Mealworms & Wax worms

[YoSalmonySam]

I was wondering if anyone has found it worth while to grow your own mealworms and or wax worms. I assume you would save money if thing went right. It's something I'm considering. I had a colony of dermisted beetles (the flesh eating beetles), i dont imagin meal and wax would be any more complicated. Do you guys have any input? Thanks!
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[twinkielk15]

I raise European Nightcrawlers. I was going to raise red wigglers but they are quite small. The europeans serve as my compost bin and they feed my fishing habit. They are not as fat as the canadians you buy at the store but you can use the whole worm instead of chopping it up into thirds. They also have a natural musk they emit when you hook them that smells just like garlic. Nice feature if you ask me. I thought about meal worms but never got very far with it. I figured I would really only use them in the winter when I would be more likely to use the crawlers year-round.
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[LOAH]

Mealworms stink like death after a while, but that would be pretty neat to grow your own. You might go and talk to the folks at a pet store. Their mealies seem to survive pretty well. I think they feed them oats and potatoes.

(BTW - They sell huge mealies for about a dime apiece. They work well and are about 2 inches long.)
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[MMDon]

We buy several thousand before ice season and split them up among the guys that chip in. If your bait fridge has the right temp and humidity they will last for a couple of seasons if you don't use them all up. It's been cheaper to just buy in bulk but if you like farming . . .
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[YoSalmonySam]

MMdon would you mind sharing where you buy your worms from? is it from the web or?
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[CoyoteSpinner]

I found them at Walmart - a little bit cheaper than Petsmart. They were labelled "mealworms" though - even though they were waxworms.
We have two Wallyworlds in town. One was barren, while the other was stocked to the gills.

There was an online source, but at least for my quantities the shipping double the price, and killed the deal. Maybe in bigger bulk it's more offset. Though they did have some very colorful spikes.

Don't recall the site - but can look it up.

[sinergy]

Check ebay If i remember correctly I got 1000 wax worms for around 20 bucks at the beginning of the season.
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[MMDon]

[quote YoSalmonySam]MMdon would you mind sharing where you buy your worms from? is it from the web or?[/quote]

We purchase them off the web. You usually want to start early as some of the suppliers are limited to what's ordered. The big growers generally list on ebay but you can find deals by googling for them!

I should have noted that the chain pet stores usually beat the bait store prices later in the season!
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[perchski]

Vados bait sells them in bulk on line. The price is right for the bait but the shipping is a killer. Find a couple buddies to go in with you to buy a bunch and split the shipping cost.
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[YoSalmonySam]

Thanks for all the info.
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