- Caging/Housing: You will want to house them in something like a tall jar but any plastic container will do fine. The lid will need to be a fine mesh such as cloth to provide ventilation but help prevent escapees. An elastic band can be used to hold it in place. Add a layer of culture (see feeding below) to the container, the amount doesn't really matter as you can always add more later on. Cut some strips of corrugated cardboard and lean them against the wall, this is where the moths will lay eggs. Add about 25 waxworms or pupae to each tub and wait for them to emerge as moths. Moths will only live around a week but they will lay plenty of eggs. You may want to remove the empty pupae shells and dead moths to stop them from molding. Waxworms will do fine at room temperature although a slightly higher temperature will accelerate growth. Just like mealworms they will last for nearly four months if kept in a refrigerator.
- Feeding: There are two main ingredients to a cheap successful culture, weetabix (cheap supermarket brand) and honey. In addition Calcium powder and vitamin powder will improve the nutritional value of the waxworms. To prepare, crumble the weetabix really fine and add honey until you have a soft crumbly consistency but not soggy. A good rule of thumb is it should hold itself in place when pressured but also crumble when rubbed. It may help to warm the honey a little until it is runny and at this point you can mix in a bit of calcium and vitamins. This culture can be stored in the fridge until you want to use it but it is probably best to just make what you need.
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