It's been almost a week since the majority of the large larvae got cooked. I thought about starting a new scrap bucket and transferring surviving larvae, but that seemed too labor intensive. Instead I decided to leave the dead larvae in the pile, the thought being that the living BSFL would eventually consume the dead ones.
Instead I'm guessing that the survivors did not eat the dead BSFL. I can't be sure of this but there are a few indicators. I watched every day for evidence that the dead larvae were being eaten, but the quantity seemed to remain constant. I also saw various other species of flies around the bucket. After 3 or 4 days the dead larvae started smelling and looked slightly dehydrated.
Yesterday I saw an even larger presence of house flies and noticed a fair number of small maggots that I assume came from these flies. This seems to go against what I had read about BSF repelling other fly species. Apparently there are certain conditions that overcome the ability of the BSF to monopolize the scraps.
Now I have an opportunity to see what happens when house flies invade the bin. According to popular theory the house fly maggots will not be able to escape the bin because the ramps are too steep for them to climb. I'm curious about whether or not the BSFL will eat any dead house fly maggots since it seems that they did not eat their own dead.
I moved the bin away from the house because of the increased odor and the presence of the house flies. I'm guessing that this cycle will come to an end soon, and that the scrap bin will be strictly BSF turf once again.
