Weekly Mealworm Maintenance

This is my weekly process I undergo to clean and separate my mealworm tower system.
A link to my original mealworm tower system idea can be found at tinyurl.com/mealwormtowerfarmsystem
Get more tips and join the international mealworm co-op at mealwormfarming.org.
Or buy my products at spacecoastmealworms.com!

[@philcam9493]

I found out that those drawer towers with the black not chrome have deeper bins. Good for starting out. Expensive for a sustainable operation. Sometimes double towers super cheap on fb marketplace. This is a very informative channel.

[@domdebellis9997]

Way cool video man! . . . thorough and detailed! Thanks for breaking things down for us!

[@Beatmaster85]

Great video thats for the Information

[@theanimaster]

I use plastic, rounded measuring spoons the scoop out pupae and beetles.

[@MrTubinification]

Wormholy moly! Wow I've seen the mealworm farm videos and the small "self-sorting" setups people make for chicken-feeding mealworm farms but the amount of effort/dedication/science you have gone through is astounding!! The measurements that you take to make your progression so exact to make your "product" superior to any other is truly admirable. Thank you for sharing your set-up so thoroughly with everyone! Cheers, Converting Chicken-Feeder Mealwarm Farmer

[@spacecoastmealworms]

MrTubinification I’ve made an even longer video with an update method of farming if you’re interested! kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJKqk4RsqL-kidk

[@bcrmurphy]

First time here and love your setup! I've started my small colony in Feb and so far so good. I have regs and supers as well. My only problem I've had is my super beetles dying before they lay eggs. I'm starting over for round 2. Very few supers from original batch. Why do you think they could've died? They're in Tupperware now, should I upgrade to something bigger? Thanks

[@wildflower2598]

bcrmurphy Where do you get the Beatles from

[@wvmountaineer1314]

Where did you get your color tray system looks like a good way to keep organized. Thanks !

[@spacecoastmealworms]

WV Drone they have them at Sam’s Club, Michael’s, Walmart.com, and on Amazon. www.samsclub.com/p/seville-10-drawer-multi-color-cart/prod7060004

[@CyanideOwl]

Wait what did you do bad in the self sorting thing? You let them dig? Or was there too many beetles?

[@Jlui83]

I noticed that when I sort the Frass. The Frass has a tendency to come out of the bin after it’s been sitting awhile. I noticed that sandy gritty stuff all over. Any advise on how to fix this? Currently the Frass bin has baby mealworms in it so I can’t really just close the bin off with a lid completely

[@katwoman2371]

Hi I was wondering how deep the drawers are where you keep your mealworms? I have a unit like yours but the drawers are only 7cm or 2 3/4inches deep. I think it's the same size as yours I looked on the link you had below but it only had the whole tower measurements not the drawers. I've been looking everywhere for advice and most people say the drawers need to much deeper, I understand that maybe the case for beetles but for the worms would they be ok or do they need more depth for more substrate? Cheers

[@dawnlark629]

do you feed them in the dark cause they like it? and do u put a lot of bran in there or a little so they don't burrow super deep and it easy for them to come up and get food

[@mjshaheed]

Bro, what did you do with the frass that was collected in the blue tray? I heard that they may have some tiny eggs.

[@spacecoastmealworms]

I don’t ever sift frass from beetle trays, so there will never be any eggs in my frass. This is the main reason I’m why I separate my pupae from the worms

[@ebay1queen]

Great video. Do you keep your meal worms in your garage? If so, it's not too hot or cold? I'm just getting started. Have one drawer ..😅

[@spacecoastmealworms]

I did for the first couple years, but the Florida heat pushes temps too high. I then purchased an insulated shed and portable AC unit to help maintain a regular climate. You can see a tour of this shed in one of my videos.

[@chrisknudsen526]

Can you do more of these go pro sort of videos, maybe not as long, but still doing this or whatever you do

[@spacecoastmealworms]

I would love to. The worst thing about the GoPro is that its microphone is horrible. My iPhone works great, but I either need to get my son to film or I am only left with one hand to use. Which topics would you like to see more of?

[@chrisknudsen526]

maybe some advice to have a healthy, and big colony

[@robyartist1]

How does one know when you have to many beetles in a 12 X 12 drawer? Or even when you have to many mealworms in same size drawer. By the way; love your pupae sifter I got from you!

[@spacecoastmealworms]

It’s a really good question! There are a couple research articles out there that discuss this, but they contradict each other some.. from my experience you shouldn’t have more than one layer of beetles. If they are all out on top of your bedding there should be room for all of them to fit, without stacking vertically. I made the mistake of cramming a ton into my container when I first started and got very few eggs as a result. Long story short, population density does affect egg-laying. Less is always more!

[@robyartist1]

Thanks for the reply. It was very helpful!!

[@wildflower2598]

I have a question. If the mealworms have the same amount of legs as they do when the are beetles then if a mealworm lost a leg would the beetle have one less leg. Also I keep my mealworms in some oatmeal and make sure they have carrots. Same for beetles and eggs(just Incase they hatch they might me thirsty). Where are their water source. And what is fras? Lastly,how long do eggs stay eggs?

[@jonty3551]

Egg hatch in about 10-15 days

[@maryharvey7601]

great vid do you have issues with deformed beetles? Where did you purchase your colored drawers ? This is the best vid ive watched and ive watched alot? lol Im wanting to start selling my worms any advice.

[@scottjost857]

Mary, I do sometimes have deformed beetles. I think this is a result of his nudity issues, which I why I mist the egg flat over the pupae a few times a day. This seems to help. I purchased the towers from Sam's Club for $25, and I've also seen them at Michael's for $30. They are great for small or beginner farms. Eventually I hope to upgrade to larger trays though.. Thanks for the compliments! I don't have any seller tips quite yet since I'm just starting out myself, but most of what I've learned is from joining several mealworm farming groups on Facebook. Great communities and tons of information is shared!

[@tristacrumbley6663]

Make sure you do all the.things so you can keep a very large quantity that way when you are selling them you don't get low that way you can fill all your orders and in the.process.you have them breeding laying eggs hatching pupating and turn.to mature beetles...and listen to all the things you hear in these videos cause it. Will help.you keep the business going.....i love my dubia roaches tho lol

[@karensalazar1976]

How long do you keep your beetles? Mine seem to live a long time, but I have read that they only produce eggs for a couple of months. Is that true?

[@wildflower2598]

karen salazar I believe the beetles live for around five months

[@maryhornbostel6959]

Cat litter scoop might work.

[@kimberlygardner8392]

Will you please answer my question cuz I've asked a couple or a few other people and nobody seems to respond. On these drawers that you have and three stories dividers and those towers that you have. I know you get the white and clear ones from the dollar store where did you get the other ones? And do you have to put screens on top of those. I know you would have for crickets but I'm just talking about mealworms and wax worms and would you have to put a screen for the dubia roaches. I'm new at this I've been researching it for 2-3 weeks before I go get my bearded dragon I want to have everything set up for them. Thank you for your time and hopefully you please answer me.

[@spacecoastmealworms]

Search for ‘Seville Classic 10-drawer tower) to find the rainbow trays. They are on Amazon, but pricey. Cheapest price I’ve seen is at Sam’s Club or Aldi

[@freakontr]

Did you have any escapees from those carts?

[@spacecoastmealworms]

Nope. The walls are slick enough to prevent them from climbing out. If they did escape it was because they flew away, which is a rare occurrence.

[@fooshtasticchannel2777]

At the end what did u say about the population density? How many beetles for how many centimeters?

[@spacecoastmealworms]

There was a study done on population density, and the amount of eggs laid decreased dramatically the more crowded the beetles were. The researchers found that the optimum density is 14 beetles per 10 sq dm (100 cm).

[@christteddyb]

Do your worms or beetles ever escape the tower? Can they crawl up the sides?

[@spacecoastmealworms]

Christopher Roberts nope. The plastic is too smooth. If your worms do crawl up all you need to do is line the sides with packing tape.

[@maribelmeza4494]

@@spacecoastmealworms oh, great tip!

[@blanchemcmanus4783]

my worms seem to be eating the smaller ones, i have them in 3 seperate containers on oats, pollard with carrots for moisture.

[@spacecoastmealworms]

What is your humidity like? Generally, when they cannibalize they do it for hydration. There must be a gap somewhere.. Do you use one big carrot, or do you slice/shred them? I put mine in a food processor now - it creates more carrot surface area and allows more worms to eat the carrot at the same time. Feel free to join us at www.mealwormfarming.org to get more tips and to network with other farmers!

[@spacecoastmealworms]

Here is a video showing how I feed my carrots: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHeUmKqlad2Coqc

[@tristacrumbley6663]

U can also use potatos. As well ...for.hydration ..but you def want to keep plenty food and the carrots and potatoes or one or the.other in there once you do that you shouldn't have anymore problems...

[@CyanideOwl]

@@tristacrumbley6663 potatoes mold pretty fast I would be scared to use them. I get rid of moist food after 2 days max.

[@jamesnichols6573]

I can't find wheat brand locally . can i use rice brand?

[@justchooks289]

BRAN...not brand. You can use rolled oats if you like

[@maribelmeza4494]

Same here, I can only find it on Amazon and it’s very expensive! Tractor Supply has rice bran but it’s the pellet for and they said it’s for horses. Hmmm

[@h.s.6269]

@@maribelmeza4494 tractor supply has rolled oats 50lb bags for horses that work for this. It is just rolled oats nothing added. I called and talked to them about it to double check before going since it's an hour away for me to drive.

[@AnatScham]

How did you chop your sweet potatoes so thin?

[@spacecoastmealworms]

Anat, they are carrots! 😉

[@frankthetank1369]

Use a potato peeler that will get them thin without cutting your fingers.

[@michaelwood5519]

Since we'll probably be starving from food shortages next year, we can farm our own bugs for human consumption too.

[@h.s.6269]

The chitin isn't good for human consumption. Get quail and feed them the mealworms and easy to grow fodder like lettuce then eat the quail for better nutrition for you than the mealworms or beetles directly.

[@ronthor5621]

Hello hello I can't hear you are you there?

[@carvinlambert6899]

Hi there, ahmm, could you turn up the volume

[@bingbangbongmukbang3015]

Can’t hear anything.

[@alanbrown5806]

Would they eat flesh like the dermstid beetles

[@spacecoastmealworms]

No.. they really only eat vegetation and grains

[@CyanideOwl]

They do eat meat tho and it lowers the cannibalism rate of you have that problem.

[@roseswitzberg2002]

Audio is horrid but good video

[@tristacrumbley6663]

samantha ramirez...yeah it is a.great.video.....i think.hes using a go pro and on alot of the go.pros the microphone on.them suck so.bad .they have a.few that have a.pretty.good mic on it....but. Some make.it.sound like.they have something covering.tne mic.or like.if.it.rains and a rain drop is sitting on the mic it makes it sound like this too lol....but i def.think it is a go.pro and the.mic just sucks

[@healthyintention]

Wish I could hear this!!!

[@ricks2907]

I can’t hear you

[@michellecollie774]

can you redo this video?

[@spacecoastmealworms]

Michelle, I no longer use that setup to sift my worms (my farm has grown too large for handheld sifters) or else I would. I used a GoPro with a poor microphone apparently. Some people can still hear it if they turn up their volume. If you have any questions about any of the steps you see feel free to ask here or message me at [e-mail]. I also have several other videos on KZbin filled with tips and tricks!

[@wildflower2598]

Space Coast Mealworms I can hear this video perfectly clear with my volume half way up! Also congrats on how your farm has grown. Keep up the amazing work and the cool videos!

[@spacecoastmealworms]

I’ve made an even longer video with an updated method of farming if you’re interested! kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJKqk4RsqL-kidk

[@bubbbajohn78]

Anyone else unable to hear him well enough to understand what he is saying? I even turned my sound up to the maximum...

[@macartancaughey9993]

Can any one hear him because i can not

[@fliora4177]

great vid for the deaf i lefat a like for diversity

[@wildflower2598]

Dragon Platelegs STOP if you a fan then support if you a hater then don’t watch his vids

[@krissifaith6709]

Cannot hear a word you are sayin but can see it all.

[@katblevins8736]

The sound is horrible, it's too low, couldn't hear what you were saying

[@bengbibler7200]

Cannot hear you speak

[@honumoana]

Can't hear a rhing

[@shawnphipps8479]

Sound is so bad that even the subtitles do not work. Heard good things about your channel, but as I am hard of hearing, I am very disappointed.

[@spacecoastmealworms]

Shawn, This was recorded a couple years ago using a GoPro camera. Wish I could improve the sound, but it is what it is.

[@monicasmm]

@@spacecoastmealworms could be a good project to go back in and add subtitles to the video, as I feel like these videos could have some good info for new farmers. I almost kind of want to do it myself since I enjoy doing that kind of stuff

[@spacecoastmealworms]

I’ve made an even longer video with an updated method of farming if you’re interested! kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJKqk4RsqL-kidk

[@maribelmeza4494]

@@monicasmm I hope you do the subtitles! I have watched other videos for beginners and this one is BY FAR the best, most detailed one, so I keep rewatching it to see if I can catch more information. The longer video that he did is also amazing content, but it’s geared towards a more professional operation, verses what I need to know at my beginner stage.

[@beebob1279]

thumbs down for a bad audio

[@spacecoastmealworms]

Agreed. Which is why I’ve done an updated Weekly Maintenance video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJKqk4RsqL-kidk

[@beebob1279]

@@spacecoastmealworms Cool. A responsible KZbinr

[@maribelmeza4494]

@spacecoastmealworms … Thank you very much for your link and video! I actually watched that one first and was fascinated; BUT, you are updating this video, of a small/beginner set-up/operation (which is EXACTLY what I need), with a professional operation. I watched closely to see if I could glean any information, that I, as a person who hasn’t even received the first batch yet, could use. I gave up trying to figure out how I should do it and just enjoyed your processes. So, I’m gonna try and rewatch this video with headphones and quickly turn it down when the music comes on.

[@therealbabyl8855]

What ever camera u are using had very bad quality

[@brittond14]

Muffled voice. Head must be in a dark place...

[@gwendapertzel3452]

Hi, your volume is to low.

[@scottjost857]

Then turn up your volume 😂

[@wildflower2598]

Gwenda Pertzel I think he gets it. Turn your volume up and you will hear better. He knows his go pro volume is bad. This comment is repeated so much.

[@wildflower2598]

scott jost ikr

[@kom-bu-cha6507]

Cant Hear --- BIG SHAME

[@spacecoastmealworms]

Andy, just turn up the volume, or get better speakers. Sound isn’t great, but you can still hear. I hear it just fine.

[@kom-bu-cha6507]

@@spacecoastmealworms Volume is on full with the Booster App... Its not only my phone, lots of comments saying the exact same thing...

[@spacecoastmealworms]

Andy And yet you feel the need to also say the same thing? Thanks for the info. I’m aware there are sound issues. Check out my other videos if you want more tips.

[@NoName-mb7iw]

Speak up Whipper snapper

[@xsmasher2763]

Bad audio

[@cjpagliaro1047]

Audio is awful! Can't understand anything you are saying. Mmmrfmmrama hrumpher a mer. Thats all i hear. Voice over is your friend.

[@spacecoastmealworms]

Check the date at how old that video is. I have a newer, easier to hear, weekly update video