[motydesign]

So I added these beetles (yes they were alive when added ) on 6.14. Why haven't I even seen 1 ? They have been kept at 76-78*. I still have nothing. Used black eyed peas (no not the band) and I'm just waiting still. I started a second culture 7.1 with the second boom of the original and still nothing from it either. I hear most people can't get rid of these things... I can't seem to figure out what I've done wrong. Uncooked beans add beetles. How can you screw that up?

 

[eldalote2]

My beetles bloomed June 25 and are blooming again now.

When I make new cultures, I split my cultures. Half of the beans from the active culture go in one cup and the other half in another. Equal parts of new beans are added to each. There is usually enough beetles that are left even after feeding to fuel both new cultures.

I sure hope you added more than just that one pea. I am sure you did but it just looks a little comical in the picture.

Split open one of the beans and look for a maggot or look for a windowed appearance in some of the beans.

 

[motydesign]

hhah, yeah there is about 3/4 cup in the deli cup that those beetles in the picture were added to. the 1 bean was for scale so you can see how many were added to the CX.

 

[Ed]

Time to emergence can be affected by temperature and ambient humidity. If you hold the culture in your hand, does it feel warm to the touch? If it does then that is a good sign that there are a lot of beetles developing in the culture. If you look at the beans, you should see old egg cases on them and if close to emergence a circular area where the beetle will emerge.
If your beetles were "old" closer to 10-14 days then they may not have been active enough to give you a good boom. If your humidity is low than it can also slow down the cultures.

I don't move inhabited beans into the new cultures as I found out that this often results in some level of molding at the bottom of the culture. I prefer to remove all of the beetles and start new cultures from them. I also probably add at least twice that many beetles to start a new culture.

While it doesn't appear to be the case here, use of adzuki or mung beans can also drastically change the time to emergence.

Ed

 

[JimO]

You had me wondering too. I was about to respond in a PM "Uh, I think you need more than one bean" .

hhah, yeah there is about 3/4 cup in the deli cup that those beetles in the picture were added to. the 1 bean was for scale so you can see how many were added to the CX.

 

[motydesign]

thank you ed! i used that many beetles as that was all i could get(i got a raw deal in a food trade :/ ) anyway that aside, yes we have LOW humidity here (17-20% in SLC) so that is probably the explination then. ill feel for heat, but yes i do see some egg cases like these(mine are not nearly as plentiful) .

i did start with a fresh culture no old beans were put in the new container.
any advice for higher humidity? adding water would be disaterious, but maybe a wet napkin on top of the CX lid ?

 

[Ed]

I'd be hesitant to mess with the humidity since if you exceed a window, the cultures can mold resulting in loss of the cultures. Once you start getting production and set up new cultures each week you should get a steady production.

Ed