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Hi, Steve. Yes, these are live mealworms. As soon as orioles appear at my feeders, generally in November, I work on getting them used to a regular feeding schedule, partly to avoid conflicts with starlings. The orioles are waiting to pounce at feeding time and, as you suggest, the mealworms are not exposed to cold temperatures for more than a couple of minutes. I provide them to the birds in clay saucers, which I bring in to warm up between feedings - it would seem too much like mealworm torture, otherwise. If I want to leave mealworms out for longer periods, I put them in my large bird-feeding cage, which has a heated floor - the heater is a string of "old-fashioned" outdoor Christmas lights. I've heard of others in the past providing mealworms in a saucer on top of a container of hot water, for instance for a warbler that was going to pop into a concealed feeding station occasionally through the day. I raise some mealworms myself, in colonies with all stages including the beetles, and friends have been supplying me with welcome additions this winter. But I also buy some - have just placed an order with SuperCricket in Saskatchewan, which has been a reliable supplier in the past. Don Codling in Sackville has developed an awesome system for raising mealworms, and storing them in the refrigerator in cold-arrest. I'm much less disciplined. If you'd ever like to contribute blowfly larvae to a worthy cause, the orioles would be delighted! Cheers, Susann -------------------------------------------------- From: "Stephen Shaw" <srshaw@Dal.Ca> Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2015 9:24 PM To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca> Subject: RE: [NatureNS] Oriole Flock, Halifax -> mealworms > Are the mealworms live (presumably)? If so, how do you prevent them from > freezing together and to the container into a hard solid mass, within a > couple of minutes at these temperatures? If alternatively they are > dead/individually frozen already, I can see how they would stay as > separate objects, but I thought that they'd then be less attractive to > birds if immobile and not wriggling. Or are your birds so well > experienced that they are waiting for you to put out the larvae so they > pounce immediately? > I periodically breed fly larvae on liver (of big blowflies, Calliphora) > and this afternoon I had raised far too many, so put half of them out in > an open container. These froze almost immediately as expected, as above -- > I had no expectant birds waiting, though. > So it would be nice to know how you or others deliver these mealworms, > dead or alive? > And who sells them, or do you raise them yourself and not let them go > through all the way to adult beetles, using cold-arrest? I don't know > much about rearing them. > Steve (Halifax) > ________________________________________ > From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] on > behalf of Susann Myers [myerss@eastlink.ca] > Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2015 8:02 PM > To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca; Ns-Rba@Yahoogroups.Com > Subject: [NatureNS] Oriole Flock, Halifax > > The number of Baltimore Orioles tending my feeders in Halifax grew from 7 > to 9 in mid-December. All 9 are still doing well, eating large amounts of > grape jelly, peanut butter "suet" and mealworms. > > There are another 2 orioles tending feeders (including Patricia Chalmers') > on Elm Street, about 4 blocks from mine. > > Susann Myers >
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