# Bean beetle collection



## JeremyHuff (Apr 22, 2008)

So, I have always been frustrated getting the beetles out of their culture containers. The slightest movement of the container and they drop to the ground into the beans. I was never getting many of the beetles for feeding that I actually produced before they died. So, the other day I tried taking two 32oz lids. One was a ff cup lid and I peeled the screen off, exposing the larger holes. With the other lid I used an xacto knife and cut the entire center out. I then taped the 2 lids together and facing away from each other, snapped an empty cup to one side and a booming culture to the other. The beetles always climb up so I just stood the culture upright so the the empty cup faced down. This works like a charm. Every hour or so, I can go remove a couple hundred beetles, with few escapes and no beans being dumped out with the beetles. I found the insect lid is better than just two with the center cut out so that when you pick up the culture, if the beetles do drop, chances are they miss the holes on the way down and still stay separated from the culture. I also put crumpled paper towel in the empty side to give more surface area for beetles to cling to.

J


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

Awesome Jeremy.

Try to get some pics of that please....I can visualize it, but it locks in with some pics.

Bean beetles are a "must have" supplemental feeder for our hobby, IMO.


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## DCreptiles (Jan 26, 2009)

yes sounds like awesome idea.. pics are a must have for this. i normally just pick up whatever i use for surface space and shake it off. but always wondered what i could do to get the most out with little hassle.


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## widmad27 (Aug 9, 2006)

Another simple way is to use a lid closed 1 lb deli container with holes drilled in the bottom of container that are just bigger then the beetles but smaller then the beans. Just dump the whole container of beetles (beans and all) into the holed container while the holed container is stacked on top of a empty 2 lb fruit container and shake away. In less then a minute you will have cleaned out the entire culture of all beetles, leaving just the beans behind. Just my two cents.

Cheers,


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

I have coffee filters in my cultures, folded into a funnel like a ff culture. They get down inside of the folds. When I want to feed out, I smack the BB culture to get the climbers off the sides, take the filter out of the container, turn it upside down over the feeding container. The BBs fall out of the coffee filters.

The two previous ideas look good, though. Might give them a try.


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## pl259 (Feb 27, 2006)

I use wide mouth mason jars with SS screens in the lids, but the trick I do is keep the jars on their sides. Their somewhat square sides, keep the jars from rolling. I haven't tried doing this with 32oz deli cups, but it should be possible as long as you control the rolling. 

Anyway, what happens is that the beetles congregate on the screened lid where the fresh air is. All I do is tilt the jar back slightly so the beans slide back a little, then unscrew the lid, tilt it down a bit over a funnel, and rap the lid against the end of the jar. The beetles fall right off. 

The other thing about keeping the jars on their sides is that I can rotate them every so often, which keeps the beans loose and helps with that the funky bean build up thing. The mason jars are also completely reuseable and last virtually forever.


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## TDK (Oct 6, 2007)

I use the fruit jars with coffee filter on top and the cardboard roll out of the toilet paper. They pile up in there and I just bump them into a feeding cup--also they get all over the filter as well.


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

pl259 said:


> Anyway, what happens is that the beetles congregate on the screened lid where the fresh air is. All I do is tilt the jar back slightly so the beans slide back a little, then unscrew the lid, tilt it down a bit over a funnel, and rap the lid against the end of the jar. The beetles fall right off.


I do the same thing with standard 32oz cups/vented lids. The beetles climb up to the top, I tap down all that are climbing the sides, remove the lid, and scrape off the 30-40 beetles that are clinging to the lid into a dusting cup.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

I raise the beetles in fruit fly cups. I simply took an extra lid, cut out the center and hot glued a section of latch hook rug canvas in place of the normal venting. When I need beetles, I tap down the beetles, swap lids (normal vented lid for the hook screen canvas lid) and then turn the culture upside down over a large funnel to the collection cup, and shake. You'll get some bean dust but you can pull virtually all of the beetles from the culture. 

Ed


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## mbourdon (Dec 21, 2009)

Would those of you who are willing please post some pics of what you are describing in your posts (bean beetle containers and setup for seperation). I am in the process of getting a bean beetle culture and I would like to see the way you guys are keeping and separating them. I think it will be easier to do it right with pictures to reference. Thanks


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## TDK (Oct 6, 2007)

Fruit jar, coffee filter and toilet paper roll. You can see some of the beetles on the filter. Take the filter out and tap into your feeding cup/vitamin duster. EASY!


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## widmad27 (Aug 9, 2006)

Here is how my cultures are setup according to my description.









Here is my culture pictured with the Beetle sifter.









Questions feel free to PM me.

Cheers,


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## TDK (Oct 6, 2007)

I meant to say toilet paper roll and said filter. The coffee filter also gets bugs all over the bottom of it and you can hold over your feediing cup and tap it with your finger to get them to drop off.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

In order of appearance, 

beetles collected from culture (about two cultures worth), mesh used to make collection lid, and collection lid itself (I couldn't find the nice and neat one I made using hot glue, but found my older one using silicone). 

The sides of the collection cup are dusted with supplements to keep the beetles from climbing out. A large wide funnel is placed into the collecting cup, and the culture with the mesh lid is placed into the funnel and shaken, the beetles fall through and are easily collected for feeding. 
Some do escape while shaking the cultures, but as I collect them in the sink, a little hot water takes care of any escapees... 

Ed


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

That is a NICE haul, you have there - only 2 cultures worth ?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Two cultures at peak production... As I noted above, I can literally pull all of the adults out of a culture so a booming culture is a major food source. This is how I was able to stop having to rear hydei as I produce so many bean beetles. I make three bean beetle cultures a week and get one major bloom at 30 days and then a smaller one at 60 days. At that point, the culture goes into the freezer for 24 hours and is fed to the chickens. 

I feed the extra beetles to my southern toads as even at a good size these toads have no issue with scarfing down the beetles as a treat. 

Ed


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## mbourdon (Dec 21, 2009)

Thank all of you very much. The pics answer a lot of my questions and give me some good ideas on how to proceed.


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## JeremyHuff (Apr 22, 2008)

I will try to get pics up tomorrow of my set-up. However, I like Ed's better. I think I would then go a step further and have a second lid with a mesh gauge that won't allow beetles, but all the dust, poop, bean pieces, etc. to pass through. Thanks Ed


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

I haven't been able to figure out one that I think will work well as the exit holes the beetles cut to leave the beans are the same diameter as the beetles and would clog the screen. I have noticed that with this method, I don't get the buildup in the bottom of the cultures that I've seen with other people. 
Ed


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## myersboy6 (Aug 23, 2010)

Hey so i started 2 new cultures of bean beetles. I dont have a ton of beetles in them since the one culture i had started to die away but i should have enough to get them started. I was wondering how long the cultures will last and if 2 cultures plus maybe one culture of hydei is enough for 4 leucs and 2 bakhuis.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

I set up 3 cultures a week of bean beetles and harvest them when they boom at about 30 days and again at the second pulse close to 60 days. You will need to see if the production is enough to meet your needs. 

Ed


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## myersboy6 (Aug 23, 2010)

So how long do the beetles live when there are no beans. Do you not feed out of them everyday or every couple of days?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

The beetles don't eat but live about ten -14 days post emergence. So can seperate them and supply some moisture (like a very small piece of apples) while waiting to feed her out. 

Ed


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## FwoGiZ (Jul 8, 2008)

frogface said:


> I have coffee filters in my cultures, folded into a funnel like a ff culture. They get down inside of the folds. When I want to feed out, I smack the BB culture to get the climbers off the sides, take the filter out of the container, turn it upside down over the feeding container. The BBs fall out of the coffee filters.
> 
> The two previous ideas look good, though. Might give them a try.


i do the same thing!
this is a good way for not dumping many dead bb!


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

If you fully harvest during the boom period, you actually get very little if any dead beetles. It is only if you are harvesting at the end of a boom or don't harvest during the first boom do you get a lot of dead beetles. 

Ed


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## RentaPig311 (Jul 6, 2009)

Bump! Anymore pics? I get a ton of dead beetles in my tanks, looking for a better way.


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## myersboy6 (Aug 23, 2010)

I used Eds method and it works great. I just take that lid snap it onto my bean beetle culture and just tip it over the other container and it drops all the beetles right into the feed out container nicely!


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

RentaPig311 said:


> Bump! Anymore pics? I get a ton of dead beetles in my tanks, looking for a better way.


 
If you don't harvest in the first week of the emergence you get a lot of dead beetles. I don't add new beans to the culture as that leads to too much mold for me. I set up three new cultures a week and freeze and discard them after 60 days (second emergence). 

Ed


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## JeremyHuff (Apr 22, 2008)

I also use Ed's method with the screen lid. I try to then filter beans after they have larva growing in them to get the dead previous generation out of the way. Another thing I do is put a round coffee filter in the new culture as a basket. I dump the live, dead and dust into that. Once the adults all die, I remove the filter and dump the contents. This helps a lot. I stopped adding fresh beans for the same reasons Ed mentioned.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

I should add that it doesn't take a lot of beetles to start a new culture.. I dump somewhere between 20-40 adults into the new culture. 

Ed


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## izzywalker (May 4, 2007)

Curious as to if anyone here has used these with much smaller dendros or mantellas? Would these be too large of a feeder for say a golden mantella?


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## JeremyHuff (Apr 22, 2008)

I feed them to my goldens and pumilio.


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## radiata (Jul 24, 2010)

myersboy6 said:


> I used Eds method and it works great. I just take that lid snap it onto my bean beetle culture and just tip it over the other container and it drops all the beetles right into the feed out container nicely!


Carter,

What is the mesh size and composition of the screens you've been using? Are you using either hot glue or silicone (or other) to attach the screen to the lids?

Thanks,
Bob


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## Shinosuke (Aug 10, 2011)

radiata said:


> Carter,
> 
> What is the mesh size and composition of the screens you've been using? Are you using either hot glue or silicone (or other) to attach the screen to the lids?
> 
> ...


I'd like to know what size mesh works best, too! My FF production has been crap recently (assuming it's from the hot weather) so I've been considering upping my BB cultures.

Heck, if I can get it down it'll probably be a lot easier / less messy than FF cultures.


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

I'd also like to have the screening material identified...I went hunting for the latch hook material Ed suggested...but could not find it except a huge, expensive piece that would be for a hooked rug. A suggestion for a substitute would be appreciated...thanks


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Judy S said:


> I'd also like to have the screening material identified...I went hunting for the latch hook material Ed suggested...but could not find it except a huge, expensive piece that would be for a hooked rug. A suggestion for a substitute would be appreciated...thanks


You should be able to order it off line for between ten and 15 dollars (see for example M C G Textiles Rug Canvas 24"X30" 3.75 Mesh White 37524, 2 Item(s)/Order )

I got mine from a Michaels craft store and since it was without shipping it cost less than $10. 

Ed


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

Thank you, Ed....somehow you always have the information... Our Michael's did not have anything except that huge piece...but I'm going to check that site out...


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## Steve88W (Jan 21, 2011)

Very helpful thread here. Thanks guys.
Bean Beetles are so easy to raise, now they are easy to feed out!

if you're using Ed's tips on doing the food prep in an empty sink with a funnel, then your spouse will never know! (if you clean the sink that is...otherwise it's another night on the couch)


On a side note... it's nice to see that Ed is an iPhone user.
(see, he's not the crazy hermit guy after all!)


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## Eiffel70 (Aug 10, 2012)

Thanks for this thread guys! I thought my husband was going to kick me & all my bugs out last night as I was trying to feed my newly acquired Patricias. There were beetles, wax worms and fruit flies all over my kitchen! And then my 18 month old trying to eat them all too!!! 

He was so annoyed that he said in the new house we are building, I will be getting a small room built in the garage to keep/breed/sort/feed all my bugs! (Mission accomplished )


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Steve88W said:


> On a side note... it's nice to see that Ed is an iPhone user.
> (see, he's not the crazy hermit guy after all!)


 
I don't know how that disqualifies me as crazy or a hermit...


Ed


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## Kudaria (Dec 24, 2013)

Ed said:


> You should be able to order it off line for between ten and 15 dollars (see for example M C G Textiles Rug Canvas 24"X30" 3.75 Mesh White 37524, 2 Item(s)/Order )
> 
> I got mine from a Michaels craft store and since it was without shipping it cost less than $10.
> 
> Ed


I've already got 1/4" clear plastic netting, do you think that would be about the same size?

Also regarding the beans, your getting dry beans and then rehydrating them before adding the beetles right? It's hard to see how they would get enough moisture to live otherwise.


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## jkooiman (May 2, 2010)

Kudaria said:


> I've already got 1/4" clear plastic netting, do you think that would be about the same size?
> 
> Also regarding the beans, your getting dry beans and then rehydrating them before adding the beetles right? It's hard to see how they would get enough moisture to live otherwise.


No, you don't hydrate the beans. That's the beauty of Bean Beetles.Actually, you don't really want any moisture in the culture-including beetle urea, dead beetles etc.- or the culture will mold. Thanks, JVK


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