Frage das Hive Explorer Team!
Frage die Mehlwürmer!
Du kannst sie knusprig machen, um sie als Snack beim Fernsehen zu genießen, aber du kannst sie auch zu vielen süßen oder herzhaften Gerichten verarbeiten. Ob knusprig oder saftig, wenn du mit 500 g Fleisch satt wirst, wirst du auch mit 500 g Würmern satt! P>
Trockene Mehlwürmer enthalten etwa 50% Eiweiß, mehr als rohes Rindfleisch! Zusammen mit einer gesunden und abwechslungsreichen Ernährung können Mehlwürmer Ihnen leicht dabei helfen, deine Ernährungsbedürfnisse als gesunder Fleischersatz zu erfüllen. Die Quelle für unsere Informationen zum Proteingehalt von Mehlwürmern ist hier . p>
Dried mealworms contain around 50 grams of protein per 100grams. That’s approximately the same amount as other high-protein foods such as beans, meat, or fish. They also contain essential fatty acids, carbohydrates, and minerals. But that’s not all, some of the most notable nutrients in mealworms include:
• Fiber, not usually found in meats, making mealworms special!
• Vitamin B12, a nutrient mostly only found in meat.
• Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), which is important for many bodily processes.
• Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5), a nutrient known for improving hair and skin health.
And of course, protein, as described above!
We will add a nutrition table soon, it is difficult to format it onto the FAQ section, thank you for your patience!
Source for the numbers can be found here.
Disclaimer: People with shellfish allergies might react sensitively to eating insects too! For more information, please read our blog post here.
The only allergies that have been reported to come from mealworms were from people sieving mealworms from their frass, getting in touch with a lot of the dirt and fine excrements. This is not the case when harvesting with the Hive.
Anatomically, mealworms are very different from humans, it is very unlikely that there are any diseases transmitted - unlike with other livestock like pigs which are related to us closer and therefore can transmit their diseases easier. You are in charge of growing your mealworms healthy and feeding them responsible. Livin farms does not take any responsibility or liability for the consumed harvest.
Mealworms are fascinating!
Some cool facts:
• They are grown in space by Chinese astronauts as space food!
• A reference to the composition of the mealworm can inhibit the BACE enzyme, which is a key enzyme to cause Alzheimer's disease.
• The dried mealworm can be made into powder, which is called Hanxia powder in China and added to many foods to make it taste fresh.
• The essential oils of the mealworm are often extracted in order to be used as a skin oil for humans. It contains lots of Vitamin B5, vital for skin renewal.
If the mealworms are exposed to lower temperatures their life cycle will slow down and they will not be as active. Check if the Hive is plugged in correctly and if the heating plate is working. Another reason for the stillness is pupating - when your worms are preparing to turn into pupae. If you do not want them to turn into beetles, it is about time to harvest them!
Unfortunately, that means your pupae died. That usually happens because the worms weren't given enough moisture with carrots or potatoes at the end of the larval stage. During their pupae stage, they do not eat or drink, so they need to store the moisture to last through pupation and will dehydrate and die if they didn't get enough. Next time make sure your mealworms get enough of both, nutrition and moisture from the food.
At first, the newly emerged beetle is white/light beige with a soft shell, and then it darkens and hardens to red, brown, and finally turns dark brown/black after about 2-7 days. You can expect them to stroll around their tray in the Hive and lay eggs for about 2-3 months before they take an eternal nap. When your beetles die, you can follow the few next steps:
• remove any dried fruit/vegetables by hand/utensils
• tilt the tray so that the dead beetles will be collected at a corner (live beetles will grasp on the surface)
• use a spoon (preferably) to remove dead beetles
Firstly, many pets adore mealworms: geckos, bearded dragons, turtles, lizards, frogs, some snakes, chickens, ducks, and carnivorous fish to name a few. Leopard geckos for example, should eat 6-7 mealworms 2-3 times a week. Fish love crushed dried mealworms and you should serve them the same portion as you would of the usual fish food.
In fact, what we generally call “mealworm” is not a worm but larvae of a flour beetle. The Latin name of the beetle is the “Tenebrio Molitor”. It belongs to the Coleoptera order just as the ladybug or the rose chafer. The distinctive attribute of the Coleoptera is the hardened front pair of wings call “elytra”. The mealworm is a non-invasive species and can be found almost everywhere on the planet. They prefer living in the dark and enjoy living in relatively high density in closed space. Its ideal environmental conditions are a temperature ranging from 26 to 29 degrees and an approximate humidity of 70%.
The Tenebrio Molitor is a holometabolous insect. It means that the life cycle goes through 4 distinctive stages:
The egg
The larvae
The pupae
The imago (or adult beetle)
It all starts with an egg that hatches into tiny larvae after 1 to 2 weeks. These tiny larvae will grow through several 'instars' (development steps) into a mealworm of the size you like to eat (ca. 3cm long). With every instar, the mealworm peels off its old skin in order to grow. After 10 to 14 weeks with 9 to 25 instars, it then turns into a pupae. For approximately one week, it will stay immobile. As the pupae evolve, you’ll start to distinguish the premises of the future eyes, legs, and wings. At the end of this period, the beetle is ready to emerge. The beetle will live a few weeks and a female can lay between 200 and 300 eggs during its life span.
This might be the first question you’re asking yourself. If it’s the case don’t worry you’re not the only one, we met thousands of people and this question came up often. We are more and more aware of food’s impact on our health and on the planet. Our current habits and consumption patterns are not sustainable; whether small or large scale. That’s where our mealworms come in as a solution! But, let’s be honest, we eat them because we love to. More than sustainable and nutritious, we find them delicious. The question should rather be: Why NOT eat insects?
For now, we recommend you to simply get more than one Hive. We are thinking about modular solutions for scaling up production. If you have a commercial restaurant project, please get in touch with us and we can design a solution tailored to your needs!
In contrast to cattle, mealworms do not use a lot of space or food and therefore present one of the most sustainable sources of protein. The Global Warming Potential of mealworms per kg of edible protein is low compared to milk, chicken, pork or beef-these all have 1-12x higher potential than our friendly mealworms! (Source: Oonincx DGAB, de Boer IJM (2012) Environmental Impact of the Production of Mealworms as a Protein Source for Humans – A Life Cycle Assessment). The total CO2eq of mealworm production per kg of edible protein is 2.65kg, which is drastically lower than what cattle, pork and chicken emit.
Since you are the one in charge of your mealworms' nutrition, you can make sure your mealworms are healthy and strong. However, with the ones bought in the store, you cannot be sure what kind of food were they fed and their quality can be compromised. The mealworms in the store can also vary in their age and you cannot be sure how old are they - with your own little farm you can make sure to harvest them when they are the most nutritious.
Questions related to the device
Anything you want to know about the Hive Explorer device and about the process of growing in the Hive
Previous models focused on producing bigger amounts of mealworms as future food. The Hive Explorer can be a helpful gadget to improve STEM education. The lid is transparent and therefore allows you to observe what is going on in the Hive. Additionally, we designed a magazine as a guide for all your experiments and progress tracking.
You can expect a very mild humming from the ventilation and occasional vibration that is happening in the device. Apart from that, you will not notice your Hive. Of course, if you get really, really close you might be able to hear a tiny bit of mealworm wriggling ;)
There are really only two sources where the smell could come from: the fine excrements of the mealworms and the food that you place in the trays. Ideally, you will never overfeed your worms which should prevent any unwanted smell from rotten foods. The excrements are usually very dry which makes them almost odorless. Make sure you never feed too moist substances, then smell should be contained. The Hive has carbon filtration pads in the back and front of each growing tray though which air is ventilated. Therefore, occasional smells should be very well contained.
You can plug your Hive into your normal power supply in your house, just like any other device (220-240 V or 110-127 V voltage). You will receive a plug compatible with the socket of the country of your delivery address.
The maximum power consumption of the hive is 65W but this can be reduced by keeping the hive in a cool, dry place. Alternatively, with daily emptying of the harvest drawer, the cooling system can be entirely switched off – this can reduce the power consumption to as little as 5W. Taking an average energy price of 0.10USD/kWh in the USA – this results in a maximum running cost of $1.092USD per week down to $0.08USD per week. In Austria the cost is €0.08 to €1.06 per week, in the UK the cost is £0.07 to £0.84 per week. Prices according to this site.
Mites typically get into a colony through food scraps. This can be prevented by only feeding the colony the amount of food that they can eat within a few days. Apart from that, the microclimate can play a big role too. Humidity and temperature are controlled in our system and it is closed. Therefore the risk of infestations is much lower than if you have an open system. Also, the trays can be easily emptied (by the switch at each tray and opening the bottoms) and they can be fully taken out in order to be cleaned.Other insects that might be driven to pay a visit to the mealworm farm are pantry moths, however, Hive is well sealed and we have not had any moth visitors reported.
Currently, we have only tested our system with the mealworm, Tenebrio Molitor. Therefore, we only recommend using this species in the Hive. Different kinds of insects have different requirements in their lifecycles. We will update you in case of future modifications that might allow other species too. Please let us know in case you get experimental and try something new. We are always happy to hear your stories and experiences!
Anyone that has an interest in growing their own little wormy friends can learn with the Hive. The educational material is adjusted to suit children from around 8-13 years old.
All the healthy mealworms in our Taste Packs are grown sustainably in Vienna, Austria by no one else than Livin Farms!
It is a valuable plant fertilizer! Put it into your plant bins and see your plants flourish and bloom. Almost nothing that comes from your Hive is waste.
You can compost the dung, offer your super fertilizer to your neighbor, or simply dispose of it as you would any other biological waste.
If taken care of appropriately, the Hive is very resilient and will last you about 4-5 years for sure. You also receive a 1 year warranty.
We have developed a system with sensors, fans, heating, and cooling elements. The sensors measure temperature and humidity and control the airflow in the trays accordingly. Heating is switched on when needed and cooling keeps the harvest area in a cool climate so that the mealworms do not grow into the next life stage.
Insects are the perfect survivalist, that's how they became the most successful living creatures on planet earth. Each species of insect adapted to fulfill a special niche. In the Hive™, we created an optimal niche for our mealworms and beetles. With our technology of micro-controllers and sensors connected to a set of heat plates and fans, there will be the perfect climate condition at any time. With the dimensions of our trays, mealworms and beetles will live in high density surrounded by their feed, as they are in their natural habitat.
What else could we possibly answer?
All other questions that might come up
Let’s be honest, vegans and vegetarians are “allowed” to eat anything. The question would rather be: “Do I accept to eat mealworms?” The choice is upon them! If you just simply don’t want to eat any animal, it’s your choice and we respect it! If you don’t eat meat or animal products for environmental reasons, you might find it suitable to eat insects. If it’s for health reasons, as said previously mealworms are very nutritious and contain few saturated fats. If it’s an ethical choice, the current scientific consensus emits some doubts regarding insects’ pain and emotion, so it might also be okay for you.
In Europe, 1kg of organic red meat can range between 15-40 EUR. Say we calculate with 30 EUR. 500g would be 15 EUR- this is the amount you could potentially save every week in eating mealworms instead. This makes up to 60 EUR per month.
Shipping
Yes, we ship worldwide!
If ordering from USA, China, Hong Kong or European Union, there will be no applicable customs fee. Outside of these regions it can happen, that you receive a notice from the customs office and will need to pay a charge before you can get the product. Livin Farms does not cover any import/custom fees.
Orders from European Union are dispatched from Austria, orders from Asia are sent from China and orders from USA are shipped from, you guessed it, USA.