How to breed mealworms with an electric warming rack? A detailed explanation of the method

When the air temperature is below 20°C, mealworms eat less and grow more slowly, which extends the egg incubation period and the pupal eclosion period. In order to maintain the growth and reproduction rate of mealworms and meet the feed needs of livestock, poultry, and frogs, a heated rearing method must be used. There are many heating methods; in areas with electricity, installing an electric warming rack is more economical, as well as safe and reliable. The method for setting up an electric warming rack is as follows.

1. Erecting the electric warming rack The dimensions of the electric warming rack can be determined by the size of the worm boxes. For example, if the bottom area of the worm box is 45×33 cm, an electric warming rack 2 m high, 1.5 m wide, and 0.5 m deep can be erected. On the rack, set a layer of partition board 10 cm above the ground, seal the top of the rack tightly with wooden boards or other insulating material, and then set one or two more layers of partition boards in the middle of the rack. Rectangular worm boxes can be stacked crosswise on each layer of partition boards.

2. Making the electric heating blanket The electric heating blanket can be made according to the dimensions of the electric warming rack, 4.5 m long and 2 m wide. When making it, piece the cotton cloth together according to the required dimensions, then lay out the heating wire on the cotton cloth and sew it securely. When laying the wire, keep the heating wire parallel to the long edge of the cloth; at the beginning, the spacing between wires is 3-4 cm, gradually changing from dense to sparse. By the other edge of the cloth, the spacing between wires is more than 100 cm, and leave 25 cm at both ends of the cloth without wire. The lead-out wires of the heating wire are connected through ceramic connectors to the thermostat switch (medium setting 250 watts, high setting 500 watts). Making such an electric heating blanket uses about 150 m of heating wire.

3. Wrapping the blanket onto the rack Wrap the electric heating blanket around the electric warming rack, with the densely wired side at the bottom and the sparsely wired side at the top (according to the principle that hot air rises, this can make the temperature on each layer inside the electric warming rack roughly similar). Nail the upper edge of the electric heating blanket from the outside onto the top board of the electric warming rack, and overlap the two ends of the electric heating blanket at the exact center front of the electric warming rack to form a door. After nailing it up, it looks like a mosquito net.

4. Adjusting the temperature Place a thermometer on each layer of partition board inside the electric warming rack to monitor the temperature at all times, and use the thermostat switch to adjust the temperature: use the medium setting above 10°C and the high setting below 10°C. In addition, other methods can also be used to regulate the temperature. For example, add or remove insulating material on the bottom partition board inside the blanket enclosure of the electric warming rack, at the top layer of the electric warming rack, and in other places, or close or open the door of the electric heating blanket to regulate the temperature, keeping the temperature inside the rack at about 25°C to ensure normal growth and reproduction of the worms. In short, the overwintering rearing management of mealworms is basically the same as ordinary routine rearing management; as long as attention is paid to keeping them warm, it is enough. For management needs, when taking worm boxes out of the electric warming rack, take out one box and handle one box, and operate quickly to avoid the worms freezing to death. Raising mealworms by the above method, the egg hatching rate, larval survival rate, and pupal stage survival rate can all reach 90%, the hatching rate of high-quality egg-laying worms can reach 60%, and each pair of adults can lay 200-300 eggs. Each adult can multiply 43-65 times within 4 months. Calculated based on wheat bran and fine rice bran, the staple food of mealworms, every 3 kg of wheat bran or fine rice bran can produce 1 kg of worms; the cost of feeding vegetable leaves, melon rinds, and the like is also not high. If raising them for one's own use, the feed cost of raising mealworms can be greatly reduced. Beginners raising mealworms can only buy seed stock from elsewhere, generally purchasing large larvae as seed stock. During transport, it is necessary both to keep ventilation and air permeability and to prevent escape. It is best to use a cloth bag without holes to hold the worms, tie the opening tightly after filling, and then place it in a basket or crate for transport. In summer, transport can only be carried out when the weather is cool, and the bag must not contain too many worms. For transporting pupae, an open-mouthed container can be used; for transporting eggs, the egg-collecting paper together with the remaining material can be wrapped well and transported together.