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Dec 07, 2020 - 05:57 AM
Our regular mealworms are grown as natural and chemical-free as possible. We only use very dilute bleach to clean our growing trays to sanitize them between growing cycles and then let them air dry in the sun for several weeks before re-use.
We feed them human-grade carrots and wheat bran bought from a local mill that sells to human bakeries because we are so careful about keeping chemicals and pesticides out of our farm. There are no chemicals, hormones, or antibiotics introduced to them at any time at all.
Our regular mealworms are available in sizes from 1/4" (mini) to 1" (large) and will undergo pupation to become a grain beetle; we select your order straight from our growing racks that we use to generate our future mealworm populations.
The life cycle of the mealworm is as follows:
Egg to Incubation: 4-19 days (usually 4-7)
Larva: 10 weeks to 4 months. Visible after about a week or two
Pupa: 10 – 24 days
Beetle and Mating: 8-12 weeks (followed by death).
Egg laying starts: 4-19 days (average 12) after emergence
The timeline is very dependent on temperature, with an average of 20 weeks to complete the life cycle.
Your beetles should have started laying eggs roughly two weeks after emerging from pupation, and the baby worms visible after a week or two.
Has it been longer than two weeks since your beetles emerged from their pupa? These timelines are very dependent on temperature, when temperatures fall below 75° the process slows greatly.
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