesh bin and up-end that back into the harvest bin or wherever you're putting the harvested crickets (55 gallon drum? :) ). Repeat until you need to empty the frass bin. Seems like this bending over and sweeping action could be reduced to about a minute per container, maybe less.

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Great suggestion! Any ideas for prevention of stuck legs?! Also, the crickets are in this bin their entire life, so they would fall through as pinheads I’m thinking.

[@JCWren]

The screened bin is only used when you're cleaning, though. Basically it's a sieve to dump them into and the frass falls through, and then they're returned to the newly cleaned bin. I haven't seen you clean a bin with pinheads in it until they're at least a few weeks old, at which point I don't think they'd fit through the #8 mesh (which is just under 1/10 of an inch).

[@newworld20077]

This is practical knowledge

[@iheartconcubine]

Thanks for this video, really amazing. How do you get your crickets from the harvesting bin into bags to freeze? Do you use a funnel or is there a method to prevent them from jumping out?

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

I will do an extended video about this! Refrigerator to slow them down and then use a gallon pitcher that the ziploc bag can fit over the top of (use a rubber band to attach it) Works like a charm.

[@kookia213]

Do you re-use the egg cartons?

[@Saygoodgnigth]

Perfect ❤

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Thank you!

[@ishadyishady6883]

Hi lovely girl and her amazing crickets, I saw on your other video that is 10,000 pinheads per container at the start? And harvested 3,000-7,500? Appreciate the answer

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

I would estimate that we are currently running 5,000-7,500 crickets to a bin right now. The harvest of the bin depicted was far less than that. It was an under-performing bin. You'll need to do some experimentation on your population densities to see what's best for your set up. Thanks so much for watching!

[@DC-qy1qy]

I was thinking of having a smaller colony with a couple inches of bioactive substrate, super worms, iso pods, darkling beetles, and springtails as clean up crew, you think id still need to clean weekly?

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

I wouldn't mess with substrate and cleaner crews. They end up negatively impacting more than anything.

[@DC-qy1qy]

@BuildingInASmallTown Darn. I was trying to think of a low input way of keeping the smell and whatnot down from the dead crickets. If i buy large batches of pin head crickets, to feed off slowly with no intent of reproduction, do you think cleanup crew works then?

[@trevis12]

When do you harvest the crickets? Do you let them all breed, and then harvest when they stop laying?

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

We only allow them to lay for 1 (sometimes 2) rounds of 48 hours and then we harvest them. Ideally, the sooner you harvest them once they reach maturity, the better

[@trevis12]

@@BuildingInASmallTown thanks for the info

[@justinewilbur6232]

Just a couple of questions: Approximately how big is your containers? How many do you store per container? What would you consider the maximum number of crickets per container (using your size of container)? Thanks!

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Hi Justine! Thanks for the questions. The containers are 50 gallons. I don’t recommend going a whole lot larger than that with the shelved set up. Any larger of container is difficult to move and handle. Each container holds anywhere from 3,000 to 7,500 depending on conditions. Your maximum will depend entirely upon your conditions. Hope this helps!

[@justinewilbur6232]

@@BuildingInASmallTown Thank you!

[@insektbyaltrene]

@@justinewilbur6232 how often do you clean the container?

[@justinewilbur6232]

@@insektbyaltrene - Hi Thomas. As of right now I am merely dabbling in this. I am doing some experimental breeding and haven't worked out a routine or system perse. However, for my small orchestra I would say probably every other month to clean the bin. In the meantime though, I am removing dead crickets, old food, and so on. I started my experimental breeding in early October 2020. However, I found with the babies that I needed to clean it a bit more due to the higher humidity. Still ironing this out. Hope this helps.

[@insektbyaltrene]

@@justinewilbur6232 that's great thanks! I am just starting myself. Good luck to you!!

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Unfortunately, no. They just end up in competition. If you keep your humidity under control, the smell should stay under control.

[@kookia213]

The stuff you are picking up. Is it cricket's poo? or anything else?. Can it be used for something? (fertilizer maybe?)

[@nidiavalens5714]

Good question👍🏽

[@rico99586]

I raise crickets and worms. The cricket frass and leftover food goes to the worms, they love it and turn it into "black gold", worm poop. I also feed it to several ponds of tadpoles. The worm poop I sell, and use on plants also that I sell. It works like magic. Nothing goes to waste.

[@fluffy1376]

What do you use for substrate on the bottom of the bins??

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

There isn't a substrate! The material I am clearing in the video is a mixture of frass, feed, and other debris created by the crickets. If you keep the humidity down, you shouldn't need a substrate

[@fluffy1376]

@@BuildingInASmallTown thanks for the advise. 1 more question, where do you buy your egg flats? I ordered some online but they run oretty expensive just to toss in trash every week or so. I buy 2k crickets every month and a half so use alot of egg flats😁

[@genedunlap8384]

So it been 2 years how is it going are you still in business and is it making a profit yet I'm interested in starting my own farm

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

I am! Getting set to expand again. It is profitable, but it took a few years. I'll be posting an update in the next week or so!

[@genedunlap8384]

@@BuildingInASmallTown ty been following your video last few days great work

[@Jphixz_Ribz]

Do you eat them?

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

Yep!

[@katiestine6600]

How often do u clean them?

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

What do you mean? The bins? The crickets?

[@katiestine6600]

@@BuildingInASmallTown oh u clean them at different times I thought cleaning the bins was cleaning the crickets lol

[@BuildingInASmallTown]

@@katiestine6600 gotcha! I'm just now going back through to a ton of comments I missed. I only clean out the frass at the end. As long as you keep it dry and give them fresh feed/water, nothing to worry about!

[@katiestine6600]

@@BuildingInASmallTown how do u know when u need to clean the frass out?