Starting over with supers

[Catalyst]

Things have been busy lately and I noticed today that some of my superworm bins had damp bedding. Pulled them out to clean them and partway through the process realized that both of my adult superworm bins had some tiny white bugs infesting the bedding. Had to throw all the bedding and the worms just to be on the safe side. Fortunately, I didn't find any sign of those little bugs in my baby superworm bin or in my beetle bins so I'm not completely back to square one. The other stroke of luck is that Randal is in brumation right now so there's no need for adult worms right now. The babies will have time to grow out before she wakes up (if she follows last year's pattern). Still a bit frustrating and I thought I'd share the story to reinforce how important it is to keep these guys nice and dry, as well as microwaving the substrate to kill off any unwanted buggies before you use it with your worms.

 

[fresnowitte]

What did the little white bugs look like?
I had to start all over when my first batch got infested with grain moths. They laid eggs in my substrate so I ended up with alot of magot looking worms which destroyed my supers. It was suggested that I microwave my substrate before using all but the baby cereal. This kills any eggs that are already present. Also if you keep a lid on them it helps. I cut out the center of the lid and taped screen to it. I haven't had any problems sense.

Good Luck!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I have had that problem before but with mites. They must have been in the feed when I bought it, but I changed the feed out & baked it & that fixed that. It is a huge pain when your feed gets infested with something!
Good luck starting over.

Tracie

 

[Catalyst]

What did the little white bugs look like?

They were tiny - they looked like tiny pieces of chewed up substrate/superworm poop until I noticed that they were moving on their own. I didn't notice them until I pulled out a dead super and one end of the body was covered in these things and they were clearly moving on their own. I have lids on all my worm bins with air holes punched in the container all the way around the upper edge (otherwise my cats and dogs would be having a field day with the bugs) so I'm assuming that the bugs were in the bedding already, but its a bit odd that they only showed up in the bins where the bedding got damp - there's no sign of them in the dry bins, although I'll keep checking. As I mentioned, I'm just glad Randal is sleeping so its no big deal to have to wait for the babies to grow out.

 

[fresnowitte]

Aawww! It sounds like you got infested with the dreaded grain mites. That sucks! Microwaving your substrate before using will help. An always make sure that your substrate stays dry. Do you put the peices of fruit or veggies on a plate/plastic lid? I found this to help to. Never put the fresh food directly into the substrate.
Also you might need more ventilation to keep the moisture level down. Just a thought!

Now you've got me paranoid I have to go check for mites. :lol: After the infestation of the grain moths I've been keeping a much closer eye on them. I also leave the batches in the original containers for a few weeks before adding them to the large bins just incase any pest are present so I'm not infesting my whole colony.

That is odd that they were only in your adult worm bins and not your baby worm containers. :roll:

Good luck with the worms! :wink:

 

[patrickb]

Sounds like Grain mites. They do need a moist environment to survive in and the damp bedding is perfect. Above advice about microwaving the substrate first is good to stop any freeloaders, but they do migrate so it is possible to get infestations in sterile substrate. Good ventilation will keep the humidity down and any mold growth needs to be removed immediately. The ventilation will prevent that as well. You may need more airholes or even better, cut out large holes and glue mesh screen in place. That will help a lot. Barbara's suggestion about putting all moist foods on a small plastic lid is perfect! That along with more ventilation will help prevent this in the future.

And an alternative to throwing it all out, predatory mites! I have never used them but know a lot of people use them when they get mite infestations on their arachnids and the such. They prey specifically on other mites and nothing else. Search for them on google and you will find suppliers. Not sure of their costs, but they are an option. They will eliminate grain mite populations entirely and eventually die off themselves due to lack of food. Hope that helps!

 

[Catalyst]

I do put the veggies on plastic lids so that they aren't touching the substrate. My problem seems to be condensation in the tubs. The odd part is that only some of the bins have a build up of condensation and it seems to depend on how high up on the tv stand they are (all the bins are kept in the same place, the only difference is their distance from the floor). Good idea with the mesh in on the lid, I'll have to try that and hopefully it'll stop the condensation problem. I'll probably be paranoid and checking the bins I have left for mites for a while now

 

[fresnowitte]

Heat rises so you probably could use some more ventilation on the higher tubs. The tubs/containers that I just made holes in have gotten moist before, but once I put screen on the lids I didn't have this problem anymore.

 

[Catalyst]

Heat rises so you probably could use some more ventilation on the higher tubs. The tubs/containers that I just made holes in have gotten moist before, but once I put screen on the lids I didn't have this problem anymore.

It never occurred to me about the whole heat rising thing being what was affecting the worm tubs ... I'll be laughing at myself for a while now Blonde moment there. Thanks for the input, its much appreciated.