Frozen Termites
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Diane
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- Posts: 7402
- Joined: 05 Apr 2009, 14:23
- Location: Northern 'burbs of Adelaide
- Location: Northern 'burbs of Adelaide
Love the sieve! Has the rest of the family seen the new "food" in the freezer?
Diane
The difference between Genius and Stupidity is, Genius has it’s limits
The difference between Genius and Stupidity is, Genius has it’s limits
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Gerry Marantelli
Freezers are a dehydrating environment. Freezing insects requires airtight containers and they must be filled / have air removed etc - snap lock bags with excess air pressed out work ok. You could try making sure the soil has more moisture so collectively the mix dries out more slowly. ice cube trays etc will not protect your fozen insects the will dry out completely in a few weeks.Frozen with dirt/nest residue they last well for up to about 10weeks - they then start to shrivel up
Another good thing to freeze is fly pupae as they are prepacked (in their shell) which is rather air/water tight so the inside has a longer shelf life.
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SamDavis
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- Posts: 2578
- Joined: 03 Jan 2011, 14:01
- Location: Douglas Park NSW
A quick update on my science experiment after 1 week....
1. After a week in the freezer the frozen ones look completely normal, but obviously are dead. Fed some out this morning and birds seemed oblivious to the fact they were dead (and cold) - particularly a pair of maskeds who are nesting (on eggs I think, no chicks yet) and longtails who have just fledged young.
2. Refrigerated ones (after 7 days) are still alive and take about 2 hours to become active once removed from the fridge. it was pretty cool this morning (about 10 degrees C) so no doubt they would "reactivate" much quicker if warmer.
3. Also have taken some out of the fridge and left them out for a variable number of days as follows:
(A) After two days still in the sealed container they appear 100% fine and very active. Some condensation present.
(B) After 4 days mould began to form in the sealed container (I suspect due to dampness), however some are still alive. I wouldn't feed these to my birds due to mould forming. Note that the nests I collected from were significnatly damper than is normally the case due to the recent rains so probably not consclusive.
(C) After 4 days with the lid off all termites have died. This mix has become very dry, hence I guess they've dehydrated.
(D) Left some out of the fridge (sealed) for 2 days as in (A). I then put them back into fridge for 2 days and then took them out again. Still reactivated without an issue.
Although Option 1 is my preference (as they're alive), it may well be that freezing is actually just as good. I'll need to try feeding to various other species when they have chicks. In my view refrigerating/freezing is proving to be a much better system compared to the old system of trying to maintain nest chunks in a garbage bin.
The experiment continues... I'd like to determine how long they'll remain viable in the fridge. Any other ideas?
Sam
1. After a week in the freezer the frozen ones look completely normal, but obviously are dead. Fed some out this morning and birds seemed oblivious to the fact they were dead (and cold) - particularly a pair of maskeds who are nesting (on eggs I think, no chicks yet) and longtails who have just fledged young.
2. Refrigerated ones (after 7 days) are still alive and take about 2 hours to become active once removed from the fridge. it was pretty cool this morning (about 10 degrees C) so no doubt they would "reactivate" much quicker if warmer.
3. Also have taken some out of the fridge and left them out for a variable number of days as follows:
(A) After two days still in the sealed container they appear 100% fine and very active. Some condensation present.
(B) After 4 days mould began to form in the sealed container (I suspect due to dampness), however some are still alive. I wouldn't feed these to my birds due to mould forming. Note that the nests I collected from were significnatly damper than is normally the case due to the recent rains so probably not consclusive.
(C) After 4 days with the lid off all termites have died. This mix has become very dry, hence I guess they've dehydrated.
(D) Left some out of the fridge (sealed) for 2 days as in (A). I then put them back into fridge for 2 days and then took them out again. Still reactivated without an issue.
Although Option 1 is my preference (as they're alive), it may well be that freezing is actually just as good. I'll need to try feeding to various other species when they have chicks. In my view refrigerating/freezing is proving to be a much better system compared to the old system of trying to maintain nest chunks in a garbage bin.
The experiment continues... I'd like to determine how long they'll remain viable in the fridge. Any other ideas?
Sam
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west finch
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- Posts: 357
- Joined: 22 Feb 2011, 11:24
- Location: tamworth
Thanks Sam well done. 
Work smarter not harder !