Breeding and using mealworms

By Monika Koeckeritz

Mealworms are a cheap and easy way of providing animals with the protein they need. These include birds, fish, reptiles and some mammals. Two billion people regularly consume insects in Africa, Asia and South America. The author wants to pass on her own experience for anyone interested in learning more about breeding mealworms. She wrote about what mealworms are and how people can breed their own mealworms for feeding animals and cooking delicious meals. Mealworms make an excellent, sustainable alternative to dairy products, chicken, pork and beef and have a nutty taste. In this booklet the author recommends five simple recipes with mealworms.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Books on Demand
• Release date: Feb 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9783748162728

Monika Koeckeritz

Monika Koeckeritz studied educational theory from 1980 to 1984. After her first studies she was active as a passionate teacher, lecturer and project manager. In 2003 she began her second studies and finished them two years later with the Master of Business Administration (MBA) at The University of Liverpool. After her graduation Monika Koeckeritz took leadership positions in the fields of education and business consultancy in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Berlin and Brandenburg. Since January 2015 she has been working as an author and a journalist of science and travelling. In her leisure time she likes to breed pets and animals as well to work in her garden.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Preface

What are Mealworms

Breeding Mealworms

Using Mealworms

Recipes with Mealworms

Literature

Preface

One year, when I was a little girl, I got a cute little hamster as a Christmas present. I named him Macky, and cared for him, fed him, and played with him lovingly. One day, my parents told me that Macky needed protein in his diet, and instructed me to buy some mealworms. I didn’t understand what protein was, but I walked briskly to the pet shop and bought a small plastic bowl of mealworms. When I got home, I removed the lid and stared at the squirming, crawling mealworms. I took Grandma's loupe and looked a little closer at this clutter. I watched a mealworm crawl out of his skin. My parents told me that all these mealworms would develop black bugs. Black bugs! I was completely absorbed, and forgot all about my hamster and his protein needs. At my parents’ urging, I eventually fed the hamster a few worms.

Many years have passed. I no longer have hamsters, but I do have chickens. In winter, the chickens struggle to find earthworms, beetles or other insects. As a cheap and easy way of providing the chickens with the protein