My Sourmash for Mealworms Experiment

This is related to this thread: http://geckoforums.net/f128-feeding-feeders/106488.htm

I wanted to create a new one because I am actually trying this and thought it would be a good thing to post a step-by-step of what I do along with the results. I'm starting with the recipe given by the author of the GeckoTime article and am going to tweak it from there.

I didn't want to start with so much volume since I'm going to want to test out many different formulas, so I used my amounts in proportion to what the author used.

Materials and methods:
1/2 a cup (~120 mL) of chlorine-free water (filtered well water) was microwaved for 15 seconds to make it lukewarm.
0.75 teaspoon (~3.75 g) of powdered glucose was added to the water and dissolved completely
Wheat bran was added until all free water was absorbed and the mixture fell apart easily in the hand
The mixture was incubated at 82 F (~28 C) for 24 hours.

Observations:
The glucose dissolved much better in warm water, so warm water seems to be a must.
The mixture had a wheat-y, very sweet smell to it after being mixed. Smell will be an important determiner in what types of processes are taking place. If full fermentation has occurred, the mixture should smell sour or like alcohol. If the fermentation was not successful, the mixture will smell more rotten.

I will update when it is finished incubating.

I'm also changing to metric next time. I don't know why I used empirical to begin with.

Update:

The mixture acquired a different odor, but didn't smell like it was fermenting yet. However, by holding the container up to my ear, I could hear many tiny bubbles popping (sounded like Rice Krispies).

Half of the mixture was removed and replaced with 110 mL of water, 2 grams of glucose, and enough wheat bran to soak up the loose water. Furthermore, after talking with the original author of the article (Arjan), I also added some whole wheat flour. His recipe calls for chick feed, but I don't have any of that right now. Given that flour seems to work to create sourdough cultures, I used that instead. I didn't measure it, but added enough flour to give the mixture a sort of doughy consistency.

The mixture is back in the incubator at 28 C. I will feed it again tonight.

Other notes: I'm still hunting for the cheapest source of glucose. For now, I've found that it is mostly used by runners for energy. I've found 10 pounds (4.5 kg) for about 12 dollars. I'd like to find a cheaper source, so I'm checking if anyone uses it for farm animals. But still working on that.

Also about the glucose. This is just speculation on my part, and I have no proof, but I think it is worth a thought. If the glucose is isolated form GMO corn, than I'm worried that the insecticides that the plants are engineered to produce will end up in the glucose. I'm not one to be afraid of GMOs myself, but I do think it could be a problem for mealworms since they are insecticides. I think this because I don't think the isolation of glucose for runners yields a very pure product. When looking for glucose, I checked how much laboratory grade glucose would cost (very pure) and it was $200 a gram. So I think it best to confirm that your source is GMO-free.

Update:

I did the same thing as posted above yesterday and today. So far it is working great. I'm getting a nice clean, sweet, alcohol smell from it now. Now signs of rotting or mold and it doesn't smell bad at all. I'm currently testing some of it with a few worms to see if they want to eat it.

I want to try adding some things, but finals week at university is coming up and I probably won't have time right now. But I will begin doing more stuff soon.

Anyways, I've been discussing the use of wheat flour vs chick feed with Arjan. He says the flour makes the mixture sticky and the worms get stuck in it if it is in there long enough to dry. I haven't played with this yet, but I'm going to start thinking about ways to include the flour (because it really seems to work well) but change the consistency of the mixture to prevent it from being gooey or sticky.

So, a work in progress. =) I will continue to update, although updates will likely be slow as I drag my exhausted butt through the last few weeks of classes before summer.

Him very interesting ...looking forward to updates.. I feed my roaches and beetle's left over Pangaea on crestie feeding nights and they love it

Sent from my Z936L using Tapatalk

I’m the author of the article mentioned in this thread and I’m definitely looking forward for updates too. In my experience wheat flower is the better choice if we can find a way to lose the stickiness. The stickiness not only makes the mealworms get stuck in the food but it also lumps it up when it dries, which makes it almost impossible to sift the mealworms from the bedding. My recipe leaves only dried wheat bran when the mealworms don’t eat all of it.

If we could use wheat flower, there'd be no need to use glucose. The only reason I added glucose to this recipe is because the lactic acid bacteria don’t create enough glucose from the chicks food and I couldn’t get the fermenting started without it. Obtaining glucose cheap isn’t really a problem over here though. I pay about 25 dollars for a 55 pound (25 kg) bag. Over here farmers use the stuff to make female pigs ovulate better so they’ll have more piglets.

Another very good reason to use wheat flower is that it would be possible to use a little bit of sourdough and mix it with a lot of fresh wheat bran and water. With my recipe I have to replace half the mixture every day, which means I have to keep all of the buckets with my fermenting food warm. I also need to be very careful not to feed more than half the mixture every day or there won’t be enough microbes left. So I’ll be following this thread closely and I’ll be experimenting.