Hi GE, I hope you enjoyed the thread. Keep in mind that some of the advice I gave in the beginning might not be what I recommend now.
About starter kits; you don't need one. A starter kit might speed up the process of attracting the local BSF a little, but it's purely optional in an area with wild BSF. You've got plenty of BSF where you live and they will show up again when the weather is warm enough. The most likely reason you aren't having any luck now is that it's still too cool to support BSF reproduction. The pupating BSF are probably waiting until it's warmer to emerge. House flies and fruit flies get started earlier. I live near Tallahassee FL and I saw my first adult BSF of the season here on April 12th. I only began seeing a good number of adults emerging a few days ago.
For those who want a kit anyway; I'll be offering BSF starter kits at my website in a few weeks, once the mating season is in full swing. The only cheap starter kit that I ever knew of was the one I made available at cost to my BioPod customers when I was a dealer. I did that to offset some of the expense of the BioPod and to set myself apart from other dealers. Since I'm not promoting a commercially manufactured BSF unit now I won't be offering that deal anymore.
The multi-stage kit I'll be promoting soon will cost $39 which includes USPS Priority shipping. It's time consuming to put together and it contains roughly 4000 BSF; 2000 eggs and 2000 larvae, give or take. I've raised a few kits to maturity to get a decent estimate of the count. I can't guarantee the number of BSF in each kit but I try to include extra just to be safe. As far as I know you won't find that quantity of BSF for less money, and the combination of eggs and various ages of larvae is a much more effective way to jump start a colony than using only larvae of similar age. It's also pretty neat to watch the tiny larvae develop in the hatchery that they're packaged in. Without a hatchery it's extremely hard to see the very young larvae in a pile of food scraps.
There will also be a larvae-only kit for $29. That kit will contain about 8 oz. of juvenile and mature larvae. The count will vary depending on the average size of the larvae, but it will normally be 2000+ individuals. This is another competitive price, but I think the best value is the multi-stage kit.
Originally Posted By: Grub Enthusiast
I was also way overloading my buckets with scraps creating anaerobic conditions. I am starting over small this time & working on my DIY bucket (2G.)
I'm having great success using whole kernel corn to attract BSF, as I mentioned in another post. Keeping it mostly submerged allows it to ferment which creates a stinky smell* that BSF females are attracted to. I started some a few weeks ago and now it has a fairly strong smell which is good in this case. The best part is that I don't see mold and fungus that you get with most food waste. It doesn't seem to attract as many pest fly species either. I've used cornmeal from the beginning but the suggestion of using whole kernels came from someone who uses it to attract feral hogs. He told me that it also attracted BSF. The whole kernels are easier to work with. I wish I could recall who gave me that tip...
*It's not true that bad smells are part of a balanced BSF unit. I'll keep repeating this as long as that myth continues. BSF are attracted to the smell of rotting food, but once established they will eat waste so quickly it won't have time to develop bad smells. This depends on a unit that drains properly.
2 gallons seems a bit small for a BSF unit. I have no doubt it can work, but I think you will need to limit the amount of waste you process to a few ounces per day. I consider my 5 gallon unit as the practical minimum even though I prefer the proportions of the shorter 3.5 gallon buckets. In general wide is better than tall.
Originally Posted By: Grub Enthusiast
I like BSF so much that I gave an Informative speech in my college Public Speaking class about the benefits of BSF composting.
