So ever since my two colonies have been breeding i had been woundering keep them split or merge them into a super colony[not that super lol] so i have decided to try it. I merged them right before i went to my grandmas. So far so good i think i'm gonna keep them merged and maybe split them when i have thousands of dermestids so the colonies stand a good shot at the world. Also they can breed more for my Winter 2011 Dermy OverFeeding Challange!
Comments and Questions are welcome!
Dermestid Files!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
OverFeeding Challanges: A Brief Overview
Since someone recently asked me on our forum about O.F.C's i've decided to make a post on the forum.Thanks to compostguy for reminding me to place it onto the blog for others to see, For your information this was made on a diffrent forum in 2010 right before i actually made the O.F.C jump:
Well before i even start this overfeeding challenge i wante to discuss with you people about some things so i don't get too many questions. I'm not trying to say that i don't like questions i go by the old saying of "The only stupid question is the one you don't ask." Anyway onward to more stuff.
Well what is a overfeeding challenge anyway? Well thats a good question. An overfeeding challenge is when you decide to overfeed a colony of whatever species that you have. Dermestids are perfect for this experiment as the aren't used to overfeeding so it should call for a pretty cool experince for both of us[me and the dermys] anyway here are some more questions answered.
What type of food are you gonna be feeding them? Well i thought that just dog food and cat food as meat would spoil and kill the colony. Now of course i will be measuring how much i put in the bin and add it all up in the end. My goal is to reach 10 pounds or maybe 20 pounds. Then when i do this experiment next season[or this winter] i hope to have over 30-50 pounds of food gone. Of course thats over a four months or five months of feeding. I plan to add in new food every week or so. When the 1 month mark rolls around i'll just allow the bin to mellow out for 1-3 weeks until i can add more food waste into the bin.
Hope this answered most of your questions if you have anymore feel free to comment below thanks for viewing this blog post and i wish you luck in dermy keeping as a hobby!
Hope this will shed some light on OverFeeding Challenges.
Well what is a overfeeding challenge anyway? Well thats a good question. An overfeeding challenge is when you decide to overfeed a colony of whatever species that you have. Dermestids are perfect for this experiment as the aren't used to overfeeding so it should call for a pretty cool experince for both of us[me and the dermys] anyway here are some more questions answered.
What type of food are you gonna be feeding them? Well i thought that just dog food and cat food as meat would spoil and kill the colony. Now of course i will be measuring how much i put in the bin and add it all up in the end. My goal is to reach 10 pounds or maybe 20 pounds. Then when i do this experiment next season[or this winter] i hope to have over 30-50 pounds of food gone. Of course thats over a four months or five months of feeding. I plan to add in new food every week or so. When the 1 month mark rolls around i'll just allow the bin to mellow out for 1-3 weeks until i can add more food waste into the bin.
Hope this answered most of your questions if you have anymore feel free to comment below thanks for viewing this blog post and i wish you luck in dermy keeping as a hobby!
Hope this will shed some light on OverFeeding Challenges.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Plans for Winter 2011.
So you may be woundering why i'd be talking about winter in the middle of nice hot summer time, well unlike most dermestid keepers i prefer to be more prepared for what lies ahead, that includes winter. Since winter is such a slow long process i have decided to make some plans for this winter. Here is what i have so far,
Dermestid O.F.C [yes i know i'm already doing one right now but hey it's just practice for this O.F.C ]
It should last all winter long. So far my food goal will be about 550-700+ Pieces In Counting or simply P.I.C.
O.F.C's are a fun way of wasting time so winter shouldn't be that slow this year especially since i'm not restarting my dermestid colonies in the winter. At one point i thought if they lived together for more then a year they'd be prone to a few reproductive disabilities and mutuations could/would accoure with the next generations until they weren't even reganized as larder beetles and then they could escape and rule the world bc no-one would know what their natural enemies would be. Okay a little over-dramatic but still nothings impossible after the fire ant, argantinia ant, killer bee ect...
Anyway that's just what i have planned for winter i plan to make it last all winter long at least, maybe into spring/summer. Who knows maybe i'll be the first to have a 1 year long dermestid overfeeding challenge!
-dermy
Dermestid O.F.C [yes i know i'm already doing one right now but hey it's just practice for this O.F.C ]
It should last all winter long. So far my food goal will be about 550-700+ Pieces In Counting or simply P.I.C.
O.F.C's are a fun way of wasting time so winter shouldn't be that slow this year especially since i'm not restarting my dermestid colonies in the winter. At one point i thought if they lived together for more then a year they'd be prone to a few reproductive disabilities and mutuations could/would accoure with the next generations until they weren't even reganized as larder beetles and then they could escape and rule the world bc no-one would know what their natural enemies would be. Okay a little over-dramatic but still nothings impossible after the fire ant, argantinia ant, killer bee ect...
Anyway that's just what i have planned for winter i plan to make it last all winter long at least, maybe into spring/summer. Who knows maybe i'll be the first to have a 1 year long dermestid overfeeding challenge!
-dermy
The Forum
So about 1 year ago i created a forum all about dermestid beetles. Well today it's gained quite some people on it and i hope some more will join in the future. I've learned a lot from the members and they've probably learned a lot from me. So if you have any dermestid related questions feel free to ask on our forum:
http://dermestids.lefora.com/
There is a lot of diffrent people who can help you including me. They all specilize in a certian species of dermestid. Mine is of course Dermestes Lardalius.
http://dermestids.lefora.com/
There is a lot of diffrent people who can help you including me. They all specilize in a certian species of dermestid. Mine is of course Dermestes Lardalius.
Dermestids Day#570+
Okay the blog has been dead for quite a while but here comes a much needed update on my dermestid beetle colony. The colony itself is doing good, great actually! I have 120+ and they are breeding like mad. Now onto the less discussed project, my OverFeeding Challange or O.F.C. Its been going on for quite some time, around 6 months into it and i have over 250 Pieces In Counting. Not too shabby for a colony that was started from one gravid female 6 or so months ago. Soon enough ill be into a full swing OFC then we'll see what dermestids can really do. Until then its a slow process to prepare the colony for the big leagues, a full scale OFC Project for the ages.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)