My colony of BSF larvae is now blooming and there hasn't been any reduction in the numbers of female adults coming to the bucket to lay. This makes me wonder what happens as the number of larvae increases but the food supply stays the same.
The odor has increased around the scrap bucket. This is probably because the number of larvae haven't been sufficient to process the amount of scraps. The odor isn't strong enough to be a problem in general, but it makes working with the bucket less pleasant. At this point I'm going to stop adding scraps until the older food is eaten.
I've also been dealing with a lot of liquid in the bucket and it's a problem for the larvae since they can drown in it. I've added a few small holes in the bottom of the bucket which works for the larvae but creates something nasty to collect and dispose of. The amount of liquid increased significantly after I added a large amount of melon.
I used some larvae as bait yesterday for the first time. I used single larvae on a long shank #6 hook and a bobber. The larvae were very active but as soon as I threaded one on a hook it would almost immediately stop moving. They seem to die quickly most of the time so I need to experiment with different methods for hooking them. They did catch fish pretty well, but naturally the little BG were the first to hit them. I caught a 4" gill just about every cast. Suggestions from better fisherman would be appreciated. Would the larvae add to the effectiveness of artificial baits?
