01Rearing
From colony to operation.
Learned mealworm husbandry from the ground up and grew the operation to hundreds of trays.
- Feeding and life stages
- Tray management
- Daily rearing routines
Historical operationExplore the farming experience
Mealworm farming.
Built from scratch.
Founded in 2021, Entolab grew from one kilogram of mealworms to hundreds of trays, selling live mealworms, frass and beetles across the UK.
Drag the scale, or use ← / → to change chapter and ↑ / ↓ to fine-tune. Hover or tap a part for its story; Enter steps through the parts and Escape clears. The room loops on its own; any control stops it for a while, and Pause holds it.
1 kg · 2–3 trays
Work to build on
From rearing
to reaching buyers.
Building Entolab meant learning the organism, designing a working process and finding a market. That experience connects farming, technical exploration and commercial work.
02Sensing and design
Understand the process.
Introduced sensors, visual computing and data to investigate growth and operational efficiency.
- Growth observations
- Sensors and visual computing
- Questions for future tools
Practical and exploratory workExplore the software concept
03Brands and distribution
Reach buyers across the UK.
Created Entolab and EcoBooster and distributed live mealworms, frass and beetles nationally.
- Entolab live mealworms
- EcoBooster mealworm frass
- Beetle distribution
Two brands · UK distributionRead the founder’s account
The founder behind the work
Built from scratch.
Across disciplines.
Cristian brought product design and entrepreneurial experience to mealworm farming: learning the husbandry, introducing sensing and visual computing, and creating brands that reached buyers.
Meet the founder- 01
Start with the organism
Biology, substrate and daily husbandry come before a promise of scale.
- 02
Make the process legible
Write down what happened so the next batch can teach you something useful.
- 03
Test before you multiply
Validate a working process before repeating it across a room or a farm.
A concept for further development
One idea for
what could come next.
The Node: a proposed rearing unit. A concept, separate from the original farm.
Fig. 01Entolab Node / concept cutaway
Drag the dark tray · hold ↑ / ↓Feed · 12 trays
Add feed and inspect each group of larvae during the modeled weekly visit.
Pointer and keyboard controls
Drag the dark tray or hold ↑ / ↓ on the drawing; ← / → change stages. Hold the feed button, Space or F to demonstrate feeding.
On the tray slider, arrows move the tray; Home closes and End opens. Escape releases held controls; reduced motion keeps the tour still.
Tray format12 × GN 1/1Commercial dimensions · proposed rack
Estimated weekly harvest1.35 kg live larvaeSteady-state model · assumption
Estimated operator time38 min / weekly visitUnvalidated labour assumption
Inside the unit Inspect the 3D construction Reference / UK · EU · global
Know the context
before you build.
Explore the existing reference archive and its official source links. This material is not a maintained regulatory tracker.
Explore regulatory resourcesResearch brief / beyond the field
Small systems.
Further questions.
The off-world rearing brief explores constraints, hypotheses and questions for possible future research.
Read the research brief04 / Before you start
A few practical
questions.
Is Entolab operating today?
The farming operation is paused. The founder’s account explains the current situation and the experience available to build on.
Is the Node available to buy?
The Node is a proposed rearing concept, distinct from the original farm. Its hardware integration, climate control and operating performance still need pilot validation.
Discuss further developmentWhat could a collaboration involve?
A new operating venture, technical development, or exploring how the brands, research and practical know-how could contribute to a future project. Scope and arrangements would be discussed directly.
What did Cristian actually build?
Cristian started Entolab in 2021. From 1 kg of mealworms and two or three trays, he developed an operation of approximately 250–300 trays, created Entolab and EcoBooster, and distributed live mealworms, frass and beetles across the UK. The initial tray expansion was one phase of that wider venture.
Ways to get involved
See a future
for this work?
Explore a new operating venture, develop technical concepts, or discuss how the brands and practical know-how could support a future project. Entrepreneurs, operators and investors are welcome. An initial idea is enough.
Discuss a collaboration