# Continuous Bean Beetles



## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

I've been experimenting for a while now  and since someone recently asked me about it, I figured I'd post here for everyone to read. Now...it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out, so if everyone is already doing it...forgive this post. But, I've never seen it talked about here and don't understand why no one recommends it...unless I really am the only one. 

I deal mainly with tincs and it takes a lot of food to feed my frogs...which can be a headache! With the air conditioner running constantly throughout the summer and the heater running continually through the winter, it's hard where I am to keep fruit flies in their happy zone. So, I was very happy when I discovered bean beetles! They are now the main feeder for all of my frogs from 4 months through adults.

The main point of this thread is to point out that...
****You do not need tons of cultures shoved into every nook and cranny of your home to feed your frogs!****
...there is an easier way! 

Most people set up a culture (or cultures) with beans and beetles...wait a month...harvest...wait a month...harvest...and then start all over. Or they start a new culture (or cultures) every single week...and still wait a month on each culture to boom so that they can harvest...and then another month for the boom to harvest...etc, etc, etc. There are many weeks and lots of space wasted on cultures just sitting there and doing nothing for you!

Now...after all that boring reading, here is how to have beetle cultures that continually explode for at least two months or more. I like to call it...

The Continuous Bean Beetle Method

Day 1 - Set up culture(s) with beetles and beans
Day 8 - Seed the same cultures again
Day 15 - Seed the same cultures again
Day 23 - Seed the same cultures again
Day 30 - Do nothing...the cultures will be exploding at any time now and will continue to produce beetles well for at least two months!

You do not need to add new beans each time...if you start with a cup of beans, this will work! I have been doing this for at least 6 months without fail and I have many "Continuous" cultures going and bean beetles out the yin-yang!

Once again...if this is "old" news...I'm sorry and now feel like an idiot! 
​


----------



## dtfleming (Dec 27, 2010)

You can always get more than one emerge from a culture. How much of a mite problem do you have with a culture two months old?


----------



## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

Yes, I know that there is more than 1 emergence...however, the problem that I am addressing is waiting a month between each for a single culture...this doesn't have to be.

As for mites...I have never, ever had a problem with mites when it comes to bean beetles.


----------



## Reef_Haven (Jan 19, 2011)

I came across this online while searching humidity requirements, cause mine always seem to fail to fully emerge on the second generation. 
Might be useful.

BeanBeetles.org/A Handbook on Bean Beetles: Laboratory Methods


----------



## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

I have heard (and experienced) many people say that the second emergence isn't quite as large. I think that this is because when people are harvesting, they are removing as many beetles as possible and not leaving enough in to continue to fully repopulate. It may also have something to do with the fact that the beans have been previously "used" and not as much remains for the new larvae.

As for humidity...I prefer keeping things as simple as possible. I don't believe any of mine have taken any longer than 5 weeks at the most to start hatching out and the humidity in my home (I don't actually measure it often) has been noted in the teens (if my monitor is accurate...which I think it is).


----------



## Shinosuke (Aug 10, 2011)

I wish I could use BBs instead of FFs, so much easier, so much bigger, and so much ... not smelly.

Where do you seed the culture from? Do you have to have multiple cultures booming weekly already to get this to work?


----------



## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

Unfortunately, yes...you do have to have beetles available each week to get it started. If you know any froggers nearby, perhaps they could help you get it started, it doesn't take very many each week. I've also got a few cultures that I've started seeding weekly that I was going to offer in the classifieds, but they won't be ready for about two weeks.


----------



## mordalphus (Sep 14, 2012)

I have 3 cultures going right now, but my last round of cultures petered out when the beans were mostly eaten, and the culture was only 6 weeks old, you could actually see through the beans they were so excavated.

So with my voracious strain, should i add new beans every time too? Also, the dust and poop stacks up in the bottom pretty bad after 6 weeks, should I transfer the beans and beetles out to a new container when it gets stinky?


----------



## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

If you were making cultures the "normal" way (setting it up with beans and waiting about a month for the "boom" to happen), it sounds to me like what you are experiencing is normal. When the boom happens, the beetles will be present for approximately 10 days and then they all die off. If you wait a month, the eggs that those beetles laid will hatch once again. If your beans have really been eaten to smithereens, perhaps you are starting them with too many beetles and not enough beans. Generally, my cultures consist of 1 cup of beans and probably somewhere between 25-40 beetles (although I don't sit and count them out). Below is an old pic from when I first started experimenting. The beans were seeded as I stated above and the picture was taken after 3 consecutive weeks of constantly hatching beetles. If you notice, there are a lot of holes in the beans...but they still kept coming after that. 


As for the gunk left in the bottom...I once read a very good post by Ed who cut the middle out of a lid and replaced it with rug canvas (I believe). I made a similar version using plastic canvas (from JoAnn Fabrics) and a hot glue gun (pic below). This thing is amazing at removing live beetles, dead beetles, dust, broken pieces of beans, and yuck from the cultures! I never have build up happen now. It takes two minutes to make one and will eliminate all of those problems and keep your cultures clean and dry...no mold or terrible smelly problems whatsoever!


----------



## BlueRidge (Jun 12, 2010)

We recently found a ton of these in our kitchen. They were everywhere and we couldn't find out where they were coming from. After cleaning out the cabinets we found a container of bread crumbs that they made a colony out of. It was nasty.


----------



## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

Lol! I've never had problems with finding them colonized anywhere, but I had a serious "blonde" moment one day...

I had dozens of lids that I needed to clean. Put them in a bucket with some bleach water. A little later, I thought I'd mix them around to help things out...with a huge meat fork! Oh, wow! I ripped holes in who-really-knows how many before I realized what I was doing! Now...those things can get expensive, so I thought I'd just carefully check them and throw away the torn ones. Unfortunately, I didn't find all the ones with tiny, little holes...it took weeks and I had beetles escaping everywhere! The family was ready to throw me out!


----------



## mydumname (Dec 24, 2004)

I had some wax worms chew out of there container and chew through bean beetle cultures. Started finding beans all.over the bug room. Started looking around and that's when I found the culprit. Ha


----------



## radiata (Jul 24, 2010)

WendySHall said:


> Lol! I've never had problems with finding them colonized anywhere, but I had a serious "blonde" moment one day...
> 
> I had dozens of lids that I needed to clean. Put them in a bucket with some bleach water. A little later, I thought I'd mix them around to help things out...with a huge meat fork! Oh, wow! I ripped holes in who-really-knows how many before I realized what I was doing! Now...those things can get expensive, so I thought I'd just carefully check them and throw away the torn ones. Unfortunately, I didn't find all the ones with tiny, little holes...it took weeks and I had beetles escaping everywhere! The family was ready to throw me out!


This past week I discovered two BB cultures that had apparently chewed through the polyfiber in their culture lids - one had one hole eaten out and the other had four or five holes eaten out. None have made it to the kitchen that I have observed. Would it be more appropriate to use Aluminum Mesh Lids:Aluminum Mesh Lid - Small Pet Feeders. I think they'd hold back the BBs. Any input would be appreciated...

Thanks,
Bob


----------



## Gamble (Aug 1, 2010)

radiata said:


> This past week I discovered two BB cultures that had apparently chewed through the polyfiber in their culture lids - one had one hole eaten out and the other had four or five holes eaten out. None have made it to the kitchen that I have observed. Would it be more appropriate to use Aluminum Mesh Lids:Aluminum Mesh Lid - Small Pet Feeders. I think they'd hold back the BBs. Any input would be appreciated...
> 
> Thanks,
> Bob


.80¢ for 50 lids! ... thats cheap!
Alot cheaper than the plastic/fiber ones thats for sure... i might order just for that reason alone!
I just wonder if the mesh is fine/small enough to keep FF in.


----------



## Dizzle21 (Aug 11, 2009)

Its $27.50 for 50 pack


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

radiata said:


> This past week I discovered two BB cultures that had apparently chewed through the polyfiber in their culture lids -


The adults if I remember correctly don't have working mouth parts and the larva remain in the beans. I'm not sure what caused the holes but it wasn't the bean beetles. 

Ed


----------



## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

Bob... 


I agree with Ed. There must have been another reason for the holes. Are you sure you didn't stir them with a meat fork at some point? (Just kidding!) Perhaps at some point you have reused lids and had to scrub them which led to the weakening and eventual holes? I have experienced receiving brand new lids that had very thin material which doesn't hold up for a very long term.


It has also been my experience that it seems that they cannot escape from a solid deli lid that has had very small (paper-clip size) holes melted into it.


Nick...


That ad is very misleading. But, I believe Dizzle is right...if you look further down this page http://www.smallpetfeeders.com/87-plastic-containers-lids there is another ad with a small difference in wording for 50 lids @ $27.50.


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

By the way Wendy, nice development and explination of culture technique. 

Ed


----------



## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

Thank you, Ed! I'm extremely flattered!


----------



## mydumname (Dec 24, 2004)

WendySHall said:


> Bob...
> 
> 
> I agree with Ed. There must have been another reason for the holes. Are you sure you didn't stir them with a meat fork at some point? (Just kidding!) Perhaps at some point you have reused lids and had to scrub them which led to the weakening and eventual holes? I have experienced receiving brand new lids that had very thin material which doesn't hold up for a very long term.
> ...




And shipping on the 15 remaining individual lids is over $11.....wth? Kind of robbery right there.


----------



## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Maybe mixing adzuki with the mung/blackeye peas would generate similar results? The larvae take longer to develop on adzuki beans.


----------



## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

can you give us a hint where to get those beans???


----------



## Lance (Sep 8, 2008)

Judy S said:


> can you give us a hint where to get those beans???


You can find blk eyed beans at Walmart


----------



## frogsintn (Mar 26, 2004)

can someone please tell me were I can a culture or two??


----------



## Buddysfrogs (Mar 29, 2012)

I've never used bean Beatles but I would like to. How do you get them out of the culture to feed them to the frogs?
Buddy


----------



## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

frogsintn...
sending pm

Buddy...
To get them out of the culture quickly and easily, I made some of these...










It's simply a fruit fly cup lid with the center cut out and some plastic canvas (readily available at craft stores) hot glued in the center. I wasn't sure how long they would hold up, so I made a lot of them only to find out that they are extremely durable. (So, now I've got quite a few and it'll take me forever to go through them!) 

Simply remove the culture container lid, snap this one on, turn upside down, and shake into your collection container. It works great at removing tons of beetles at a time and keeps the cultures clean and dry by also removing all of the bean dust and pieces that tend to build up over time and cause molding.


----------



## Buddysfrogs (Mar 29, 2012)

WendySHall said:


> frogsintn...
> sending pm
> 
> Buddy...
> ...


Thanks  appreciate it. 
Buddy


----------



## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

For those of us working with a small starter of bean beetles.

The adults can survive in the fridge for at least a week-probably longer. I have a few that I pulled out last weekend-I take them out and blow on them every few days and they still will slowly twitch back to life(they are in the veggie crisper at the bottom where it is warmer).

I plan on adding these back in when the ones in my cultures die.

So far my azureus juvies are not too keen on them, however.


----------



## TDK (Oct 6, 2007)

Buddysfrogs said:


> I've never used bean Beatles but I would like to. How do you get them out of the culture to feed them to the frogs?
> Buddy


I stick a toilet paper roll inside and they climb all over it and then take it out and tap into a dusting container.


----------



## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

I use coffee filters folded into a cone, like in a ff culture. They get down inside of it so, when I want to feed, I pull one out and turn it upside down over the feeding cup and they pour out. I like Wendy's idea better though


----------



## dtown (Jan 5, 2011)

This is the first time I have heard of this. What kind of beatles are they, and where can I get them??


----------



## JPccusa (Mar 10, 2009)

dtown said:


> This is the first time I have heard of this. What kind of beatles are they, and where can I get them??


Here:



Reef_Haven said:


> BeanBeetles.org/A Handbook on Bean Beetles: Laboratory Methods


As for where to get them, talk to your local froggers or search in the Marketplace area of the forum.


----------



## Buddysfrogs (Mar 29, 2012)

Edit: never mind found what I was looking for.
Buddy


----------



## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

I've had a few people here and there ask me about how to get "continuous" cultures started from a regular culture. Since it takes so long to reply and make sure I haven't forgot anything when I write back, I'm gonna put it here for everyone and save myself some typing. 

(Cut and paste...if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.)

_To get a regular culture of beetles spread out to the point that they're emerging throughout the month takes a little while. The only way that I have figured out to do it is this...

MONTH 1_ _
---On the first day of hatching, take some beetles and immediately start a new culture.
---On about the seventh day after hatching, take some more beetles and throw them in the culture that you started above.

Now, this culture will have hatchings starting at about 1 month and another starting at about 1 month and 1 week. So...it has been stretched out a little farther._ _

MONTH 2_ _
When the hatchings from this culture begin, do the same thing just adding one more step...
---On the first day of hatching, take some beetles and immediately start a new culture.
---On about the seventh day after hatching, take some more beetles and throw them in the culture that you started above.
---On about the 14th day after hatching, throw in some more beetles.

Now, this culture will have hatchings starting at about 1 month, another starting at about 1 month and 1 week, and yet another at about 1 month and 2 weeks. So...it has been stretched out yet farther. It now covers three weeks of emerging beetles._ _

Just continue this process 1 more month so that you're adding new beetles every week for 4 weeks (an entire month). Then...finally....vwha-la! You've got a culture that will continue to produce all month long. Actually, it will continuously produce until all of the beans are totally spent. At least two months...but I've had many go on producing (far fewer amounts) for many months._ _

Granted, it is a long process...but once you get it going it's well worth it!_


----------



## cam1941 (Jan 16, 2014)

Older but useful thread... Great place for a question.

Does anybody know of a reason why you shouldn't use bean beetles as a staple for frogs? Are FF's better or more nutritious?


----------

