Catch, search, and find book scorpions!

The small animals can be collected especially in dry areas. For example, you come across the pseudoscorpion on farms that have little contact with pesticides. These include above all organic farms. Dry wood with cracks can be laid out and checked for book scorpions every 2-3 days. With a lot of patience, temperatures between 18-30 ° C and a good head lamp, book scorpions can be found. In addition, the height plays a central role in the search for book scorpions. The small arachnids can best be seen in higher, more untouched places. Since the humidity of the location plays a role, the common styrofoam bags are not suitable for book scorpions. The ideal climate for both bees and book scorpions is a dry tree cavity. The two animals have lived for years in a symbiosis as a functioning ecosystem. Tree wood is a perfect thermal insulation, air-permeable and water-absorbing.
One could also find hidden book scorpions on dusty books or in the shed. In such dry areas they find their food, which i.a. consists of wood lice, bed bugs, mites, fruit flies and silverfish.

Buy book scorpion (Pseudoscorpion or Chelifer cancroides) breeding kit

Where can I buy book scorpions or a book scorpion breeding kit for my beehive? I have already asked this question several times on my YouTube
and get an Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/bucherskorpion/) account. As far as I know, there are three internet sources (one from Torben Schiffer and one from an online shop in Switzerland that sell book scorpions). I have also been offering book copies myself for a year. I am also researching the direct breeding of book copies in the bee colony and, from summer 2020, I will also be selling book scorpions that have already lived with bees before. So getting started is a bit easier for the book scorpion. Just write me an email to rsigmar@yahoo.de or fill in the form.

Collecting book scorpions

Book Scorpions are usually very difficult to find, although some of the current Book Scorpion researchers often find it very easy to find. For finding book scorpions, however, there are a few small tricks that can be helpful in finding your own book scorpions. In the following text I will go into the factors of the location, the temperature and the dryness of the book scorpion. I will also name typical predators.

1. Where is the best place to look for book scorpions?

To start looking for book scorpions, the ideal place to search should first be determined. Especially with such small animals as the book scorpion, it is important not to just start looking, but to create a plan of the procedure before searching. Even if you don’t spot the small creatures at first glance, book scorpions can be found in some places in nature. Agricultural facilities and farms can also be the home of some book scorpions. Personally, I have been able to gain good experience in the search for book scorpions, especially on organic farms with my own animals. It was there that I found book scorpions most frequently.

2. The preferred temperature of book scorpions

The temperature, the existing climate and the season also have a decisive influence on the occurrence of book scorpions. It is easiest to find the book scorpions in late spring and summer. In winter and autumn, the search for book scorpions is not only more difficult, but also not recommended for the animals. The best weather for finding book scorpions is a pleasant, sunny day. From around 25 degrees the book scorpions are particularly active and can be more easily spotted by our searching eyes.

3. The decisive criterion of humidity when looking for book scorpions

The book scorpion is particularly sensitive to the prevailing drought in their living environment. Book scorpions, unlike smaller animals like mites, prefer a dry environment. Therefore, book scorpions can also be caught or found in the dry straw or hay in the upper layers.

4. The natural predators of the book scorpion

In places where the book scorpion’s natural predators are increasingly found, book scorpions are of course hardly to be found. Therefore, a smart tip when looking for book scorpions is to keep an eye out for other living beings and not just focus on the search for book scorpions. Smaller spiders do not necessarily affect the book scorpion.