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RE: KillieTalk Digest V3 #865

May I make a suggestion?  Why don't you use the grubs as well as the
grindals?  I would assume if you use all the large ones you find, the fly
population in the house will diminish and the grindal worm population will
grow.  Just a thought.  It seems like the maggots would be nice and plump
and nutritious!!

Boat
Tampa, FL
TBAS, SKS, AKA

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-killietalk at aka_org [mailto:owner-killietalk at aka_org]On Behalf
Of -RJ-
Sent: Monday, February 05, 2001 10:14 PM
To: killietalk at aka_org
Subject: RE: KillieTalk Digest V3 #865

Hi Folks,

I raise white and grindle worms in synthetic media. I was overrun by black
midges. They have a very similar life cycle to fruit flies. They have black
bodies and/or black wings. Otherwise they look very much like fruit flies. I
tried flooding the cultures. The grubs died at about the same rate as the
worms. I tried the fly paper and although it did trap some flies more kept
coming. Therefore I recommend that you extract some worms from your cultures
check them under water to make sure that there are no grubs in with them
also remove any dirt which may have been extracted and start a new culture.
Keep the new culture in a plastic shoe box and the shoe box in a sealed
plastic bag so that the bugs can not get in. Once the new culture takes hold
destroy the original culture.  Boiling will kill off anything in the soil or
media. This will include the eggs, grubs or cysts. Soak the container in a
bleach and water mixture then scrub it thoroughly.  Always keep your
cultures sealed in the bags so the bugs can not get in.

I have been looking for a better solution such as an insecticide which kills
bugs but will not contaminate the worms. To date I have not heard of one.
Until someone finally solves this problem I believe that we are condemned to
starting fresh once the bugs take over.

Best regards,

-RJ-



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