Probably a few hundred pupae. I'm removing twenty to thirty every day from the mealworm enclosure and have about fifty beetles already in the Clean Mealworm Tower.
A couple of observations here. That original enclosure was taped with black electrical tape in the inside corners since I didn't know what I was doing with coroplast yet and I did not know the worms would chew on it. Have tossed out probably close to fifty dead worms as I find them. Perhaps the tape killed them? There is no tape in any of the new enclosures.
The powdery stuff outside the enclosure on the screen is diatomaceous earth. Had seen two mites crawling on the screen frame that day, I figured came from the worm bin below so I dusted the entire worm bin, the screen around the edge outside the mealworm enclosure and the entire box bottom both are sitting in. This did not affect the earthworms in any way and I have not seen any more mites.
Clean Mealworm Tower setup in the spare room. Beetle breeder box on top. Can change out trays below as needed and each oversize tray lid will catch the frass from the tray above. Only the tray under the breeder box has no lid so eggs or newly hatched mealworms from the breeder box can fall into it. Trays are lined with foil so eggs and small mealworms stay in until big enough to remove the foil. Only did two as a test. If it works will do the rest as needed.
Spraying the composting worm bin surface with water every three days. No problems to report humidity-wise as far as it affecting the mealworm bedding negatively. Noticed some of the worms mating and have not really dug around looking for cocoons but there will be some soon if not already. No escape attempts since there are no trails in the DE dust on the sides of the bin. Worms are happily eating any food scraps and frass that falls through the mealwom enclosure. All is well or they would try to escape.
This is coming along real fine Charlie! Great thinking and job, as always :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! In my corner, as always :)
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