Random Blatherings

My name is Solomon, and I’m a mealworm breeder.

I have a few birds in my garden, and I feed them all, because I like to see them. And it’s not like they come and put on a show for free. We get quite a few species, some of which eat seeds, while other’s prefer live food. I’ve had good results feeding mealworms in the past, with 3 different Robin’s paying us a visit, but they’re quite expensive to buy. Since I got some advice on how to raise mealworms (they’re apparently quite easy to grow), I figured I’d buy cheap mealworms off Ebay and give it a go.

Well, the box of little one’s arrived today, so I ceremoniously hand picked dumped them into a 6″ deep, 12″ wide plastic tub. I then added a couple of slices of apple, which were covered with worms inside of 60 seconds. I’m really surprised by how quickly they found the food and latched on, but there you go. Insects are natures survivalists, having been around since the time of the dinosaurs. I figure when you’ve been evolving for that length of time you learn a trick or two. The life cycle of a mealworm is apparently quite variable, depending on temperature - if I keep them warm they will grow faster.

Seeing as how they like apple so much, I think I’m going to slice one thinly on the mandoline, and freeze what isn’t used, individually, to save on waste. I don’t think there will be much, though, the way they’re going at the slices that are already in there.

I’m really excited to be raising mealworms. I feel all grown up. Seriously though, I do feel good to be able to grow something like this, that will save me money in the long term. I just hope they all survive.