Lambow Zomma Bark Control Device, Green-49, 5Lbs

Birds are happy. These dried mealworms appear to be good quality and the bag is filled with full-bodied worms and not many broken ones. So far, I haven’t seen any “worm dust”. I had been buying a more expensive brand because they were grown and processed in the USA but, I noticed their supply had shifted to China. I stopped paying more (significantly, too) for what is most likely the exact same item in a different package and now use this brand. I can’t tell any difference from the expensive brand. The worms do not have any apparent mold, I don’t see any debris in the bag and there is no unpleasant odor (other than they are dried worms, LOL). I just wish they didn’t ship here from China - I feel it is wasteful to bring these over on a cargo ship (but I also feel that way about 99.999% of everything shipped over from China). I’d grow my own if I had space. If anyone knows of a source for USA-grown freeze-dried mealworms, please leave a comment with that information.

Well, just want to say this is a win-win. I bought a 7oz bag of meal worms locally to test the palettes of my feathered friends up here at 10,000 ft elevation. Many birds winter over, and with 400-600" of snow on the ground from November to May, and nothing green growing, food foraging must be a real challenge. While I do keep the feeders stocked, variety is the spice of life. Also, until they compost, seed shells are messy. Anyway, the birds zeroed in on the high protein meal worms within an hour. They love them! Buying in a big bulk bag, cuts the cost by close to 60%. I would highly recommend these, but would recommend the approach of testing out the birds in your particular geographical area first.

I got tired of spending a fortune on a few ounces of meal worms to attract bluebirds, so I opted for the 5-lb bag. I had no idea how many FD worms it takes to make 5 lbs! The price was excellent, though I am always suspicious of heavy metals in any products from China. The worms are big and not broken, and they actually smell pretty good-- kind of nutty. The birds like them just fine, though I am attracting primarily starlings and brownhead cowbirds, and have not seen any bluebirds for weeks. I also scatter them on the ground for robins, as it is still fairly chilly in New England, and I will be giving some to a friend who has chickens. The only problem--which has been noted by other reviewers-- is that the bag is not resealable. This is the reason for 4 rather than 5 stars. For now, I have the top folded over and closed with a chip clip, as the contents would have filled at least a dozen gallon Ziplock bags.

So I had a nice evening - was all excited to get a couple of boxes from Amazon. Rushed inside like it was Xmas and opened up the big box first. Upon opening the box (from Yummyworms...or they should change their name to "Yummyworms or Yummyants...You Chose!"), about 10 big black ants came pouring out of the top of the box where I opened the first flap. Upon freaking out (I hate ants), I rushed the box outside (tripping over my cat who stands way too close to my feet) to my driveway (while a couple of ants fell off inside the kitchen) and dumped the box on the driveway. Went back inside and killed the 2 big black ants that escaped in the kitchen. With that done, went back outside with my sneaker and began killing all the ants running away from the box. I killed about 30 ants (these are not the little ones - these are the bigger black ants - I believe they are called Carpenter Ants). I looked inside finally and took the bag of mealworms out and there were several more ants at the bottom of the box --- feeding on guess what? Yep, mealworms all spread around the bottom of the box. How did the mealworms get loose inside the box? Great question! From an opened piece of the bag at the top of the bag. So basically the ants were having a mealworm ant picnic all the way from the Yummyants location to my house. Nice job Yummybigblackants! First off, your taping of the box was way too loose - I could tell right away this box wasn't shipped from Amazon. So with the box flaps loose, any insect could easily make their way inside the box. Second, the bag was partially opened at the top of the bag. So mealworms we're flying out like a dispenser for the big black ants to enjoy during their shipping journey. How did that happen? Does anyone at your company inspect the freaking bag for holes? Do you have the summer interns running your distribution and shipping department for the summer? If they are, they are doing a terrible job. You need better interns. Consider bringing back the more experienced workers and how about paying them a little more so they actually look at the product when they put it in the box and they tape the box properly before shipping out to the customer. Pretty basic stuff. Also add a couple of items to your inspection list -- "inspect for holes in mealworm bag before shipping to the customer" and also add "inspect box for big black ants so a customer doesn't have a scene out of a Stephen King novel upon opening said box". Yes, I am upset and my dislike for ants just grew 100 times. I will not be ordering from you again no matter how many big black ant credits you offer. What a terrible ant experience.

So far, after 10 days, the ONLY birds (of the 20+ species that visit my yard) to eat these are Carolina Wrens. The Eastern Bluebirds will not touch them. I've tried them alone; added calcium; added currants; added apples; added dried blueberries; and added dried cherries... Cardinals, Wrens, Titmice, etc will pick around them to get to the fruit. I've just wasted money. Next time I will try Live mealworms.UPDATE: I just finished the bag (about a year). I've tried soaking/simmering/boiling them for 30min - 2hrs, and they don't seem to absorb any water or get any softer, they seem to be a hard, hollow shell. It took a few months, and some training w/ live mealworms from the pet store (expensive), but the E. Bluebirds (M & F couple that had 2 broods over spring & summer) finally started eating these, as did their fledglings. they have also been regularly eaten by the Carolina Wrens, N. Mockingbirds, Brown Thrasher, and B. Oriole. The birds seem to like the whole worms, but being that the worms don't soften after soaking, and quickly break into bits, about 1/3 - 1/2 don't get eaten.I am going to try another brand (and smaller bag) and hope that they might soften more than these.