Anyone ever try raising their own wax worms?
In the past I raised meal worms and would like to try my hand at wax worms. I have searched the internet and found lots of information but would like to hear it from someone first hand.
THanks
Kenny
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Anyone ever try raising their own wax worms?
In the past I raised meal worms and would like to try my hand at wax worms. I have searched the internet and found lots of information but would like to hear it from someone first hand.
THanks
Kenny
if you have any response please keep my name and drop me a line.have read about it on the internet but it sounded too scientific for me,but would love to know a common mans version.think they would be great to fish around may flies and bream on beds.
I am going to make an attempt at it today.
I have to get some honey for the substrate mix, already have the wheat bran for raising meal worms.
The worst that can happen is I waste some honey and bran and a few wax worms.
I was successful with it when I was younger, but lately I have tried a couple times and failed. I'm not sure if I just have the honey/bran mixture too heavy or if the wax worms I am getting shipped are not of very good quality or have been cold too long and arrested their development. I do remember it wasn't terribly scientific, just honey and bran. One mistake I remember making the first time is underestimating the larvae size once they hatch out. The 1 instar larvae are really small and they have a tendency to escape out of the container. A bunch ended up pupating outside the container and a bunch of wax worm moths ended up in my parents house; needless to say they weren't very happy about it. Hope you have better luck than me.
kmatcek give us an update how are they doing?
Kamacek ::
I've been raising them for several years now with good success. I too, went online and got a lot of information . I tried the babyfood recipe with some success . The best way I've found is to use old honey combYou can go online and find a beekeeper near you and they are glad to sell the old honeycomb . I made boxes out of 3/8 in plywood , large enough for a frame of honeycomb to lay in . Cut a 1 in. hole in the top and put a fine screen on it for ventilation . Put in a frame of honeycomb and dump in a small box of waxworms and keep it warm . I keep mine at 85 degrees in the winter time . In the summertime you won't need any extra heat . Keep them in a hot out building if you want . I aalso feed mine bee pollen I get from
www.betterbee.com . They are very easy to raise in the summer , a little harder in the winter . I take my extras to a local baitshop and he keeps me in minnows . PM me your mailing address and i"ll send you a start
er kit to get you going . Give it a try , I think you will enjoy raising them. If you can't find honeycomb , I'll hook you up with my supplier.
Norm
What size box did you build?
Pete
Quote:
Could you post a picture of your setup, I would like to see that.Quote:
Thanks
[email protected]:
A picture of your setup would help. Where do you get your wax worms
and how fast do they multiply..
I have two little waxworms at home. I can't tell you how I raised them though. That's personal.:p
I was thinking about trying to keep some wax worms and meal worms. Raising them is a whole nother ball game.
What's the best way to keep them? How long do they last?
Don
I am not having too much luck with this first batch every day more and more turn black and I guess are dead. The temperature here is fluctuation wildly from cold at nite to hot in the day and I think that may be a problem. No worms have spun a cacoon yet. I am raising them in the house but turn the heat way down when we are a sleep.
I will give this batch a few more weeks then try starting over when the temps are more suitable for the wax worms.
This may be dumb question. But arent wax worms the same as beemoth? If so, then I think I may take a stab at raising some.
Found these simple instructions on the net and pasted them below. Doesn't sound to complicated. Looks like these instructions say to use crumpled wax paper instead of a bee comb. Or maybe I might just buy the kit @ http://www.wormman.com/pd_lesser.cfm. It only $10.95.
BTW, what is bran mix, can it be bought at the grocery story?
Anyone used this method?
1.Best way to start raising wax worms is to buy some.
2.Prepare an escape proof container for them ie 3 to 5 gallon tank with screened lid
(tape it on later).
3.You will also need a substrate- get some bran and honey- mix it together dry. If you can get some bees wax grate it into the mixture. Crumble the mixture into the tank. You can also buy the bedding above.
The mix may still be a little sticky.
4.Put the wax worms in the container with the bedding.
5.Add a few crumpled balls of wax paper as well.
6.Keep the wax worms at room temp. eventually the waxworms will begin to spin
cocoons. They will remain in their cocoons for approx two weeks- then moths will
emerge.
7.The moths will mate and live for about a week or so- they will lay their eggs in the wax
paper.
8.A couple of weeks after the moths have died you will see lots of tiny worms. They
grow fast if they are kept at room temp- so once they are half grown you may want to
store them in the fridge in a container with small air holes and some of the honey and
bran mix. If you leave them at room temp the cycle will begin again. :)
9.You must secure the top. The worms hatch small and will escape.
Wax worms go through four stages: egg, larvae, pupa, and adult. At 85 degrees it will take the worm 5 to 6 weeks to go from larva to adult.
1. When the worm starts to turn grayish or darker. Is he dieing or begining the cocoon stage?
2. Is this what they look like when they are in coccon stage? Found the picture while searching the net. Says they are wax worm pupas.
http://pic19.picturetrail.com/VOL105.../142885327.jpg
Here is two of the best online links I found for info about and raiseing beemoth(waxworms). Seems Lizard and Aqualand Pets owners know alot about raising wzxwroms. Got mine in a jar waiting to see what they do, die or multiply. I just ground some hard dogfood up, added a little honey & water, and made a mix. If nothing else, the grandkids like to watch them crawl around. Entertains them.
http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Live...ax%20Worms.htm
http://www.adcham.com/html/insects/i...m-rearing.html
Man, please don't raise them. KILL them.I'm a beekeeper & they are a beekeepers worst night mare.They will move in a hive of bees & completely take them over.kill out alot of bee's every year.I burn thousand's of them each year.
Here a site you might want to check out.Its www.waxwormkit.com
Ya I know. And raiseing them indoors should not hurt your bees. As long as people don't release them into the wild. I like honey, but never could understand how a person could make a living off bee's. Maybe you should raise beemoths and do away with the bee's.:confused: There might be more money in the worms. There are more people who fish than eat honey, i would think. just a thought, not meant to upset ya.Quote:
Originally Posted by bentpole
been 3 wks since I put 20 waxworms in a big jar. Yesterday the 1st moth hatched. Out of 20 worms 13 spun cocoons and 7 turned dark and died. read that 1 female supposed to lay up to 300 eggs. If that happens, I'll have more waxmorms out the whazzzoooo.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by prchjerker
I broke down and bought the waxworm kit mentioned above. It came with 100 waxworms looks like I will have plenty of worms if they all live.
I tried to go at it with homeade supplies but all the worms died. I was using worms I had in the fridge for a few months so that may have been the problem with my set up. I will clean up my homeade rigs and try a few fresh worms in it to see what happens.
Kenny
okay so yeah i have these wax worms also and i have had them for a while....ive never seen them spin a cacoon however i have seen them go into a brownish colored cacoon that sits loose untop of the substrate. the substrate i use is only oatmeal aka bran which i got for a dollar at walmart....also i feed them fruits instead of hunny which attracts way to many bugs to my room...lol being only 16 i sort of have to keep my room wild bug free....btw i only feed them slices of apples and nectarenes (lol i dont think i spelt that right) dont try to feed them fruits like pears cause they tend to mold quickly...okay also when the moths come out of the cacoon they cant fly immediately but the can hover a little this is when you should transport them into another container with some paper.... i use papertowels however its better to use wax paper ...when moths they dont eat much some say they dont eat at all but i still give them a bit of fruit...the moths lay eggs in a bout a week then die...... the eggs hatch in a couple of weeks like 2 or 3 then are little wax worms....but they can climb! so you need to have the lid of the container be either very well covered or sealed completely with a removable lid..add some oats to the container for them to live in and give them just one or two small slices of fruit with out the peal.... do this once a week until they get bigger then add a little bit more food to accomodate thier hunger and size........be sure to remove any food that begins to grow mold...replace oats whent he old oats are almost completly powder......
Get some fresh ones from the bait shop. Don't try with the ones you've had in the fridge for weeks.They will usually die.Also the ones you get at a baitshop will not spin a cacoon. They will turn brown and hard and hatch into a moth.Keep them around 85 degrees with some himidity in the container...A wet sponge in a small can will do the job..Keep us posted on how you do...
Norm
Hi,
I am new here, but my friends and I are trying to raise a bunch of wax worms. We are using 3 gallon jugs, but they keep filling up with silk type stuf. Is there any way to stop the worms from creating and filling my jug up with silk? Anywone had this problem before?
Thank-You for any and all help offered.
Jim -MN
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimlargecrappie
I can't remember what site it was at. But the only way to stop the little ones from spinning silk is to put them into the freezer for a while. I tried and killed most of them. Didn't work for me, guess you have to know what your doing.
Anyway, when they spin a silk cacoon, they are going from the larva stage to the pupal stage, after that they hatch into moths. And thats what you want, the moths are what lays eggs. It took me a while but 2 years ago I raise enough to fish with. Feeding them to is not easy, I used ground dogfood and honey, then dried it out and crumbled it.
Bottom line your can't really stop them from silking unless your know what your doing.
ndchan40,
That is an interesting piece you wrote there. Here in Arkansas NO ONE carries waxworms and I get these weird looks whenever I ask for them.
I'm gonna have to try this. Looks like low maintenance to me. Would you please post a photo of your set-up for all of us???? Thanks for sharing your info.
aj