Feeding and Management Methods for Yellow Mealworms at Different Growth Stages

 Yellow mealworm feeding and management:

1) Preparation work Before starting to stock yellow mealworms, all tools should be cleaned and disinfected with a 0.1% potassium permanganate solution. The rearing room should be sprayed with a 2% lysol solution to disinfect the floor, then sprayed with a bacterial disinfectant to disinfect the space. A ring of plastic tape should be applied inside the rearing tray (wooden tray) below the upper edge to prevent the yellow mealworms from escaping. Thoroughly eliminate the natural enemies of yellow mealworms indoors, such as spiders, ants, geckos, mice, etc. The rearing room must be kept clean and sanitary. 2) Temperature and humidity The suitable temperature for rearing yellow mealworms is 25-30°C, with a space humidity of 60%. If the temperature and humidity are higher or lower than the above standards, the growth and development of yellow mealworms will be affected to a certain degree. During the rearing process, corresponding measures can be taken according to specific conditions to regulate and control the temperature and humidity. 3) Cleaning and sanitation work After the rearing room has been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, it must be kept clean and sanitary on a regular basis. Specifically, the following aspects of work should be done well: ① Keep the rearing room and rearing trays clean and sanitary. ② Clean up leftover green feed in a timely manner to prevent rotting and spoilage. ③ Timely clean up shed dry skins and larval feces. Yellow mealworm feces are like fine sand; if accumulated too thickly, they will affect the larvae's activity and feeding, so they must be cleaned regularly, once every 5-7 days. The cleaning method is as follows: on the day before the cleaning work is to be done, do not put wheat bran, corn husks, etc. into the rearing trays; instead, you may put in some green feed, and try to let the larvae finish the original feed. When cleaning, pour all the larvae, feed, and feces into a sieve, sieve out the feces, then pour the larvae into a disinfected tray. 4) Winter and summer management In winter, adopt heating methods to raise the temperature of the rearing room to about 25°C. In the high-temperature summer season, ventilate to cool down, spread out the larvae to reduce density, and prevent the temperature within the colony from rising; prevent direct sunlight. If active measures are not taken every summer, it will cause mass death of yellow mealworms. (5) Management of yellow mealworms at different stages 1) Feeding and management of adults First, adults at different growth stages have different requirements for feed and cannot be mixed. Second, newly emerged adults are very delicate and have weak resistance; they cannot eat feed with excessive water content, and can be appropriately fed more concentrated feed such as wheat bran and cornmeal. Third, in order to increase the egg-laying rate and egg hatching rate, sufficient nutrition should be supplied to adults, feeding them high-quality compound feed. The feed formula is: wheat bran 70%, cornmeal 20%, sesame cake 9%, bone meal 1%. And provide a sufficient quantity of concentrated feed. This can delay adult aging, prolong the egg-laying period, and increase the egg-laying rate. Fourth, when feeding, do so in small amounts but frequently, feeding 2-3 times per day. The daily feeding amount should be appropriate, with the principle that there is no leftover food at the next feeding. Food must not be lacking, otherwise it will cause adults to eat eggs and also cause adults to bite and fight each other, resulting in injuries. Since leftover feed easily becomes moldy and spoils, affecting egg-laying, feed must not be put in excessive amounts. Fifth, male adults often die quickly after mating; dead adults should be cleaned up in a timely manner to prevent rotting and spoilage that could cause infectious diseases. Sixth, place a layer of egg-collecting paper under the egg-laying sieve, generally changing it once every 4 days. Evenly sprinkle a 2 cm thick layer of wheat bran on the egg-collecting paper under the egg-laying sieve, and the eggs laid will be buried in the wheat bran; otherwise the adults will eat the eggs. Seventh, in order to increase the adult egg-laying rate and egg hatching rate, generally replace the adults once every 4 months, that is, eliminate the aged adults:

 2) Management of eggs After the egg-collecting paper is removed, place it together with the wheat bran on the paper into the rearing tray. Under suitable conditions, the eggs will hatch into larvae. At this time, management should pay attention to the following two aspects: ① Temperature plays an important role in egg hatching. At a temperature of 30°C, the eggs hatch into larvae in 5 days; at a temperature of 25°C, it takes about 15 days to hatch into larvae. Therefore, eggs should be placed at a higher temperature for hatching to shorten the hatching period. ② During hatching, the indoor relative humidity is also required to be moderate. Within a suitable humidity range, the eggs can smoothly hatch into larvae; in a dry environment, hatching is slower and there is a certain mortality rate. Do not spray water into the hatching tray to add moisture; instead, increase the humidity in the hatching tray by increasing the ambient humidity. The ambient relative humidity should be increased to about 70%. The way to increase indoor humidity is to sprinkle water on the floor and place some water basins. 3) Management of larvae In the life cycle of the yellow mealworm, the larval stage lasts about 2 months. The quality of larval management directly affects economic benefits. Therefore, larval management should do the following aspects of work well: ① After all eggs have hatched into small larvae, increase temperature and humidity to promote rapid growth and development. The temperature within the larval colony can be raised by increasing rearing density; the method for adding humidity is to spray and humidify inside the rearing tray, with the number of sprays reaching 7—8 times per day, each spray amount being small, and no obvious moisture should be seen in the tray. Humidity can also be increased by mixing a little more water into the feed. ② In order to allow larvae to obtain comprehensive nutrition, compound feed can be fed, with the feed moisture content reaching about 10%, and some clean green vegetable leaves should be fed regularly. During continuous rainy seasons, water need not be mixed into the feed, and the amount of green feed fed should also be reduced. ③ The feed feeding amount should be appropriate, with the principle of not lacking food and still having a small amount of leftover food. Feed 2—3 times per day. ④ Large and small larvae should be reared separately to avoid the large eating the small and reduce output. ⑤ Larvae have a very strong ability to escape, so escape prevention work should be done well, frequently checking whether the anti-escape tape is damaged. 4) Management of pupae Pupal management should do the following aspects of work: ① Pupae cannot move and are very tender, and are very easily attacked by larvae, so after larvae become pupae, larvae and pupae should be separated in a timely manner. ② Pupae are afraid of high temperatures, and will die in large numbers above 30°C. Therefore, in the high-temperature season, special attention should be paid to strengthening air circulation and taking active measures to cool down. ③ Density must not be too high; it is best to spread them in a single layer, otherwise it will cause death. ④ Avoid violent vibration; generally do not transport them, otherwise the hatching rate will be greatly reduced. ⑤ Timely clean up dead pupae to prevent dead pupae from rotting and contaminating live pupae and causing infection. 5) Transportation of yellow mealworms The transportation of yellow mealworms is the transportation of larvae, and the following aspects should be noted: ① Generally transport in winter, early spring, or late autumn when temperatures are low. At this time, because of low temperatures, the metabolic level of larvae is low, nutrient consumption during transportation is small, and the survival rate after arrival is high. ② When transporting, use plastic woven bags, about 3 kg per bag, then place them in cardboard boxes. Some ventilation holes should be punched in the box walls to prevent oxygen deficiency. ③ During transportation, achieve the “three preventions”, namely preventing rain, preventing exposure to the sun, and preventing compression. If special circumstances require transportation in summer, special attention must be paid to preventing high temperatures. To prevent high temperatures, do the following aspects: First, reduce the number of larvae loaded per bag, from 3 kg per bag in winter to less than 2 kg, which can reduce the heat within the colony. Second, placing an appropriate amount of larval feces in the transport bag can also lower the temperature within the colony. Third, transportation can be carried out at night or in rainy weather, when the weather is cooler, which is beneficial for transportation.