If you know you will not be able to feed your mealworms for several days - that’s Ok! Mealworms can live for several weeks without feeding. If you cannot get someone else to feed them, we recommend placing them into your fridge. They will hibernate. However, please be aware that eggs/pupae are less likely to survive an extended stay in your fridge.

For humans, pain is our body’s response to a stimulus. In contrast, insects have a simple nervous system and a very different biological make up to mammals, and do not perceive pain like we do.

Temperature and humidity impacts growth rate. So, if it’s too cold it can take a long time for you to produce enough insects to eat. If it gets too humid mould might start to form, which can kill your mealworm. High humidity can cause dust mites (which naturally lie dormant in oats).

If you have too few beetles you will have a reduced mealworm output. If you have too many, you will have a large mealworm output and risk overpopulation, which can lead to humidity issues which can in turn lead to mould and dust mites.

It can take several weeks for the eggs to develop into mealworms. They start off very small and are barely visible.