Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations how to build my own bin for black soilder fly

any ideas or info greatly apprciated

Start here. When you are done reading that in a month come back for any other questions.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=87501#Post87501

i already have

GW should be around tomorrow. He will be able to answer your question.

thanks.

Hi Dm and welcome to pond boss, glad to see another Californian on board!

thanks

Hi dmflying, glad you could join us.

I'm afraid I'm not qualified to give detailed "how to" instructions for building a BSF unit because the only one I've made is a real clunker. I may be losing as much as 20% of my colony on a regular basis due to the larva's ability to climb a vertical surface when it's damp. Here's an old post describing this issue. Just last week I had a similar experience with a larger tub that had a few dozen larvae in it that were caught overnight. Yesterday I saw two newly emerged BSF drying their wings within a few feet of my unit. I have no doubt that they were escapees.

Even if I did have a design that rivaled a BioPod I still wouldn't share it out of respect for Dr. Olivier and ESR/ProtaCulture. I based my own design (loosely) on the prototype that Dr. Olivier generously published on his company's website. I wouldn't even have ventured into raising BSF if Dr. Olivier had not published the results of his 8 years of research. In my opinion he deserves to be rewarded for his research and design even if he has chosen to make it freely available to the public.

You've read my BSF thread on this forum so you know that I took this same position more than a year ago. That was long before I had any contact with ESR or even knew if they would ever bring their BioPod to the market. I also didn't have any idea at the time that an opportunity to be a BioPod dealer would come my way. Dealership or no dealership my position would be the same.

I'm aware that you didn't expressly ask me for help, but I'm happy to give you the same advice I give to everyone who asks this question.

1. Contain the larvae - BSFL can and will crawl up a vertical surface when it's damp. The smaller larvae can probably crawl on the underside of the lid when damp.

2. Ventilation - You need to ventilate for heat which also allows space for the females to enter the unit. The vents shouldn't allow rain to enter the unit. (see #1)

3. Migration ramps - The mature larvae will circle the unit trying to find an exit when they're ready to pupate so the ramp(s) should be against the side of the unit. The BioPod has a ramp for each direction the larvae might choose to circle. The ramps should be at roughly 40 degrees inclination.

4. Automatic collection - The ramps should terminate with a drop into a bucket with a lid that keeps the larvae in and the rain out. Avoid gaps in the system to fully contain the larvae and to keep frogs and spiders out.

5. Liquid discharge - Also called "tea", this is the liquid byproduct of BSFL digestion. The wetter the food scraps are the more tea you will produce. If the liquid isn't allowed to drain out of the unit the bottom level becomes unusable to the larvae. This is one area where my design fails utterly. I've let the tea drain onto the ground which creates a few issues. The main problem is that the tea is a powerful attractant to female BSF and if it's on the ground they may lay their eggs there instead of in your unit.

If you're reasonably handy you should be able to build something that will work fairly well and if you're good it may be almost as effective as a BioPod. Even my clunker BSF unit works well enough that I can attract and raise thousands of larvae, it's just less convenient or effective than my BioPod. Also now that I've got a pond full of fish to feed I don't want to keep losing so many larvae like I have been with my homemade unit.

If you really want to culture BSF and don't want a BioPod then just throw something together and get started. You can always build improved versions or tweek your existing unit. It can be fun if you love to tinker.

where is the best place to get my biopod? and BSF? thank you

From me. (caution: I may be biased)

If you order through me I'll send you a seeding kit at no extra charge. For more information you can visit my blog (the link is in my signature).

how far away from my home should the bin be? will they do okay in the desert of california

From my experience it could be right next to the house. I have my homemade unit about 60 feet from the house, but there isn't a bad odor. I keep it there because I enjoy working in the shade of the 90 year old pecan tree it's under. I would say put it as close as you're comfortable keeping garbage cans.

All BSF colonies should be maintained under 100 degrees if possible. I doubt that they would totally crash at 101 degrees, but there could be some instability. It's important to keep BSF units in total shade.

Low humidity is a potential issue, but food scraps should supply enough moisture. If the colony appeared to be very dry you could simply add a little water. Most people who compost kitchen scraps get excess moisture in their units.