Myasitic speculation aside, I do have a few questions.
Okay, if you promise to give it rest for a while...
Originally Posted By: bobdog
I think I overloaded the worm bin with liquid and wet fruit, even with the added dry items. How dry do they like their environment? It's a bit pasty right now and drawing drosophila, etc. I'm eyeing some old rice pasta and corn meal at the moment, esp as I just cleaned out the fruit bins (but haven't added any yet). If a bin is at optimal moisture and I were to add a pint of liquid, what volume of coffee grounds/breadcrumbs/cereal etc. would maintain the proportion?
BSF like a humid environment, but the colony will have trouble if it's too wet. Being saturated leads to a lack of oxygen and the risk that the pile will become anaerobic. That would promote some bad types of bacteria and the BSF avoid anaerobic (no air) conditions. As long as it's not totally saturated they should be fine.
Originally Posted By: bobdog
I think Ive gone from a backyard garbage disposal to scavenging at coffee shops and grocers :P
Welcome to the gang.
Originally Posted By: bobdog
I'm seeing a few adult Illucens every time I lift the cover now. Unlike someone else's flies, mine do NOT hold still for the camera, they have an odd oscillating flight habit not conducive to autofocus firmware.
You can handle them if they're cold or if they just emerged from their pupa.
Originally Posted By: bobdog
I need to check local bait prices..$6 per HUNDRED? I could've picked out a thousand or so big ones while turning the compost heap this morning-- but i'd have been late for work
I've sold them as bait, but like most things BSF it can be a hard sell. OTOH if you find someone who has fished with them before they're usually very enthusiastic. One thing to consider is how long it would take you to collect and package those thousand grubs you saw this morning. Compare that to how much you usually earn in an hour. When I raised them for bait I collected clutches of eggs which were all laid on the same day and kept them separate from the main colony. That way you end up with a batch of similar sized grubs and you can time the food to run out just as the grubs are big enough to sell.
It would take a bit of effort to be profitable, and I did this mostly for fun. I like hanging around in the hardware store in the little town I live in. Not sure how they feel about me though...
