You've bought your live mealworms...
Now what?
The good news is that they're incredibly easy to look after, and with just a little care they'll stay in excellent condition while providing a fantastic source of natural protein for garden birds, hedgehogs, reptiles and even your hens.
The biggest change at Wiggly Wigglers this year has been the introduction of our new Wiggly Farm Blend for Live Mealworms. While developing it, we also realised our familiar Mealworm Food was really doing a different job—it was providing a comfortable home as much as a meal—so we've renamed it Wiggly Live Mealworm Bedding.
Think of it this way...
The Bedding provides the bed.
Farm Blend provides the breakfast.
Now, here's how to get the very best from both...For years, most live mealworms have been kept in bran, with the odd slice of carrot added for moisture. It works perfectly well — but as farmers, we are always asking whether nutrition could be improved.
That led us to develop Wiggly Farm Blend for Live Mealworms, made with rolled wheat, rolled barley, rolled peas, brewer’s yeast and limestone flour. It gives mealworms a more varied diet, helping to keep them active and in good condition before they are fed to garden birds or hens.
While developing it, we also realised our existing Mealworm Food had a slightly misleading name. Its main role is to give mealworms somewhere clean and dry to live, while also providing something to nibble on.
So Mealworm Food is now Wiggly Live Mealworm Bedding. The product itself has not changed — only the name.
Think of it this way:
Live Mealworm Bedding provides the bed.
Wiggly Farm Blend provides the breakfast.
To keep your mealworms, use a clean ice cream tub or similar container with plenty of small air holes. Keep it somewhere cool, dry and out of direct sunlight. Add a small piece of carrot, potato or courgette for moisture, removing it before it goes mouldy.
Every so often, tip everything through a fine sieve. The mealworms and larger feed stay in the sieve, while the fine frass falls through. Save it and sprinkle a little around pots, flowers or vegetables — it is far too useful to throw away.
Live mealworms can be fed little and often to robins, blackbirds, wrens and other insect-eating birds. Hens love them too, although they should remain a treat alongside a balanced poultry feed.
Vegetables feed the mealworms.
Mealworms feed the birds and hens.
Frass feeds the soil.
Very Wiggly. Very little waste.
Better Mealworms. Better Birds.
