When I said boring plastic buckets earlier, I did not mean yours. I have built a couple of failed BSF harvester prototypes. I was starting by cutting two cat litter buckets, the square kind, cutting the appropriate holes for drainage & egg laying, then fusing them together with one bucket being the ramp itself. The final step would be epoxying or somehow melting the seams together & voila, BSF bucket+. I also designed a bucket within bucket system that had a spiral slit cut along the side at a 40 degree angle. Then I heated and folded the plastic to form a ramp. But, after giving myself a pretty nasty cut on my finger I decided to switch strategies.
I decided to do a little experiment with may failed first bucket, so I buried it in the middle of my traditional compost heap. After just a few days I decided to dig around and see what was happening with the old & rotted putrescent waste I buried. I have a ton of larvae. I am not 100% sure, but I do not think these are BSF larvae. I decided to try an experiment with an old terra cotta pot. I filled it 1/2 way just yesterday with old food from the fridge. I set this on the exposed mass of larvae & rotted food. I was rewarded this morning with a terra cotta pot squirming with maggots!
My dilemma is this: How do I get BSF larvae if these are not BSF? I figure I will know soon, because pest maggots do not get nearly as big as BSF larvae & I know what pest fly pupae look like. If I posted a pic of a ton of immature larvae, could you tell if they are BSF? I take it as a good sign that there is not near the pest fly activity I was having just 2 days ago. *fingers crossed*
I also wanted to run an idea by you guys. I was thinking of repurposing an old toilet tank as a BSF bin. It has pre-molded holes in it & I figure a ramp & drain could be incorporated. What do you think?
I am still a little technologically ignorant with message boards. Could someone briefly explain how to attach a pic to to my posting?
P.S. Never knew maggots could make a compost pile so HOT!
