Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Black Soldier Fly project

Hi JKB, the blank worked very well. I really appreciate you going out of your way like that.

Hi Randy, yes that's my submission. Do you want to submit a photo of your BSF for the map? I don't need a specific address, the town or county is good enough.

I don't think I've updated my post about the corn attractant, but I've been adding some sugar to the corn so it will ferment faster. I would start it 3 or 4 weeks before the mating season starts.

When do you think the mating season will start?
I'm in Temple - between Atlanta and Birmingham.

Not sure Randy, but the reproductive season starts in Grady county in mid-April. I'm about 30 miles north of Tallahassee. I kind of remember your season starting 3-4 weeks after it starts here. I wouldn't be surprised if it starts close to the date where gardeners consider that the risk of a frost has passed.

Hey guys... I just registered and wanted to thank you for all the great posts. Had someone tell me about these little creatures. I looked them up and instantly got hooked! Built a home made system and hope to "Attract" some locals if there are any. I Don't have a lot of money to invest but I would love to start up a colony to fish with, help our environment with less scraps (i recycle so this gets me one step further) and just a weird hobby in general! Ill probably read this thread over and over so keep it up! Wish me luck and I will keep you posted!

BSF -- For a thread that the originator was concerned wouldn't get any attention, this subject is probably the largest and/or longest running thread on the Pond Boss site.

We're glad you found us, even if it was through a somewhat less than appetizing subject.

If you are into recycling, you might also try raising redworms. They are tough, easy, and very inexpesive to raise. They eat anything edible, kind of the like the soldier flies. Here is a thread that has a little bit about raising them:

Redworms\

Good luck,
Ken

Hi BSFan. SW Florida is rich with BSF so you should have no trouble attracting them.

I'm working on a few ideas to make attracting BSF easier. I think it's best to use some type of waste for bait that has a fairly strong sour odor. I have good luck with dry cracked corn fermented in water. There's a wide variety of foods you can use but I wouldn't recommend meats. Keep the food/waste damp and sooner or later the BSF will find it. Keep in mind that you probably won't see the larvae until a week or two after the eggs are laid so don't give up too early. It's best if you can observe the bait regularly on hot sunny afternoons when most of the egg laying takes place. If you see adult BSF flying around the bait you're bound to have larvae soon.

Hi catmandoo. Worms are great, most people who start working with BSF have some experience with them.

Hi Jerry, still haven't seen any yet. I looked back at previous posts and saw that
it was June last year before they showed up. Just getting impatient and ready to start this year's crop. I'm going to make up another batch of corn....

Hi Randy,

I've been thinking about working on a simple device to help in attracting BSF. I'm going to throw something together this morning and I'll post the results later.

Thanks guys for the welcome! Question: If my starter bucket gets House fly Maggots first will that deter the BSF from showing up and if not will they eventually scare off the House Fly Larvae and/or just eat them?

Fruit flies and house flies almost always show up first and will be present until the BSF population becomes relatively dense. The other species will not deter the BSF. With a dense colony of BSFL you will see very little reproduction of other fly species. I don't believe BSFL will eat other fly larvae unless they're dead.

I'm working on a post about attracting BSF and a contraption to make it easier. I'll post back when I finish it.

BSFan, GW is correct (of course). The house flies come first, but once the BSF
are established, I never see any thing else around. You're really going to enjoy
this project.

Great that's good to know because I already have some fruit flies and population of house fly's hanging around the side of my house. If all goes well I have some Idea's to make larger bins for a larger population. This is pretty exciting and only have about $45 invested so far so that's not to bad!

GW, are you selling the new biopods yet, and what about the starter kits. i need all the help i can get, if your selling the larvae i need as many as i can get to start my colony. i appreciate the help.

BSFan, I should be posting an article about attracting BSF later today that might help you.

Monty M, I just began selling the newest version of the BioPod Plus a few days ago. I started testing it about a month ago. I was skeptical but the results have been good so far so I decided to offer them. I haven't made it easy to find yet but there is a link to the product page on the side column of my blog. I'm still a big proponent of DIY units but it can be difficult to accomplish certain objectives that are easily handled with injection molding. Starter kits are another story. I'm not making them this year and I'm not sure who to direct you to. Actually since you're in an area with plenty of BSF I suggest you just attract them yourself. I'll have that article posted soon that may motive you to collect your own BSF.

if you dont mind me asking why were you skeptical, you were speaking so highly of biopod previously? is it a manufacturing issue or something else?

There was a complete redesign a while back. I think this current version is at least as efficient as the original BioPod and probably it's even a bit better. The drainage system is big improvement and so is the integrated harvest container.

Whats the best defense against ants getting in? I have alot of them carrying out my house fly larvae (not that i want them but this is a little much! lol) and im afraid they are just going to take over!? Can I put some ant powder beneath my bin or do i let nature takes its course? Please advise!

The best method is to keep your composter on a stand with legs and treat the legs with something to repel ants.

Ok Great! I think ill get some ant granules and put under the stand. Will they consistently be an issue that I have to deal with or when my colony becomes mature and revolving will they be repelled away?

I've never had much of an issue with ants. When my BioPod was next to my pond there were always some beneath the unit but spraying the legs once or twice a month worked for me. Some people have had success by coating the legs with sticky material. I would definitely get them out of the unit because if they're taking other larvae they'll take the BSFL.

k

I finished my article about attracting BSF. I also made a small device out of a coffee can to work for collecting eggs but I'm still testing it.

The article can be found here: Attracting black soldier flies-the basics

I also made this cool graphic to go with the article :

I love it! I have a nice colony going and have seen a few BSF on the outside of my homemade bins. I opened my hatching dept. and had a cpl hanging out on the inside. Its cool that if you are real gentle / slow moving they dont scare off so easy. Thanks for all your help!

I'm glad to hear it BSFan, have fun.

Hi yall! It's been quite a while since I posted here, and it's also been a while since I've worked with BSF. I hope everyone is well. I live in central Florida now and I'm looking forward to starting a new batch of BSF soon. I've been updating my blog and I've got a few ideas in the works.

One way you all might help out is to consider submitting photos and dates for sightings of BSF larvae and adults. With the help of a friend we made a pretty neat interactive Google map for plotting BSF range. By clicking the maggot "push pins" you can see the data for that sighting.



Follow this link to the interactive map: BSF mapping project

You'll find instructions for submitting data here: Mapping project submissions