RE: White worm culture

["Ron Anderson" <yodeman at lycos_com>]

I heard an intersting way way to get rid of mites in a worm culture a few months ago.  You take the worm culture out and take the cover off. You expose the worm culture to some strong light. Naturally, the worms don't like light, so they burrow down into the dirt (peat or whatever).  That is when you take out the torch and give the entire surface of the culture a pass with a torch.  Kills all the mites (they are on the surface) but the worms are fine (being underground). The guy that told me this, swears by this. worth a try, and certainly feels safer than chemicals.  YMMV.  Ron   
---
Ron Anderson
Warwick, RI 
401-739-7670
alt email: ron02886 at cox_net







On Fri, 1 Nov 2002 11:50:13   
 Stoecker,Michael,FRANKLIN PARK,NC&C wrote:
>Barry,
>I have also tried mothballs.  Several in a sweater box sized container of
>white worms.  No impact at all on the mites.  I wasn't bothered by any flies
>at the time so I can't say if they are effective against them.
>Wait a minute here!  Let's see, I didn't have flies.  I used mothballs.  No
>flies ever invaded the culture.  Therefore, the mothballs must have been the
>only thing effective against the flies!  Makes sense to me.
>Thanks,
>mike
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Barry Cooper [mailto:bjc3 at cornell_edu]
>Sent: Friday, November 01, 2002 1:29 PM
>To: killietalk at aka_org
>Subject: Re: White worm culture
>
>
>At 11:10 AM 11/1/2002 -0800, you wrote:
>
>
>>Tish KB wrote:
>>
>>regarding brown mites:
>
>
>You may want to try placing a mothball in the culture. Just stick in one 
>corner of the container. I have friends in the UK who swear that this will 
>control mites. I can tell you that I have used mothballs to try to control 
>little flies that get in my grindal worm cultures.  The mothballs do not 
>harm the grindal worms, so I doubt that they would harm the white worms.
>
>I have seen some comments about white worms doing well at high 
>temperatures, like in the 70s and 80s. To my knowledge that goes against 
>all conventional wisdom. White worms do best in the mid-50s to low 60s, and 
>cultures will at best hang on in the 70s. That has been consistent with my 
>experience.
>
>Grindal worms, in contrast, do well in the mid- to high 70s. I wonder if 
>there has been some confusion in the identity of the worms being discussed. 
>White worms are considerably bigger than grindal worms. On the other hand, 
>I find grindal worms easier to culture under my conditions and I can 
>produce enough to feed my whole fishroom regularly. They are also a great 
>size for fish larger than about 15 mm, and they're useful for even full 
>grown nothos.
>
>I don't do white worms any more as I have ready access to black worms.
>
>Barry
>
>
>Barry J. Cooper, Prof. Emeritus, Dept. Biomedical Sciences, Cornell
>University
>Adjunct faculty, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oregon State University
>Home address: 27505 Riggs Hill Rd., Sweet Home, OR 97386 (bjc3 at cornell_edu)
>
>
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