Detailed Explanation of Mealworm Farming Techniques and Profit Analysis

What insect is the mealworm? The mealworm also has another name, the breadworm, because the nutritional value of the mealworm is very high and its utility value is also very broad, so more and more people are raising mealworms. How much money does it roughly take to raise mealworms? How much profit can it bring?

Mealworm Farming Techniques and Profit

With the techniques mastered, using spare time, with an area of 20 sq m, purchasing 100 kg of seed insects at 120 yuan/kg, wheat bran at a market price of 0.65 yuan/jin, a feed-to-meat ratio for insect farming of 3:1, green vegetables 3 jin at 0.15 yuan/jin (average). Calculated over one year of farming, 1 jin of seed insects on average produces 50 jin of commercial insects, and 100 kg of seed insects can produce 5000 kg of commercial insects; producing 1 kg of commercial insects yields 2 kg of insect frass. The current market price of insect frass is: 0.5 yuan/kg.

Total cost is: wheat bran cost = 10000 jin (commercial insects) × 3 × 0.65 = 19,500 yuan; green vegetable cost = 10000 jin (commercial insects) × 3 × 0.15 = 4500 yuan; seed insect cost = 100 kg × 120 yuan/kg = 12,000 yuan.

Tool cost = having a carpenter custom-make 200 wooden boxes worth about 1000 yuan. Profit: producing insect frass: 5000 kg x 2 = 10000 kg; 10000 kg x 0.5 yuan/kg = 5000 yuan. Total income = 5000 kg × 7 yuan/kg = 35,000 yuan (market price 6-8 yuan, taking 7 yuan) + insect frass 5000 yuan.

Total: 40,000 yuan

First-year net income = 40,000 - 12,000 (seed insects) - 19,500 (wheat bran) - 1000 yuan (wooden boxes) - 4500 yuan (green vegetables) = 3000 yuan

Note: bran can be replaced with grass chaff: the feed-to-meat ratio for grass chaff and insect farming is 4:1. Grass chaff cost = 10000 jin (commercial insects) × 4 × 0.3 = 12,000 yuan. After the replacement, the total cost is reduced by 7500 yuan, and the annual profit is 10,500 yuan.

After the commercial insects are sold, the farmer still has a large number of adult insects continuously reproducing, so this is a one-time investment with long-term benefits.

Living Habits of Mealworms

In the wild state, mealworms generally have 1 cycle per year, overwintering as larvae, emerging from dormancy around Qingming the following year, and pupating by mid-May. When mealworms are raised artificially in a greenhouse, with the room temperature kept at 30-33 degrees and humidity at around 70%, 1 generation can be completed in 60 days; the larvae molt continuously 8 times and then pupate.

Mealworms are negatively phototactic; adults live in dark corners on the surface of the grain pile; larvae lurk in the surface layer. About days after the pupae emerge, the body color changes from yellow-white to reddish-brown, males and females mate, and then eggs are laid; the ovipositor is millimeters long; eggs are laid about 14 mm below the surface layer of the grain pile; the eggs are oval, about 2.5 mm long, white, with a sticky surface, and the egg surface often has various debris stuck to it, making it difficult to find without careful examination; they break when lightly pressed with a finger. Adults lay 15-35 eggs per day, and adults can generally lay 2000-3000 eggs. They like to live in groups.

Mealworm Farming Methods:

1. Larvae: raise them in wooden boxes, 60 cm long, 40 cm wide, 3 cm high, put in mixed feed 3-5 times the weight of the insects, and put the larvae in. Then cover with various vegetable leaves and so on to maintain suitable temperature. After the feed is basically eaten up, sieve out the insect frass and add new feed. If breeding stock needs to be retained, reduce the density of the larvae; generally 1 box must not exceed 250 grams. The pupae formed from the first several batches of larvae should be picked out in time to avoid being bitten. By the later stage, most larvae no longer eat, so there is no need to pick out pupae anymore.

2. Pupae: use larval rearing boxes, sprinkle with wheat bran, cover with an appropriate amount of vegetable leaves,   put the pupae in and wait for emergence.

3. Adults: the specifications of the oviposition box for adult mealworms are the same as the larval box, except that the bottom of the box is fitted with wire mesh, with mesh openings small enough that adults cannot get through, and the four inner sides of the box are lined with galvanized iron sheet or glass to prevent the adults from escaping. Under the wire mesh, place a sheet of paper or a wooden board, then sprinkle 1 cm of mixed feed, cover with a layer of vegetable leaves to keep moisture, and finally put in the emerged adults, ready for egg laying. Every 7 days, pull out the board or paper under the oviposition box together with the wheat bran and put it into the larval box to wait for hatching.

Rearing of Larvae

After the larvae hatch, they can eat, so feed must be provided in time. As the larvae continue to molt and grow, gradually increase the amount of compound feed provided, while supplementing some green vegetable leaves and melon peel. For larvae aged 1-3 weeks, control the density at 80,000-100,000 per sq m; for larvae aged 4-6 weeks, control the density at 50,000-60,000 per sq m; for larvae aged 7-9 weeks, the density is 30,000-40,000 per sq m; for larvae aged 10-13 weeks, control the density at 20,000-25,000 per sq m. When the larvae grow to 25-30 mm, control the density at about 10,000 per sq m. The classification method is to use 134 sieves of different specifications to screen them, and raise larvae of the same specification at a certain density in graded groups. In the rearing tray, the insect bodies and frass must be separated regularly: pour the insect bodies and frass together into a sieve, sieve out the frass, and keep the insect bodies. The sieve is made of nylon gauze; in the early rearing stage, the mesh openings are 11-23 mesh, and in the middle and late stages, use 4-6 mesh sieves.

Having discussed so many issues about mealworm farming and also analyzed roughly how much cost mealworm farming requires and how much profit it can bring, those who want to raise mealworms should have a clear idea by now. Raising mealworms does not require very high costs, and the profit is also quite good, so it is a good farming project!