So about 3 months ago I decided to start a mealworm colony. I went and bought 3 small sterlite containers. Cut the tops out and replaced with screening. I didn't need a large colony so I started out with 50 beetles. Everything went well for about a month. I made a sifter to remove the beetles and transferred the substrate to a new container. After about a month I started to see small worms. I thought GREAT. About a week after that I noticed mites all over my worm box. So I tossed all my babies and started over. My beetle box had none so I kept them. Well this morning my beetle box was covered as well. I give up. I threw out everything. I have come to the conclusion that the humidity in my basement is just too high. Oh well guess I will go back to buying them. Before its said Yes I baked my wheat bran before using it. Moral : DON'T TRY TO RAISE MEALIES IN YOUR BASEMENT.
