A guy in our county raises mealworms for perch bait - makes good money! He hauls them to bait shops all over eastern Texas and western Louisiana.

Jack

brother Jack,

It's good to talk grubs, bugs and worms, instead of gmo's, religion and such.

Can you tell me a little about his operation? How they are raised. Price. etc

Eric

I haven't visited his place or checked the price - but next time I run into him in town I'll ask him about that.

You have to understand, Eric, that this is the heart of the Bible Belt. Virtually everyone is, or at least professes to be, a Christian. So Religious comments and references are a routine part of everyday conversation and don't raise eyebrows. Our lives are centered around our local church - which is pretty much the only social life there is in these little East Texas towns.

Jack

Eric,

Before this farming thing came along, I was a fishing fool and have raised mealworms forever. They are incredibly easy to grow. Put them in any sizable container (mine are in meat lugs) and fill it half full of wheat bran, which I get for like $6 for 50 lbs--one bag lasts me years. Add worms and let them breed. Occasionally, I toss in some potato peels. They thrive on neglect.

Actually, you could probably sell more of them to bird or reptile lovers--or pet stores, for that matter.

Brook

Thanks Jack,

I wanted to show you the church my great grandfather built. Lutheran church in Noonan North Dakota. Built in 1915. My brother and I road the train back in 2005 for the 100 anniversary of the church. In 2015 we will be there for the 100 year aniversary of the building.

You might find this hard to believe. I went through three years of lutheran comfirmation "affirmation of baptism"

I saw a documentary called 2100 this evening, talk about raising eyebrows.

Eric

Brook,

I'm about two months into my first mealworm (larvae) operation. I bought 500 large mealworms from Petco. They must of all been about the same age. Most of them went through pupation and now Darkling Beetles all at the same time.

Eric

Thanks for the photos, Eric -

That's an incredibly well-preserved building. Must be a major landmark for miles around. Beautiful. I see the little basement windows - very foreign to us. My ancestors homesteaded wooded country with a mild climate. I can't even imagine what life must have been like on that barren, windswept open plain! Very fertile, though - good farm land, maybe the best in the country except for the Central Valley of Calif.

We'll be in prayer that you once again rediscover that shining light in the darkness and find your way back home, my poor lost lamb of a brother. :-)

Jack

Bro Eric, that church building was a sign of the love and devotion your great grandfather had for his Saviour.
And he was gifted, and a artist, not only a beautiful building, but the setting.
youll also be in our prayers.
josh

Y'all wanna know what the best Brim bait in the world is?
Besides Catalpa worms, anyway.

It's the larvae of the common Red Wasp. A big paper nest will have several hundred larvae, each in its own cell, about a half inch long (just right for a size 10 or 12 hook). They're not easy to get, though. A large nest has enough wasps to kill you! You have to knock it down at night when they're inactive - and lay-out a predetermined pathway to run. By morning you can usually get to the nest and go fishin'.

JAck

Jack,

Thanks for messing up my keyboard. I sprayed coffee all over it. The image of you stumbling around in the dark wacking a wasp hive pinata. Happy fishing

Eric

Bro Jack, youd have to be a die hard, and crazy to boot, fisherman to go that route,, LOL

I aint that desperate for bait, but maggotts , thats good bait, except for the gross factor, but theres no risk of dying, hahaha
josh

Those red wasps are worth money!

Look on a map and you'll see a large swampy area where the Angelina and Neches rivers converge in East Teaxas - on the map it's called "Lake Steinhagen". We live 15 miles due west of there. The upper reaches are a maze of waterways that wind through habitat that looks like the Amazon rain forest, infested with water mocassins (Cottonmouth) and gators, and millions of huge wasp nests in the youpon brush that lines the banks of these bayous. If your motor dies and you drift against the bank, you'll likely get atttacked by wasps and have to go into the water -ALL the way under or thousands of them will sting the top of your head! (That happened to me 50 years and I was hospitalized and pumped full of cortizone - nearly died. I've been 100% immune to hymenoptera venom ever since - no reaction to stings)

A couple local guys used to (maybe still do) collect those wasps, freeze them - nests, larvae, adults and all - and sell them to a a biology/drug company in Houston who uses the venom in some product they make. They made good bucks doing that. They couldn't kill them with spray, for obvious reasons, and had to collect them alive and uncontaminated.

Most nest are built on limbs that overhang the water, suspended by a single "stem", and all the adults are on the nest at night (these are open, exposed paper nests, not enclosed hives like bald-faced hornets). To collect them, one guy ran the trolling motor and held the light while his partner captured the intact nest in a plastic bag. They'd simply ease the boat up there and the guy with the bag, in the bow, would slip it over the nest, quickly break-off the stem with a twist and tie the bag shut. The bag was roaring inside, and they were careful not to tear it or damage it. They'd fill the boat every night. By morning the wasps had suffocated and they froze them. A refrigerated van came up from Houston weekly to pick them up and pay the guys. As I recall, I don't think they wore bee suits.

Jack

BTW - did y'all know that if you shoot a high-hanging hornet nest in a tree with a .22, the hornets somehow know the trajectory of the bullet, exactly where it came from, and they'll follow that line right back to your face! No Lie!

Unfortunately I know the truth about shooting a hornets nest with a .22, been there, done that :0(

We have bald face hornets, a small hive was starting to build a nest on my traps hanging on the side of the barn, we didnt notice till my wife walked by accidently brushing it and those #$@!&*(!! attacked her on swarm,I burnt them out that night with my torch.

Did you know that the height at which they build thier nest will tell you the forecast for winter, I knew this winter would be bitterly cold cause last year all the wasp nest were 8 feet and less , several were pert near on the ground hanging on the bottom of fences and bushes, the one my wife was attacked by was only 4 feet up.

I knew a guy who collected them for research for IU, our bald faced hornet nest are enclosed with an opening in the bottom. He'd spend the day whittling plugs, at night he'd go out to known nest, stick the plug in the bottom, cut the limb with lopers, and stuff it in a trash bag, and that thing would roar.
Me, I'll tackle coyotes, skunks, rattlers, cottonmouths, or any creature pert near, but those hornets scare the living $%#@%%&* out of me.
josh

Josh, are you swearing. :~0

On one of our landscaping jobs, my brother stepped on a ground dwelling hive. Some of the hornets, wasp, not sure what flew up his pants. You should have saw him running around in the salal with his pants down. Many sting along the inseam.

Eric

Not exactly swearing, but sure makes ya want to :0)
josh

Bro Eric

Swearing--- As long as you don't take the Lord's name in vain.

Don't get us started again or we'll all get run-off the forum!

LOL Jack

You guys are using the wrong weapon of those wasp nests. With a muzzleloader, you not only blow them out but smoke 'em out.

Brook

brookw,

Muzzleloader, I can top that.

9th infantry Battery D I'm the little bugger pulling the lanyard.

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Pvt. Eric

Hey whos cannon ball hit my boat! :0D
josh

Only a #$@!%* blue-bellied Yankee would be dumb enuff to shoot at an airplane with a 19th century cannon! :-)

Jack

Don't get us started again or we'll all get run-off the forum!

LOL Jack

Text generator

Remember what you said :~) hehe

Eric

Only a #$@!%* blue-bellied Yankee would be dumb enuff to shoot at an airplane with a 19th century cannon! :-)
Jack

Text generator

Well, we are under the command of Captian George E. Pickett, what do expect? AKA General George E. Pickett. Pickett's Charge.

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Eric

Dangit,

Now that's just something else I've gotta get. I've got rabbit problems real bad, and that just might do the trick--might run off my neighbor too, altho' I think he's moved his crop somewhere else since I took over the land (if you know what I mean).

Brook

Here's my DIY Black Soldier Fly composter. Made mostly from used parts. I'll have to build a vent for the cover.

BSF larvae show up tomorrow or Monday.

Eric

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