LIGHTNING SIFTER™ Medium Sifting Pan (D-11)

For years I've kept a few drawers' worth of mealworms for my lizard and chickens. I got the original version of the pupae sifting pan from Mealworm Farming Solutions, and it was a tremendous help in separating pupae and beetles from the worms. Sorting worms is not fun for me, since it means spending a couple hours bent over in the Florida heat, suffering in a face mask because I'm very allergic to the worm frass. I decided to invest in Mealworm Farming Solution's new worm sifting pans to make the sorting process quicker and easier on myself.

They came carefully packaged, beautifully manufactured, no sharp edges, with sizes etched onto the side for easy reference. The pans are pretty high capacity, but since my drawers are on the larger side, I found it easier to do a "first pass" sift without the frass pan and then sift the bedding through the frass pan separately. With the worm pans stacked, I shake the bucket from side to side for a minute, and then let the worms self-sort for a few more minutes. Then, just empty each pan into its own drawer (gently brushing off any clingy worms). SO much easier than hand-sifting through several small wire-mesh pans. My spine and sinuses thank you!!

Another interesting note: I have changed nothing about my mealworm-keeping besides using these pans, but my mealworm population has EXPLODED. I've never seen so many pupae in my life! I have a whole drawer that's just full of pupae now -- I may need to get another rack at this rate. I don't really know why this is happening. Maybe the worms grow and pupate more successfully when they're not competing with bigger worms? Maybe I'm sorting more often because it's easier? Who knows! But I think I'll finally have a big enough colony to sell worms, and thus turn my free-critter-food hobby into an actual income source for us... which is very exciting!

I would recommend these pans to anyone who wants to get serious about mealworm breeding. Thanks so much for the game-changing product, MFS!