How to grow a wax worm farm

Explore America’s Campgrounds

How to Raise Canadian Nightcrawlers

How to Build Fishing Worm Beds

Items you will need

3-to-5 gallon container

20-gauge wire mesh screen

Gerber mixed-grain baby cereal

Warnings

Exercise extreme caution when you open the jar or you may find yourself with a housewide infestation.

For additional escape prevention, a piece of muslin or cheesecloth can be placed beneath the screen prior to taping it down.

Wax worm colonies thrive at room temperature or slightly warmer conditions.

To make a simple worm food, mix 7 cups of dry dog food with 1 cup of water. Wait 5 minutes for the food to soften slightly, then add 1 to 2 cups of honey to the mix. Let stand for 24 hours before using.

Wax worms are a popular source of protein, fat and calcium for amphibian and reptile pets. They are also a common choice of live bait for fishermen. The worms can be raised easily in your home and will provide a source of worms to meet your needs all year long. To raise wax worms, simply follow the steps in the guidelines below.

Find a small set of starter worms from the local pet store or bait shop. Begin with 24 to 36 worms. If you know anyone who keeps bees, check with them as well. Wax worm larvae wreak havoc on established hives and beekeepers are more than happy to get rid of them.

Set up a holding container. Wash a 3-to-5 gallon bucket, can or jar and allow it to air dry. Make sure you choose a container made from glass, metal or hard plastic as the wax worms are able to gnaw their way through softer materials such as wood or pliable plastic. Cover the opening of the container with mesh screening, 20-gauge or smaller.

Prepare the worm food. Combine one box of Gerber mixed-grain baby cereal with 1/3 cup honey and 1/3 cup glycerin. Stir the ingredients together until the cereal is moist. Add water if necessary, 1 tbsp. at a time. Sprinkle approximately 1/2 of this mixture on the bottom of the big container you’ve chosen. Store the extra in the refrigerator in a sealed container.

Add the wax worms and a few sheets of slightly wadded-up waxed paper. Cover the opening of the jar and secure the screen by connecting it to the jar with duct tape.

Observe the colony. Every 4 to 5 weeks, add more food. In addition to the cereal/honey mixture, wax worms eat leafy greens and slices of apples or oranges. If your colony is successful, the worms will begin to spin cocoons. Moths will break out of their cocoons in approximately 2 weeks.

Remove the sheets of waxed paper when the adult moths die and place them individually into newly prepared jars. The waxed paper will contain the eggs, which hatch into new worms.

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Items you will need

3-to-5 gallon container

20-gauge wire mesh screen

Gerber mixed-grain baby cereal

Wax worms are a popular source of protein, fat and calcium for amphibian and reptile pets. They are also a common choice of live bait for fishermen. The worms can be raised easily in your home and will provide a source of worms to meet your needs all year long. To raise wax worms, simply follow the steps in the guidelines below.

Find a small set of starter worms from the local pet store or bait shop. Begin with 24 to 36 worms. If you know anyone who keeps bees, check with them as well. Wax worm larvae wreak havoc on established hives and beekeepers are more than happy to get rid of them.

Set up a holding container. Wash a 3-to-5 gallon bucket, can or jar and allow it to air dry. Make sure you choose a container made from glass, metal or hard plastic as the wax worms are able to gnaw their way through softer materials such as wood or pliable plastic. Cover the opening of the container with mesh screening, 20-gauge or smaller.

Prepare the worm food. Combine one box of Gerber mixed-grain baby cereal with 1/3 cup honey and 1/3 cup glycerin. Stir the ingredients together until the cereal is moist. Add water if necessary, 1 tbsp. at a time. Sprinkle approximately 1/2 of this mixture on the bottom of the big container you’ve chosen. Store the extra in the refrigerator in a sealed container.

Add the wax worms and a few sheets of slightly wadded-up waxed paper. Cover the opening of the jar and secure the screen by connecting it to the jar with duct tape.

Observe the colony. Every 4 to 5 weeks, add more food. In addition to the cereal/honey mixture, wax worms eat leafy greens and slices of apples or oranges. If your colony is successful, the worms will begin to spin cocoons. Moths will break out of their cocoons in approximately 2 weeks.

Remove the sheets of waxed paper when the adult moths die and place them individually into newly prepared jars. The waxed paper will contain the eggs, which hatch into new worms.

Resources (1)

Author

Lisa Parris is a writer and former features editor of “The Caldwell County News.” Her work has also appeared in the “Journal of Comparative Parasitology,” “The Monterey County Herald” and “The Richmond Daily News.” In 2012, Parris was honored with awards from the Missouri Press Association for best feature story, best feature series and best humor series.

For the uninformed, worm composting is the practice of using worms to recycle food scraps and other organic matter into worm compost, also called vermicompost. Worms eat the organic material, which then passes through the worm to become compost. This compost can then be collected and used to improve soil quality, usually to aid in growing plants and vegetables. To effectively use worm compost, you’ll need a worm farm. You don’t have to be a master gardener to take advantage of the benefits a worm farm offers the good old USA. For the environmentally conscious person, worm composting is a must. It reduces waste, creates a quality organic fertilizer, requires little upkeep, and can be maintained just about anywhere. If properly kept, it doesn’t even smell bad. Keep reading to learn how to make a worm farm for your home.

• The Worm Factory 360 has a standard 4-Tray size which is expandable up to 8 trays, giving it the largest volume of any.
• The redesigned lid converts to a handy stand for trays while harvesting the compost.
• Includes Manual and a Warranty included after product registration.

What Is a Worm Farm?

We’ve already given you most of the answer but to be thorough, a worm farm is a community of worms kept as a way of recycling food and other organic matter into natural fertilizer. A worm farm can be purchased or homemade and is a great source of compost for those with vegetable gardens or small fruit gardens.

Depending on the size of your garden, additional worm farms can be added, since they are inexpensive and easy to maintain. Vermicompost is also used in the farming industry across the United States.

Advantages of Having a Worm Farm

How to Make a Worm Farm

• Guaranteed Live Delivery -All orders ship to arrive within 2 days of purchase!*
• 500 Red Worms is a great amount of worms to start any compost project.
• Responsive Customer Service – Also provided with 800 number to speak to live worm experts.

Though you can purchase a pre-made vermicomposter, we’re going to show you how to make a worm farm for a lot less. It’s easy to do, with very little “building” involved. Keep in mind that worms hate the light, so use materials that will keep it nice and dark for them.

Needed Supplies

These are the essentials for how to make a worm farm. As you progress in your vermicomposting, you’ll add a thing here or there to make the process easier. A trowel, for instance, makes arranging the compost a breeze. But for now, these are the things you’ll need.

Two or Three Plastic Bins

A Drill

Shredded Newspaper

Damp Soil

Container for Scraps

Worms

Preparing the Bins

Follow these steps to prepare your bins. If you use three bins, the top two, the composting bin(s), will be home to the worms and need to be identical.

Drill a 1-inch hole a couple of inches from the top of the uppermost bin on one side. Drill another 1-inch hole in the opposite side. Drill a pattern of ¼ inch holes across the base of each bin for ventilation, drainage, and to allow upward migration of the worms. These holes should be regularly spaced about two inches apart. It’s not necessary to drill holes in the lid since worms prefer the dark, and there will be plenty of ventilation through the sides and bottom of the bins.

The bottom bin, called the sump bin, is there to collect excess fluid called worm tea. No holes should be drilled in this bin.

Setting Up

Once the bins are drilled, you’re ready to put them together. An important decision for how to build a worm farm is where to put your worm farm. You must keep it from freezing and protect it from extreme heat. Indoors is always the best option or perhaps in a basement or garage. Remember, with the proper setup and maintenance, your worm farm will not have an odor. Set up the bins as follows:

The top bin or top two bins are “nested” within each other and dropped into the sump bin. Place some “spacers”—bricks or a small clay flower pot, for example, between the bins to improve drainage and ventilation. Ensure your bins don’t jam together, decreasing ventilation and making it harder to harvest the compost. Your spacers should help with this, or you can add wooden blocks to the edge of the second composting bin and the sump bin.

Starting Production

Now that you’ve mastered how to make a worm farm, let’s put it to work.

Set up your worms in the top bin with a damp bedding such as shredded newspaper. Put in a little compost (household organic scraps) and a handful or two of damp soil with the worms. You only need a small amount of the dampened soil because the worms will start producing their own soon enough. After a few days, you will be ready to add more organic scraps. Cover the food with more shredded paper to discourage unwanted insects and keep the lid tightly closed.

Never allow the worm farm to dry out. Sprinkle water over the bedding occasionally if necessary, but don’t soak it. After your worm farm has been active for a while, the worms will reproduce and compost will start to build up. When the amount of compost is significant, and if you’re using a second composting bin, change the positions of the upper two bins so that bin number two is now on top of the stack.

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How to Grow a Wax Worm Farm

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Though potentially more difficult to care for than some worms, many fisherman still enjoy using the Canadian nightcrawler. With sizes that reach up to 14 inches, the worm can easily be attached to fish hooks and used as bait for many varieties of fish. Despite their more finicky living conditions, Canadian nightcrawlers can still be fairly easy to care for with practice.

Obtain a container that will fit in your refrigerator, such as a small plastic bucket or tub. Fill the bottom of the container with gravel and sand for drainage. Then fill the container with potting soil or other bedding, such as peat moss or decaying plant matter. Bedding should be at least 6- to 8-inches deep.

Put a fish tank thermometer in the container, then store the container in your fridge. Keep the temperature in the bucket at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Make sure to keep temperature below 65 degrees.

Purchase Canadian nightcrawlers and pour them into your refrigerated container at home. The worms can be found at bait shops or even at Walmart. You may store up to 1 lb. of nightcrawlers for every square foot of bedding in your container.

Feed your nightcrawlers by sprinkling food over the top of the dirt. Canadian nightcrawlers eat greens such as leaf and grass clippings, as well as other organic material, including fruit and vegetable peelings or coffee and tea grounds. Do not worry about overfeeding the nightcrawlers.

Check your nightcrawlers every two to three days. Remove any old or rotting food. Moisten bedding by sprinkling bottled water over the top. Keep bedding damp but not too watery.

Aerate the nightcrawlers’ bedding by flipping or turning the dirt every two to four weeks. Ten percent of the bedding should be removed and replaced with new bedding every four to six months.

Explore America’s Campgrounds

How to Grow a Wax Worm Farm

How to Build Fishing Worm Beds

There is no more versatile bait when it comes to fishing than nightcrawlers or earthworms. While most tackle shops, bait shops and sporting goods stores sell live worms, creating your own nightcrawler farm is a way to save money and have live bait available whenever you want to head out to the lake for a day of fishing. Having a worm farm also provides a way to compost your food scraps and provide fertilizer for your plants or garden.

Items you will need

A container at least 7 by 9 by 14 inches

Shredded black and white ink newspaper

Crushed cooked egg shells

Prepare your container in the area you will want your nightcrawler farm to be. If your container is clear, cover it with newspaper as the worms prefer to be in the dark. Your worm farm will need to be in a location where the temperature remains between 40 and 85 degrees and out of direct sunlight.

Moisten the shredded newspaper with a small amount of water. You want the newspaper to be damp but not soaked. Place it into your container, add in the potting soil and crushed egg shells, and mix them together.

Place your worms inside the new farm and feed them with food scraps such as fruit and vegetables, bread and pasta. Avoid acidic foods such as citrus fruits. The worms eat about half of their body weight each day, so feed an amount based on your population.

Toss the bedding lightly each week to help circulate oxygen in the soil. Lightly spray it with water to keep it moist.

Remove about one-third of the soil every two weeks from the top and use as it fertilizer. Replace with new soil and crushed egg shell mixture.

Remove worms as needed for fishing. Within in about two to three weeks you will see new worms being born and your population increasing. You can remove them for your personal use of even sell them to friends.

Explore America’s Campgrounds

How to Sell Nightcrawlers

How to Start a Nightcrawler Farm

Commercial worm farms are a type of business that breeds and sells worms for composting and bait, or sells worm castings for fertilizers. A business can be small or large as preferred by the individual running the business, and can grow over time. Building a commercial worm farm requires starting up the business and breeding the worms well enough to start bringing in sales. Customers typically include individuals that have organic gardens and fishermen that need bait and prefer the use of live worms.

Write a business plan. Obtaining the initial funding for the business requires a plan of action, estimate costs and proposed profits. Work out all of the details of the business in the business plan.

Obtain necessary funding. While a commercial worm farm is not the most expensive business venture to start, getting a small business loan is necessary to get the business started and running before sales are possible.

Fill out any legal paperwork necessary. A commercial worm farm is a business and needs all of the state and federal tax paperwork filled out. Specific paperwork and business requirements vary by state, so look up the necessary new business paperwork on the state website.

Obtain bins for the worm farm. The number of bins will differ based on the size of the business. A new, small business might start with two plastic bins and work up from there. One bin contains the worms, the other is on the bottom to catch run-off from the first. Make holes in the top bin and place it so that it is inside the other bin and any run-off will fall through the holes and into the second bin.

Put pebbles into the bottom of the bin with holes. Cover the pebbles with newspaper and then add a layer of soil to the top. Add a small amount of water to moisten the soil.

Add worm food. Worm food is stale bread, egg shells, cardboard and vegetable peels. This is added to give the worms something to eat to start with. Add food as necessary when there is space in the bin, but never push down on the materials in the bin to prevent crushing the worms.

Add the worms to the bin and cover with a lid. Worms dislike light, so the bin lid is used to keep it out. Worms will procreate as long as they have food.

Once there are enough worms available, sell the worm castings or worms, as preferred.

Imagine owning a pet that never needed to be walked and survived on your food scraps. What about if it helped make your plants grow while helping to reduce greenhouse gases and your carbon footprint at the same time. Sounds good, right?

WATCH: How to set up a worm farm

Welcome to the world of worm farming, where you’ll not have one but 500 pet worms.

But how do set up a worm farm at home? Better Homes and Gardens Online talked to Connie Cao, a sustainable-living travel blogger, who recently set up her own worm farm. Connie has completed a Permaculture Design Certificate and is undertaking a Diploma in Sustainable Living, and her dream is to have a fully sustainable and self-sufficient home and lifestyle.

Connie Cao at home with her worm farm

Why have a worm farm?

The good thing about worm farms is that it’s a much faster process than composting, in that you’ll be able to reap the benefits within a number of weeks, compared to composting where you have to let the pile sit for longer before it’s ready.

It’s also good if you have a large amount of food waste compared to garden waste, as this is a system that focuses mainly on food waste so you can convert this food waste more efficiently with a worm farm.

Remember with worm farms you need to feed your worms regularly. This means if you go on holiday, not only will you need a pet sitter (if you have a pet), you’ll also need a worm sitter to come over once a week to feed your worms and make sure everything is working how it should be.

How do worm farms work?

Worm farms are great for people with smaller gardens or no gardens as they take food scraps only. With worm farms, you’ll need to regularly feed your worms with food scraps, and they will in turn give you worm castings to use in the garden.

Worm castings can be spread in your garden like fertiliser by digging it into your soil. You can also mix the worm castings with water and water your plants with it like a liquid fertiliser.

What can you put in a worm farm?

You can put fruit and veggie scraps, but unlike compost bins, you need to exclude citrus and onions as worms don’t like them. Worm farms also take egg shells, cartons, newspaper, tea leaves and bread.

How to set up a worm farm

Step 1

Follow instructions to assemble the worm farm. I’ve used a Maze Worm Farm available at Bunnings.

Step 2

Add the worm bedding. I used the provided coconut peat as bedding which needs to soak in water for 30 mins before using.

Step 3

Add the worms and their bedding.

Step 4

Add a worm blanket on top (I used the provided hessian material).

Step 5

Wait around a week for the worms to settle and get used to their new home. After that, you can start feeding the worms food scraps from the kitchen. You place these scraps on top of the worms, but below the worm blanket. The smaller you can cut these food scraps, the faster the worms will process them. Some people even blend their food scraps in a blender to make it easier for the worms!

You can watch Connie’s step-by-step video tutorial above for more tips and tricks on how to set up a worm farm.

How to Breed Waxworms

How to Breed Waxworms here is my quick tips and tricks to breed waxworms. i have been pretty successful as far as doing this. just make sure to wear gloves for .

Quick Tip: How to Breed and Raise Wax Worms for Fishing

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Today’s quick tip episode will definitely help your wallet. I am myself very money conscious, so I dove in. The steps to breed and raise Wax Worms is so simple .

My 2016 Wax Worm Project. Collecting Moths for Breeder Bin

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This is Me collecting the moths out of my wax worm setup, so what you see in the video is me gently collecting the wax moths with little container coxing them on .

Wax worm colony/making a colony

2014-08-27 EJ’S AMAZING GECKOS

Easy way to breed insects (Wax worms)

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This is the last video of the easy way to breed insects series. In the other videos I explain how to breed every feeder that I use to feed my reptiles. The other .

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Life cycle of a wax worm, excluding the egg stage, because those eggs are microscopic! Anyway, hope you enjoy! Should be helpful for anyone who is thinking .

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How to build a mealworm farm! this is a video about how to build a self sorting mealworm farm! I built it using 2 storage totes, some screen and a piece of pine .

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this is how to breed wax worms and ever thing u need to get to do this.

How to care for wax worms

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Hey guys just a quick video showing you how I care for my wax worms 😀 These critters should not be used as a staple diet but as a treat once in a while.

How to make wax worm food/bedding.

2016-04-21 bug tree farm

In this video I show what I put together and how. Pretty simple and easy. The three main things you need 1. Honey 2. Wheat Bran 3. Container.

Living Off Grid – A Worm Farm For The Chickens

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A short video on how to breed super worms. One thing I did forget to mention was keeping the humidity down. Excess humidity can cause mold and mites which .

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This was a super fun episode to film and I think just proves how weird I really am. Worms are doing well. Have worked their way through 3 trays since I filmed this .

Breeding mealworms and superworms.

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to be used as a crash course to save some money and raise your won feeder insects. we have had success doing it this way. it is not difficult but it does take .

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Breeding wax worms is easy. This is a small setup that will help you easily breed your own wax worms.

How To Breed Your Own Fishing Worms..EASY..MONEY SAVER.

2016-04-18 Arizona/Arkansas Fishing

How-To episode for you guys today! In this one I’ll show you how I’ve been breeding and raising my own worms. I don’t know about you guys but I spend a lot of .

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Hi again everyone!! Just a quick video on my discovery. I’m actually excited about this! haha so is it to be or not to be? I really want these little guys to turn into .

BEST BET WAXWORM & MEALWORM BREEDER KITS

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Due to the difficulty we have had with delayed shipments utilizing the post offices priority mail service in previous years, we cannot guarantee timely arrival on orders placed during the holiday season. (This notice does NOT include Spee-dee Deliveries) We recommend that you place your order at the latest for shipment the week of December 7th, or wait until the week of January 4th. If you choose to place your order during the peak shipping season we will ship it without any delay on our part. Please be aware, however, that we cannot guarantee timely delivery or that orders placed for live bait would be received in that condition. We thank you for your understanding & patronage and wish you a Joyous Holiday Season! –> Never buy wax worms again. Our Waxworm Breeder Kits are easy and fun to use. Sets up in ten minutes. Just put it some place at room temperature 65 to 80 degrees. In six to eight weeks you will have hundreds or thousands (you decide how many you want) of new wax worms. Best of all the kits are reusable and we supply you with free live wax worms to get you started. When you want more wax worms just set it back up add some wax worms from your last batch that you raised and in six to eight weeks you will have a new batch of wax worms. BUY IT NOW 218 246-2222

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HOW BEST BET WAXWORM BREEDER KITS WORK

Everything you need to raise your own wax worms is included in our Waxworm Breeder Kits. Special wax worm breeder container, breeding material block for egg deposits, container seal, our own special vitamin fortified wax worm food, detailed instructions and about 100 FREE LIVE WAX WORMS.

It only takes about ten minutes to set up your breeder kit. First, find a seven inch by seven inch place to put your Breeder Kit that is warm. 65 to 80 degrees, with the ideal temperature closer to 80 degrees is best as wax worms are more active and things will move along faster. Add half of the special wax worm breeder food to the bottom of the breeder container. Then add the free live wax worms. Put the breeding material block in, close the cover and set it in a warm place. That’s all there is to it. It makes you wonder why anyone would buy wax worms when it is so easy to raise your own with our Waxworm Breeder Kits.

Once the wax worms turn into pupas/cocoons they will emerge after about two weeks as moths. The moths will live for about ten days during which time they will be mating and depositing their eggs in the breeding material block. Each female moth will lay up to one thousand eggs. After about two weeks the eggs will hatch and eat the breeder food they will grow fast. After they have grown to full size remove them from the breeder container and store in a cool place.

To start the process all over again just add more wax worms from the last batch you raised to the breeder container. You will never have to buy wax worms again!
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Click Here To See What Our Customers Have To Say About Our Wax Worm & Mealworm Products. Questions From Our Customers And Tips And Tricks On Using Our Waxworms And Mealworms Products.

ANOTHER NEW PRODUCT MUMMIFIED COLORED WAXWORMS

MUMMIFIED COLORED WAX WORMS
We offer 12 vibrant blazing colors Red , Green , Pink , Orange , Dark Blood Red, Brown , Black , White/Natural , Blue , Chartreuse , Yellow , Purple and we also have a sample pack of all 12 colors.

We are now happy to be able to offer mummified colored WAX WORMS. These are wax worms & not spikes. Although spikes resemble wax worms, the difference is spikes are smaller than wax worms (waxworms can get up to one inch long and are fatter then spikes). The colors are absorbed into the body of the wax worm. The Mummified waxworms are made by a secret method and can be stored for up to 2 years with proper refrigeration or store at room temperature for up to 8 months. They keep all their natural characteristics like size and shape without the offensive smell of formaldehyde like other preserved waxworms. Holds perfectly on the hook. We offer 12 vibrant blazing colors Red, Chartreuse, Dark Blood Red, Green, Pink, Orange, Blue, Yellow, Black, Brown, White/Natural and Purple. Mummified wax worms are sold in one color containers of 24 wax worms. We also have a 24 count sample pack with all 12 colors. Fishermen are using them with great success. Effective on the ice and open water. Great bait for Trout, Salmon, Panfish , Perch, Bass and most all other fish.

ANOTHER NEW PRODUCT BY US LIVE COLORED WAXWORMS

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We offer 7 vibrant blazing colors Red , Green , Pink , Orange , Blue , Chartreuse and Purple .

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Caring for critters does take a bit of commitment but, as a starter pet, worms are pretty low maintenance.

They don’t need walking, they only need feeding once a week or so, and instead of having to pick up their poo, you’ll be able to use it to fertilise your garden.

It’s also a great way to teach children about natural recycling, and to reduce the amount of rubbish going in your bin.

You can buy a purpose-built worm farm from nurseries or you can make your own — extra brownie points for using recycled materials that would otherwise go to waste, such as when Costa from Gardening Australia made one in an old bath.

But first up, it’s important to earmark a protected, shady spot to place your worm farm so they are at a constant temperature, because they will literally cook if exposed to full sun.

What you’ll need to build a worm farm:

• Three polystyrene fruit boxes plus one lid (pick ones that are the same size so you can stack them; at least one needs to have no holes in the bottom)
• Newspaper
• Shade cloth offcut (large enough to cover the bottom box)
• Some mushroom compost or coconut coir
• Compost worms such as tiger worms (Eisenia fetida) or, in warmer climates, Indian blues (Perionyx excavates) (do NOT use earthworms)

Method for starting a worm farm:

Whether you’re using a purpose-built kit or making your own, the set-up is the same.

Stack three boxes on top of each other; the top two are feeder boxes where the worms will live and these need holes in the base, while the bottom container forms the reservoir for the liquid worm “tea”, so needs to be waterproof.

Composting really can be simple. Here’s how

Avoiding waste and diverting food scraps from landfill is a no-brainer. But how?

It helps to have a tap on the bottom container so you can drain this off later, but if you’re using a polystyrene box you can simply make a hole in one corner and put a bucket underneath, or plug the hole with a cork to control when you drain the liquid off. (This is liquid gold, so don’t discard it; see uses below.)

The worms start off in the middle container.

Place the shade cloth over the bottom reservoir box to stop the worms falling through and drowning. Put the first feeder box on top and line it with a couple of sheets of newspaper plus some bedding material such as cow manure, sawdust or coconut fibre. Then add the worms!

You can buy a box of worms from your local hardware store or perhaps start off with just a handful from a friend’s worm farm, but make sure you use composting worms that live on the soil’s surface, not earthworms that live deeper into the soil.

Spread them out over the bedding and cover with damp newspaper or damp hessian. A polystyrene lid is a good idea too.

Reduce your food waste by turning food scraps into treasure

Small improvements can lead to big changes on the food waste frontier.

Let them settle in for a week or so before you begin feeding them. Keep an eye on their appetite as they grow and breed; if you find there is still a lot of food left a week after feeding them, you’ve given them too much, and if it’s all gone in two or three days they need more!

The number one trap new worm farmers fall into is overfeeding, so check them often until you get a feel for your worms’ needs.

As the middle section slowly fills with castings (worm poo), the worms will want to move up. This is when you need to set up the second feeder box for them to move into; entice them up with some fresh food and allow two to three days for them all to follow.

You can then remove the first box, which is full of worm castings, and use this on the garden. The “top” box now becomes the middle level and the emptied first box can go on top. Keep switching them over as this process continues.

Feeding your worms

Under ideal conditions, compost worms can eat their body weight in food every day, but overfeeding will result in a rancid, smelly mess, so wait for at least half of their last “feed” to disappear before adding another thin layer, and make sure to include an equal amount of ripped-up, non-shiny paper or moist egg cartons with it; this helps keep the system aerated and gives the worms a balanced diet.

Top tips for backyard worm farm

Worm farms are an efficient way to reduce your household waste and produce fertiliser for your garden.

There are a few foods to avoid, including anything acidic (citrus, pineapple, garlic and onions), oils, spicy foods, and food that will smell when it starts to go off, such as dairy products, fish and meat.

What worms DO love is pre-chopped food, slightly aged food (especially when it’s strong, such as coffee grounds), and ground-up egg shells, which aids the worms’ digestion.

Worm farm maintenance

In dry weather you may need to water your worms — the bedding should be damp but not soaking wet, like a squeezed-out sponge.

The temperature of the worm farm should ideally stay between 12°C and 28°C. Polystyrene boxes help regulate the heat, but your worms may still need an old blanket over them on frosty nights, and a moist hessian sack over them or an ice block wrapped in newspaper to keep them cool on hot days.

If you need to go on holidays for a week or two, give your worms a good covering of old straw (if it’s been used for animal bedding then even better) to provide food and shelter while you’re away.

Eating from your garden all year

Gardening Australia’s Jane Canaway takes us through everything you need to start your own edible garden, no matter how much space you have.

After about three months you should have some castings to harvest.

Using your worm gold

Both the worm poo (worm castings) and worm “tea” are great for gardens.

The worm tea is an excellent organic fertiliser, but is best watered down first; mix one part tea to 10 parts water. Use it to feed pot plants or your veggie patch. If the liquid smells bad, it could contain bad bacteria and juices from the food, so pour it through the system again.

The worm poo is a great soil conditioner and slow-release fertiliser. Add a small amount to potting mix and garden beds, or water it down to make a liquid feed. To do this, add enough water to make a slurry then put a couple of handfuls of slurry in a bucket and fill it with water.

This mix can be used anywhere on garden beds and lawns, where it will help increase your plants’ drought tolerance and will also make more nutrients available to them.

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How to successfully raise earthworms as a home-based business.

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Tuesday, October 26, 2010

“How do I make my worms grow bigger?”

This is a question we get quite often. Recently, one of our customers, Judith, emailed that her vermicomposting European Nightcrawlers weren’t getting any bigger. She not only uses the worms for vermicomposting kitchen waste, but she also uses the worms for fishing. She’s had these worms for over a year now. Even though she’s not into worm farming as a business, the answer to her vermicomposting problem is same.

There are several reasons that worms stay small and don’t grow into bait size. Below is a summary of these reasons with remedies.

1. The worms are too crowded.

In order for worms to reach maximum size, they need plenty of room. This is particularly true for young worms. In Judith’s case, her worms have been breeding and laying egg capsules all along. These egg capsules have hatched and her vermicomposting bin is most likely getting over-crowded.

My advice to her was to split the bed into two. Since she’s not interested in have more than one vermicomposting bin or in going into the worm farming business, she should give them away. The worms must be divided and the population reduced in the existing bed for her worms to grow.

2. The bedding is “too old” and/or compacted.

If she hasn’t changed out the bedding recently, her vermicomposting bin bedding has undoubtedly been converted almost entirely to worm castings. An over concentration of worm castings is unhealthy for the worms and eventually kills them.
The good news is these worm castings are an excellent source of fertilizer for gardens and flowers. She can take her worms out of the bedding, transfer them into fresh bedding and broadcast the castings onto her plants. If the worm castings aren’t needed right away, they store very well and will keep until needed.

3. There’s not enough food to go around.

The more worms in a bed, the more food is required. When worms are growing, they need an “all-you-can-eat” food supply. In Judith’s case, she wants worms to grow to bait size. An option she could consider is to pull out the mature worms, put them into a separate bed and feed them a rich worm feed such as FRM’s Worm and Cricket Food (you can find it at some feed and seed farm stores.

This option is one you will be using in your worm farm business if you are going to serve the fish bait business. Feeding your worms in this way is tricky and can lead to problems (such as “protein poisoning”) if not done correctly. There are complete instructions on fattening bait worms in my upcoming “Worm Farm Manual”.

In a nutshell, feed rich, grain based worm feed only in the amount that the worms can consume in a 24 hour period. The trick is to give them all they need without overfeeding.

4. Worm Farming Secret: Increase the microbe content of the bedding and added food.

One of the surest ways to not only grow big worms, but also keep your worms healthy, is to spray you worm bedding and added food with a weak mixture of VermaPlex® (a liquid soil inoculant fertilizer made from worm castings) and water (80 parts water to 1 part VermaPlex®).

Worms digest food by “following behind” microbes. The microbes basically predigest the food, thereby facilitating the worms’ digestion. Worms absolutely must have a healthy amount of microbes in order to process food.

The good news is, microbes show up automatically in food waste. By adding the VermaPlex® spray, you are speeding up this process and guaranteeing the worms have plenty of help with their digestion process. Read about the application of VermaPlex® to your worm beds here “Worm Farming Tips #2”.

In summary, provide amply room, food and microbes for your worms to grow big and fat. Please post any questions or problems you may have about growing bigger, better worms.

Worm Growing Resources :

Worm Farm Manual: A Step By Step Guide To Raising Earthworms. An easy to follow guide on feeding, growing, harvesting, and making a profit worm farming. Download or Hard Copy

Other worm farming resources:
VermaPlex® : As a worm bed enhancer.
European Nightcrawlers: By far the best fishing bait worm. Excellent composting worm, too.

We have the best Wax Worms, bar none. We’ll stand behind them 100%

Our wax worms are plump and disease free.

Place wax worms in the door of our refrigerator, or a cool basement if you plan to keep them for a while. The shelf of the refrigerator is too cold, which is why we say to keep them in the door which is usually a little warmer.

If you keep your wax worms at room temp they will pupate and then become moths. Some reptiles love the moths, so you may want to try that. To breed your wax worms just place moths in a container with some Worm Man Wax Worm Bedding, and place some crumbled pieces of wax paper in the bedding. The moths will lay eggs on the wax paper, and in a couple days you will have baby wax worms. Add more bedding as needed and your wax worms will get nice and plump. The warmer you keep them the more active they will become, and the faster they will grow.

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.

ANOTHER WAY TO BREED WAX WORMS

Keeping and breeding wax worms

1.Best way to start raising wax worms is to buy some. You can get them here.
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.

I love using worms to deal with organic recycling and I enjoy telling others how to do it.

How to Start a Worm Farm or Worm Composter

Worm farming is ideal for a family or home-based business. How much you earn depends upon what your goals are and how much time you have to put into it.

A worm farm can be a great way to earn extra money or can even provide you with a full-time income.

Maintaining a worm farm/worm composter is a great way to deal with organic recycling and one more step toward self sufficiency. Produce your own nutrient rich compost and fertilizer.

A worm farm is also an excellent project that you could get your children into to help teach them responsibility and management while they earn money for things they want.

• Worms are in high demand among fisherman via bait shops, wholesale or direct.
• Worms are needed by farmers for the enrichment of soil and for aiding in the processing of compost.
• The “tea” produced as a by-product (waste) of worm farming is nutrient rich and is an excellent liquid fertilizer for organic gardening.
• Worms are even sold in some pet stores (as food for pets or as pets themselves?!)

A worm composting system can create enough naturally reproducing product to bring you a steady profit if the time and care is taken.

Starting a worm farm (also known as a worm composter) is not difficult and it is a project that can involve the kids as well as the adults.

The classic method is stacking bins made of any material, but the plastic ones that are found at the supermarket are ideal.

Make sure that the bins are of a dark material and not see-through. Worms do not like light at all, so keep things as dark as possible.

Constructing Your Worm Farm or “Worm Composter”

The bottom bin, also called the sump, should have a 15-mm hole drilled on the side directly above the base. Inside this hole, a 12-mm diameter plastic barrel or a tap with washers should be placed and sealed tightly with lock nuts.

Fill the container with water to see if any leaks out (none should).

This tap will provide the fluid that will come down from the two upper bins.

Holes should be drilled in the bottom of the two upper bins for draining the dirt and worm castings into the bin below as well as migrating worms to crawl through.

These holes should be about two inches apart across the base.

Drill two more rows of holes about four inches from the rim of the bin all around as well. This will allow air to get through.

The composter itself should be in a shady spot that is safe from frosts.

To set up the sump (bottom) bin, there first needs to be a layer of bricks placed on the ground so that the composter will be slightly elevated. This will allow the fluid or “tea” that develops to drain freely.

This “tea” is extremely nutrient rich and an excellent liquid fertilizer for organic gardening.

The second and third bins are identical and should have packers at least six inches and no more than eight in height (sealed jars will do nicely). These packers should be placed throughout in the upper bins with smaller ones of four inches in the sump bin. These will keep the accumulation of compost from building up.

Interested Yet?

The upper bins should be filled with the proper bedding for maximum production.

The top bin should have a material that is both moist and fibrous. Shredding newspaper is a good and inexpensive way to create this. A few handful-size scoops of soil and some compost should be mixed in and then left alone for a few days. After that, scraps from meals can be added with more bedding placed on top, closing the lid firmly. If the food bits that are left don’t produce enough moisture, then add water as needed to keep the bedding damp.

After a time, the worms that are in the top bin will begin to grow in number. The compost created from castings will begin to accumulate.

When enough compost has developed, stop putting food bits in the top one and rotate the bins so that the second one is on top. Put new bedding in the bin that will now be on top and continue again with the waiting and feeding. The worms will begin migrating upward from the second bin to the top bin where the food is located. The lower bin will retain the compost from the worm castings that have been left behind from the worms who moved upward into the top bin.

Within a few weeks, harvesting of compost and collecting of live worms for bait can begin.

How to Sell Your Worms

Once the composter/worm farm is established, it can now be decided how to sell the proceeds.

The worms of course can be sold to fishermen, either directly or to a bait shop. Since all of us love to eliminate the middleman whenever possible, selling direct to the local fishermen in the area will increase the popularity of the business, especially if the area is in a popular spot for commercial or sport fishing.

Check around for other people who also sell worms for setting the price. Since it takes very little money to get a homemade worm farm started, any price that is set will see a profit very quickly.

The first thing to remember is to package the worms in an attractive, neat container with a tight fitting lid. The lid should have holes poked through to allow air in and the container should be filled with moist, rich soil to give the worms a longer life. No more than a dozen or so should be packaged at a time for individual bait containers.

After they are packaged, head to the marina, the bait shops, convenience stores, or directly to the fishermen themselves. Make sure you are available for any fishing events as well!

How to Start a Worm Farm

Worms are nature’s own recyclers. You can turn your kitchen scraps and garden waste into a nutrient rich, natural garden fertiliser that will feed your garden and indoor plants – for free!

Here’s how to get your worm farm started:

1. Identify the container for liquid collection and on top of this place the bin which has holes in the bottom which is the first working tray. Add a couple of layers of newspaper across the bottom and then add an 8cm layer of bedding material such as coconut fibre, peat moss or aged compost to start the worms off.
2. Start off with 250 grams or 500 grams of worms to the bedding material and cover them with a blanket, which could be sacking, a scrap piece of natural fibre carpet or worm blankets are available in store. This keeps the worms in a dark environment. .
3. Allow the worms a few days to settle into their new home then add a handful of food scraps to their surface feeding area as well as some hand towels, paper egg trays etc., and place the worm blanket back over top.
4. Keep the carpet and worm food materials damp, watering approximately one litre per week.
5. Place your worm farm in a cool dry area of the garden away from the hot sun.
6. The worm population will gradually increase and will self- regulate at around 12 months.
7. Continue to feed regularly rather than in large amounts, up to around six litres of waste per week.

1. Once the first working bin fills up with vermicast (worm poos) then place another working bin on top and continue with feeding into the second level – the worms will start to move up into the second level. When this fills add the third working bin and only feed in that layer.
2. When the third working bin is full you can use the first working tray of vermicast on the garden. Place the empty bin into the top position which rotates the layers of the worm farm.

What will worms eat?

YES: Worms will eat most vegetable and fruit scraps, shredded paper, tea bags, tea leaves, coffee grounds, crushed egg shells, bread scraps, cereal, cottage cheese, plate scrapings and biscuit crumbs.

Dairy products may also be used, but feed in moderation. Meat and fish scraps may also be used but are not recommended until you are familiar with worm composting.

NO: Foods to avoid are citrus, onions, garlic, garden waste and grass clippings (garden waste is best dealt with by conventional composting methods), fats, cooking oils and oily foods (these create slimy conditions, odour and fly problems) and chicken manure.

How to use your vermicast and worm juice:

Vermicast is rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium which is valuable for plants leaf growth, root and stem strength and flower and fruit set.

Dig into your garden and mix with the soil, approximately 10 litres of volume to one to two square metres of garden. Spread thinly around plants, avoid touching plant stems.

The excess liquid from the base bin can be diluted with water approximately one part worm tea to 10 parts water and is an excellent liquid fertiliser.

Worm Juice is a complete plant food on its own, or as a supplement to other fertiliser regimes like liquid compost tea and seaweed tea. A by-product of nature, worm juice is rich in good nitrogen fixing bacteria, 100,000CFU/ml bacteria, plus ready available liquid minerals and trace elements for immediate plant uptake.

The benefits of using worm juice are:

• The major/secondary/and trace elements are immediately available because of their dissolved state and the high bacteria count, upon application, immediately inoculates the soil, kick starting microbial activity helping to break down organic matter much quicker.
• Your worm juice will increase plant growth, soil aeration, moisture absorption, and result in a healthier soil.

Keep your worms happy by:

Not overfeeding in the first few months. Try strip feeding; placing today’s food next to yesterday’s food and so on. Worms are less active in the cold winter months so feed them less then. And don’t feed them citrus, onion peelings, liquids, oils or milk.

Chop up your food scraps- worms have small mouths, so the more surface area the better.

Add a little lime once a month to keep the pH in balance.

Little white worms everywhere can mean it’s a little too acidic, so add some lime. If there are heaps of them, try adding some white bread then remove the bread and white worms the next day.

Keep pests out. If you get little black midge flies (fruit and vinegar flies), cover the worms with an old damp tea towel or hessian sack. Rats and mice love worm farms, so make sure yours is vermin-proof. Set traps if required.

Wax wormen zijn een populaire bron van eiwitten, vetten en calcium voor amfibieën en reptielen huisdieren. Ze zijn ook een gemeenschappelijke keus van levend aas voor vissers.
De wormen zal gemakkelijk in uw huis kunnen worden verhoogd en een bron van wormen al lang jaar aan uw behoeften. Om in te zamelen wax wormen, volg gewoon de stappen in de onderstaande richtlijnen.

Wat die u nodig hebt

• Wax wormen
• 3-tot-5 gallon container
• 20-gauge draad mazen scherm
• Gerber gemengd-korrel baby granen

• Honing
• Glycerine
• Waspapier
• Plakband

• Een kleine set van starter wormen uit de plaatselijke dierenwinkel of aas winkel vinden Beginnen met 24 tot 36 wormen. Als u iedereen die houdt van bijen weet, neem contact op met hen ook. Wax worm-larven grote schade aanrichten op gevestigde netelroos en imkers zijn meer dan blij om zich te ontdoen van hen.

  Instellen van een container. Wassen van een Emmertje voor 3-tot-5 gallon kunt of pot en laat het aan de lucht droog.
  Zorg ervoor dat u kiest een container vervaardigd uit glas, metalen of harde kunststof als de wax wormen kunnen hun weg door zachtere materialen zoals hout of buigzaam plastic knagen. Betrekking hebben op de opening van de container met gaas screening, 20-gauge of kleiner.

  De worm eten bereiden. Een vak van Gerber gemengd-korrel baby granen combineren met 1/3 kopje honing en 1/3 kopje glycerine. Roer de ingrediënten samen totdat de granen vochtig is. Voeg water toe indien nodig, 1 tbsp. tegelijk. Strooi ongeveer 1/2 van dit mengsel op de bodem van de grote container die u hebt gekozen. De extra opslag in de ijskast in een verzegelde container.

  Voeg de wax wormen en een paar vellen waspapier licht gewatteerd-up. Bedek de opening van de pot en het scherm beveiligen door het te koppelen aan de pot met duct tape.

  Observeren van de kolonie. Elke 4 tot 5 weken, voeg meer voedsel. Naast het mengsel van granen/honing eten wax wormen groene Groenen en plakjes appels of sinaasappels. Als uw kolonie succesvol is, zullen de wormen beginnen te draaien van de cocons. Nachtvlinders zal breken uit hun cocons in ongeveer 2 weken.

  Verwijder de vellen waspapier wanneer de volwassen vlinders sterven en plaats hen individueel in nieuw bereid potten. De waspapier zal de eieren, die in de nieuwe wormen uitkomen bevatten.

Tips & waarschuwingen

• Voor extra ontsnappen preventie, kan een stuk kaasdoek of mousseline worden geplaatst onder het scherm vóór taping het naar beneden. Wax worm kolonies gedijen op kamertemperatuur of iets warmer voorwaarden. Om een eenvoudige worm voedsel, mix 7 kopjes droog hondenvoer met 1 kopje water. Wacht 5 minuten voor het eten om iets zachter te maken, voeg dan 1 tot 2 koppen van honing aan de mix. Laat staan voor 24 uur voordat u gaat gebruiken.

• Wees extreem voorzichtig wanneer u de pot opent of kan je zelf met een housewide-besmetting.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.

SERIES 28 – Episode 30

Costa’s back on the verge – this time, setting up a worm farm from re-purposed materials!

A few years ago, Costa transformed the verge outside his house into a community garden. To do that, he wants to feed the plants up with the best possible fertiliser. Who better to help make fertiliser than worms?!

MAKING A WORM FARM

Selecting a container

One of the council regulations for having a worm farm to use on the verge is that it has to be mobile, so Costa has selected an acrylic bath for his worm farm which will make it more portable. You can make a worm farm from many different containers, but the advantage of using a bath tub is that the base has a slope towards the drain so all the worm juice can run into a bucket below.

Building the Bath Worm Farm

Timber Frame: Costa has made a timber frame for the bath tub out of recycling a futon bed frame and timber sourced from old pews to use for the load-bearing timber.

Drainage Layer: For this, he’s using 2 re-purposed nursery trays turned upside down for the drainage layer. These are placed in the bottom of the bath tub and allow the moisture to drain out the bottom.

Separation Layer: A layer of geo-fabric forms the separation layer. This keeps the worms, food scraps and worm castings from entering the drainage layer. Geo-fabric is available from most building supply shops. If you can’t find geo-fabric, you can use hessian, mesh or shadecloth instead.

Base Layer: Costa is using shredded newspaper, but you can also use coconut fibre. This layer is the ‘worm’s bedroom’. This is where they go when they’re not eating. Lay about 5 to 10 centimetres in depth and water in gently using a hand watering can or hose set on the sprinkler setting.

Compost and Soil Layer: This layer goes on next. Use home-made compost and potting mix. If you haven’t got any compost, you can use straight potting mix or soil from the garden. Add a few handfuls of manure as an extra food source. Water this in gently.

Add the Worms: There are thousands of varieties of worms that you can use in your worm farm, but tiger worms are the best. You can buy them at your local nursery or garden centre or contact a specialist supplier and they can mail them to you!

Covers: The worms will need to be covered to block out light and to prevent the worm farm from drying out, being rained on and from animals trying to get in to eat the food scraps. Use a dampened hessian bag that sits on the soil layer and then add a lid (In this case a timber door) that is attached to the timber frame by hinges.

Placement of the Worm Farm

Location: Costa has picked a sheltered spot on a south-facing wall for the worm farm bath. It’s shaded so it won’t get too hot and dry out. Be sure to level the worm farm in its position.

Worm Care

Be careful not to feed the worms too much – especially in the first few days. If the worm farm begins to smell pungent, it means there is too much food!

Using Worm Juice and Worm Castings

After a while, you’ll notice liquid collecting in the bucket below the drain of the worm farm. This ‘worm wee’ or ‘worm juice’ is diluted with water to form a liquid fertiliser for plants.

You’ll also get worm castings (or worm poo) from the worm farm. This is what the worms turn all the food scraps into. This is a great soil conditioner that improves the moisture-holding capacity, adds nutrients and give the soil a better structure.

For more information on worm farming, see the following factsheets:

Find Out What Essential Items You Need to Make a Worm Bin

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If you grow an indoor garden, then you are halfway to the idea of also growing worms. Worms are silent, odorless, and work around the clock, making fresh, organic compost, for your garden.

If you have room for a bucket or shoebox, then you have room for a worm bin in your home. This is perfect for urban dwellers who may not have space for a compost tumbler or other large device. Making a worm bin is just as easy as it sounds: combine a few simple ingredients and add some easy to buy worms. You will then have a place to add your kitchen scraps and turn them into luscious fertilizer for anything you grow. Here are five essential items for creating a healthy worm bin.

A worm bin will continuously create composted kitchen scraps that can be used for your gardens and indoor plants. No one even has to know that you have this hard-working team of composters unless you show them. In fact, you can have a huge bin right on the counter, and it is a conversation starter, but unless you share what is inside, it simply looks like you have a square Art Deco piece sitting there.

Idiot’s Guide To Composting

There are several informative books on composting. An excellent book to get started, The Idiot’s Guide To Composting, is a great place to start.

From the author’s sense of humor to depth of knowledge on the subject of composting, this book will help you understand how simple it can be, and how important the few basics rules are to follow. There is an extensive section on worm composting, which walks you through the concept of cultivating and keeping a worm bin.

The Perfect Bin

This is the part where it gets interesting. Making a worm bin is not only useful, but it can also easily be designed to fit just the area you have. From a small bucket on the counter to a large, multi-tiered bin that can hold thousands of worms, your worm bin can fit just where you need it to.

Take a look at these simple and efficient bins. We have seen worms survive for three years in the bin you see pictured before being transferred to a larger bin for increased composting.

Worms

Of course, the worms are important. Without them, even the best setup will never get started. You can not add worms from your garden to the composting bin. They are not able to survive, and your efforts will end up in disappointment.

The correct type of worm, Eisenia fetida or Red Wigglers, isn’t your average type of worm. They thrive in captivity, where the worms in your garden will certainly die when placed in the bin. They also reproduce prolifically and can eat their own body weight in scraps every day!

These hard workers are easy to purchase as well. You can, of course, buy them online (start with one pound, for most indoor worm bins), or simply buy them at your local pet store. When buying from the pet store, they are often sold by number, so plan on buying 50 to 100 of them. You may have to specify that you need bait or feeder worms, so the person at the store understands you are looking for the live type of worm.

If you do buy them from the pet store, remove all the bedding that comes with the worms, to avoid adding anything unwanted visitors to your bin.

Cornmeal

Cornmeal is the perfect food to keep your worms lively and healthy. This is a simple trick that makes keeping a worm bin easier than ever. During the winter months, if you want to go on vacation, simply sprinkling a layer of cornmeal on the top of your bin, will give your worms a fresh supply of food the entire time.

Cornmeal is the answer if you don’t have enough kitchen scraps to feed. To supplement kitchen scraps in your indoor bin, keep a bag of organic cornmeal in the pantry for just this reason.

Bugs. You want to eat them. But where to get them safely?

Hotlix is known primarily for its lollipops and other candy containing scorpions, crickets, or worms – the type of novelty treats you’d find in a gift shop on a pier. Though the products might seem a bit silly, the company is quite serious about its insects. “We process them here, to make sure nothing like bacteria gets on them,” says Hotlix owner Larry Peterman. He also manages the farming of the live animals. “We make sure ours are raised well. In other words, they haven’t had anything bad to eat.”

Though Peterman has always used this careful methodology with his food products, it’s only in the past month or so that restaurants and other food companies around the world have been coming to Peterman for advice and orders: the tiny Grover Beach, California company’s latest shipment of non-candied insects was sent to England.

This increase in interest is tied directly to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ 2013 report focusing on edible insects. The report’s main argument? Our consumption of livestock protein is killing the planet. Humans probably won’t stop eating animals, though, so why not make insects a regular part of the Western diet?

DIY Bug Cookery

Hotlix owner Peterman sells insects to other purveyors around the world, but he’s not able to ship in quantities small enough for the home cook. That raises the question: if you want to eat insects at home, where to start?

One could potentially become a bug hunter and head to a park to try and collect wild insects to cook. But that’s not an ideal solution. “Foraging them from the wild could prove problematic on a number of levels,” says Daniella Martin, who runs Girl Meets Bug.

Conservation biologist Phil Torres notes the issues of “unnecessarily taking animals from the wild,” and Marc Dennis, the founder of Insects Are Food, says that “you do not want to take bugs from the wild, because you don’t know what sort of pesticides or other chemical sources they’ve come into contact with.”

So as it turns out, foraging your own insects is potentially unhealthy for the planet and your body. But if not from the sidewalk, where does one obtain this tiny livestock? Many companies that started as purveyors of food for pet reptiles are now supplying human consumers, as well.

“I’d buy a starter batch of mealworms from a pet store,” says David George Gordon, author of the Eat-A-Bug Cookbook.

It certainly sounds unorthodox, but Hotlix owner Peterman agrees, saying they’re fit for human consumption. His tip: keep them alive for a day before cooking and eating them. “If they’ve had pesticides, or they’re sick, they’ll die quickly. If they’re still alive after 24 hours, they’re safe to eat.”

Still the idea of eating something from the pet store might be understandably off-putting to some. There’s another solution: farm your own insects.

“I would definitely recommend buying your first batch of ‘breeders’ from a reputable insect farm,” says Martin. Good sources include Rainbow Mealworms, San Diego Wax Worms, and Fluker Farms, whose crickets were highly recommended by multiple sources. Mealworms (beetle larvae), wax worms and crickets all thrive in captivity ”“ according to Torres, locusts can be added to the list as well.

The habitats of these animals can be quite simple: a plastic bin, ventilated and in a warm area, plus some oats, is all most bugs need to thrive. “Insect rearing can be very simple and low-tech. Also, unlike grazing mammals, they don’t need large horizontal areas to live in, and they can be stacked in a vertical environment for maximum efficiency of limited space,” notes Torres. “Many insects certainly do adapt well to farm-like environments. Numerous species can be raised in high densities, especially compared to mammals, so you can get a much higher nutritional output per unit area used to raise them.”

“One female cricket lays about 100 eggs in her 4-month lifespan. Roughly half of these eggs will hatch female crickets, so you will have 50 more layers, each laying 100 eggs, or 5000 more crickets within the next few months,” says Martin. “So, a minimal initial investment in a cricket colony could absolutely feed a family of four. ”

Andrew Brentano, co-founder of Tiny Farms, a company dedicated to increasing entomophagy in the western world, raises insects in the bins pictured above. “Our silkworms were raised in an environmentally controlled tent and fed a prepared feed made with powdered mulberry leaves. The mealworms can be raised at room temperature (ideally close to 70 degrees F) in shallow plastic or metal trays in a bedding of wheat bran or other grain byproduct, and should be fed additional vegetables like carrots for moisture. The beetles are adult mealworms in a breeding bin, containing about 150 beetles who may lay over 100,000 eggs.” (Tiny Farms is also launching a line of bug-raising kits for home farmers later this summer.)

If you’re ready to take the plunge, these are the easiest animals on the planet to farm. Insects are generally full of good fats and protein, and the only thing better than eating healthy is saving the world while you’re doing it.

Why Recycle?

Approximately 45% of household waste and 30% of all the waste we throw away is organic and compostable.

Yet many people toss their organic waste into the bin and wait for their local Council to collect it and add it to landfill.

What they don’t realise is that organic waste in landfill breaks down and releases methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

This anaerobic process contributes to groundwater pollution as the acid liquid leachate is released.

Recyling your organic waste – by using a worm farm or compost bin – is aerobic, which mean it doesn’t create pollution.
In fact, it turns organic waste into a rich fertiliser to feed your garden.

Our belief at Tumbleweed is that if Australians are going to solve the problem of food waste management and minimisation it requires a commitment from all
of us!

About Worm Farming

Worms are amazing creatures. These living fertiliser tubes are full of countless beneficial bacteria and enzymes that help sustain the life and fertility of our horticultural and agricultural systems. Worms dig and aerate the soil, allowing more water to soak in.

When living in your worm farm, worms will eat up to 3-4kg of your kitchen waste every week, then turn it into worm castings (rich plant food) and worm tea (liquid fertiliser) that can be used to improve the health of your garden.

Keeping a worm farm is fun for the whole family and a great way to get everyone involved in nurturing the environment and making your home more sustainable.

Starting a worm farm is easy and environmentally friendly. It’s a great idea for getting rid of food scraps, as worms turn these into worm tea and castings – the best natural fertiliser for the garden.

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Products You Will Need

Compost Bins

Mulch, Compost & Peat

Seed Trays & Accessories

Buckets

Fertilisers

Tools you will need

This guide will show you how to set up and take care of your very own worm farm.

Worms like a constant temperature, so keep them out of full sun. Under a tree is great.

In winter they’ll need a worm blanket.

If the temperature looks set to drop below 10 degrees, you might want to move them to the garden shed or garage. Or add another old blanket on top.

There are a few different types of worm farms available, but they all operate on similar principles.

Assemble your worm farm as per its instructions.

Soak the coir peat brick. It takes about 20 – 30minutes and will turn into a peat-like fibrous texture.

The bottom of the worm farm is the worm tea trap. The container on top is where the organic matter and worms will go. Wearing a mask and gloves, add 2cm of the coir peat brick into this top container. Don’t use compost with fertiliser in it, as this will affect the worms.

Add worms

The worms used are Tiger Worms, which are very different to your average garden worm. These worms are very good at breaking down organic material, like rotting vegetation, compost, and manure.

You’ll need about 1kg of worms. Carefully tip the worms into the first container. Be gentle and spread them out evenly. Don’t be concerned if they’re not moving around much, as they’ve been in a semi-dormant state in the box.

Let them settle in for a couple of days, and then you can get them to work.

Feed worms

It will take a couple of weeks for your worms to start digesting at their full capacity, so start them off slowly.

Add a small amount of food at first and make sure to spread it evenly. Don’t add any more food until it is almost all gone.

Worms will eat around ½ their body weight daily, so that will give you a good indication of how much to feed them.

It will take about 3 – 6 months before you get your first harvest of worm castings. The castings are a mix of the soil and food scraps that have passed through your worms, and the garden loves it.

Keep an eye on the top container, and when you see that the worms have burrowed down to bottom this is when you add a new container.

Before you add the next container prepare it with another coir peat brick just like you did in the beginning.

Lift the old container out, put in the new one, and place the old container on top.

Add a layer of food only to the new bottom layer, and the worms will essentially move house from top to bottom to get to the food.

You can then harvest the top layer. These are worm castings and is excellent fertiliser. 1 tablespoon will feed a potted plant for about 2 months. You can apply this straight to the garden by mixing it in with the soil at the base of the plant.

At the very bottom of your worm farm is the worm tea. This is a liquid form of fertiliser similar to the castings. It’s really strong, so dilute it in a watering can with 1 part worm tea to 10 parts water before applying.

To get the full benefits, you need 1000 – 2000 worms – around a kg. And they need to be Tiger Worms.

Worm populations self-regulate, but if you have too many, try to pass onto another gardener because they won’t survive in the garden.

Add food in parallel strips each day so you can track their activity. Worms are less active in winter months, so feed them less.

Feed sparingly in the first few months, only adding more when the first lot of food is gone.

Add lime, wood ash or dolomite every couple of weeks to keep the PH level neutral. They don’t like acidic composting like citrus fertiliser.

Try and maintain the moisture levels – inside the farm should feel damp, not too wet, or too dry. Shredded newspaper is good for absorbing excess moisture. Worms will look fat and pale and come to the surface if they’re too wet.

If you get small white worms this could be from too much acid, try adding some lime.

Fruit flies may appear due to over-feeding, so cover the food with an old damp tea towel or newspaper, and add a bit more lime.

Worm farms shouldn’t smell bad, just earthy. If yours smells don’t add any more food until the smell dissipates.

Handy Hint:

If you are on holiday for up to a month, the worm farm will process the food you’ve provided, and then go into a semi-dormant state. Add a generous quantity of food waste before you leave, and place the farm under cover in a cool location.

“Feeding Eisenia foetida (red worms) with cardboard, is it a good idea, how easy is that, and what is the benefit?”

Depending on what sort of cardboard you are talking about, it can definitely be a great idea. I use multiple types of cardboard in my beds and bins and the worms seem to absolutely love it.

Can cardboard serve as the sole food source for your worms?

Here are some important considerations…

Are you trying to produce a large, thriving population of juicy red wigglers so that you can sell them? Or are you more interested in the resulting compost (again, as a potential product to sell)?

Perhaps you are taking an even more laid back approach (like myself) and are simply happy to have thriving worm bins/beds so that you can turn your organic waste into a beautiful rich compost for your gardens.

Whatever the case may be, cardboard can definitely be a useful bedding material and food source, but the amount you use (in relation to other materials), will determine how successful your worm farm is.

In my experience, cardboard serves as an excellent bedding material, and eventually becomes a food source over time. On its own however, carboard is typically quite low in nutritional value. Most cardboards have a C:N ratio far higher than the optimal ratio for microbial degradation (20-40:1). Remember, it’s the thriving microbial population that the worms are actually feeding on, so if a material can’t support a healthy population of microbes it’s not typically going to make great worm food.

Cardboard IS however an excellent material you can use to help soak up excess moisture, provide aeration (acts as bulking agent, allowing more air to flow freely), and help you to keep your C:N ratio balanced when large amounts of N-rich materials are being added.

For moisture absorption and overall bedding potential, I definitely prefer egg carton cardboard (same material used for drink holders, and sometimes used as a packing material). It’s kind of like a carboard version of ‘pressboard’ (hopefully that makes sense), and tends to be very absorbent and decomposes quite quickly.

I also really like corrugated cardboard. I use it to line my large outdoor bin, and also shred it and add it as a bedding material. Once it’s moist the worms seem to really gravitate towards it and start inhabiting the inner layers.

One thing I should mention – there have in fact been successful operations that have used wet paper pulp (essentially the equivalent of cardboard in terms of nutritional value) as a sole food source. According to an article in Worm Digest (issue#22: 1999), American Resource Recovery at one time (not sure if they are still in existence) fed 250-350 wet tons each day to its massive red worm population, and produced a high quality worm worm compost.

Some have speculated that the fungal colonization (fungi are better able to consume C-rich materials) provides enough nutritional value for the worms, but this is not known for sure – and not everyone has had the same level of success using paper waste products as a sole food source.

I have personally conducted small-scale university trials using only paper pulp as a food source. Interestingly enough, we saw a very significant increase in reproduction rate, BUT the overall size of the worms seemed to decline by quite a bit – which lead me to believe that the material was not providing enough nutrition (in the form of nitrogen) for worm growth.

Bottomline – in my opinion, cardboard (and similar materials) can definitely serve as an excellent bedding/food material, provided it is not the only material fed to your worms.

Definitely an interesting topic for discussion. Thanks for the great question!