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no birds, lots of worms

16 years ago

Well, I finally something that I'm good at! I have thousands of mealworms! They aren't quite big enough for feeding yet, but then, I have no birds. I was reading where someone else has the same dilemna. I think I'll see if the local bait man wants to buy some mealworms. I may get some birds yet. Last year it was July when I had mine here, so maybe they nest somewhere earlier and will show up, who knows, I do know that I don't want to keep these worms around forever, they are starting to have an odor. It finally got warm enough to put them in the garage. I still enjoy reading here and watching the webcam, I am glad for all your successes and have learned so much!! thanks!!

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Comments (4)

kendra2003
16 years ago
Hey Gibby!

Nice to hear you have done so well with the mealworms. May I suggest that if they're starting to have an odor, you could sift them out and put them on fresh bedding. You may want to keep at least some of them so they can morph into beetles to keep your supply going for when you do need it. I like to take 75 - 100 out and put them in a separate container labeled "for growing out" and just leave them until they pupate. If the Blues showed up last year in July, they may show up again this July. Wishing you Blues!
judyg53
16 years ago
Gibby, I also started worm farms this year for the Blues and have tons of worms but no Blues. Rotten luck isn't it. But, the good news is that all the other birds love them as well so don't just wait for Blues to feed them to. Just put some worms out each day about the same time and you will soon have many resident birds following you to the feeder. The Blues will be back and they will know where the worms are as well.

As for the worm smell, I have noticed with mine that they didn't smell any at all till they started getting larger and the heat of the bins increased because of their number and size. That heat on any of the frass has a smell. Not too bad, but I know what you mean.
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gibby01
Original Author
16 years ago
They are getting bigger and there is sure enough of them in there, it doesn't really stink, but there is a distinct odor. Hubby couldn't smell it, but I could, so they are out in the garage right now. I hated the thoughts of them in the house, but it was too cold out there, it's okay now. Mine seem to be mostly in one corner, Are yours like that? one end of the bin seems almost empty, but they are crowded in the other end, it was a learning experience. I don't know that i want to start feeding the other birds though . I feed them seed, butI'm not continuing to raise worms if no bluebirds, My family already thinks I've lost it. If they don't come in July, I'll advertise them and give them away on Freecycle or something. My birds didn't come till July last year, so maybe they will come here to raise a later brood. I was hoping they'd come back in the spring, but no show. It is disapointing.
judyg53
16 years ago
Yes, mine seem to like one end of the bin as well. It is the end that is closest to the light of the door. The worms in all bins are the same in liking the light. You say you have your bins in the garage so I just wanted to give you a piece of information that might save your sanity. Mice LOVE beetles and worms. How do I know???.... well, they got into my bins in the house!! I caught the one that was getting into the bins (it chewed through the mesh on top of the bins) and I keep a trap set just in case any more come in. So far I haven't had any more problems but I used to have problems with mice in my garage when I stored wildlife food out there. I actually had squirrels get into the garage and chew through plastic tubs to get to the food.

Best of luck with your Blues coming back in July.

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