How to Breed Waxworms

Make the substrate by mixing cereal grain and honey in a double boiler until it is well blended. Spread the mixture on a cookie sheet and allow it to cool and harden, and then break it into crumbles. Place the substrate into an escape-proof container.

Add the bedding to the container. If you purchase commercial bedding, you can use generic mealworm bedding. Crumple the wax paper into balls and place them in the container.

Add the waxworms to the wax paper balls. Secure the lid well, especially when the waxworms are in the moth stage and when the larvae first hatches. Make your air holes in the lid as small as possible to prevent waxworms from escaping.

Keep your waxworms at room temperature to breed them (about 70 degrees F). Remember that temperature is the key to breeding waxworms. If you want to encourage breeding, you must keep the worms at a warm room temperature. The waxworms will then spin cocoons.

Separate the cocoons and place them into another container. The container for the cocoons must have a small layer of substrate on the bottom and wax paper balls. After approximately two weeks, the moths will emerge from the cocoons. The moths will mate and lay their eggs in the wax paper balls, and then the moths will die after one or two weeks.

Wait two to three more weeks, and you will see tiny worms grow from the eggs.

Place the worms in a container with holes in the lid when they are half grown, and then place the container in the door of a refrigerator. The cold will halt their growth and slow their progression to the cocoon stage. Add bedding and substrate as needed to ensure that your waxworms will fatten and grow.