In the mean time, I'm growing meal worms. They are very easy, tidy, and care-free creatures to grow. The larva, pupa, beetles, and their food smell just like raisin bran........I think I can raise ~2000 for the cost of a bag of Wal-Mart raisin bran, and store them for months.
I think you're still having a few misconceptions about BSF bobad. They are also easy, tidy, and care-free creatures to grow. The odor from BSF is very subtle and not at all unpleasant, and if the lid is on the bin you can't smell it at all. If you used whatever table scraps you produce and supplemented with the cheapest feed then the cost of raising 2000 BSF would be less than your bag of raisin bran. I've been feeding my larvae very sparsely (3-4 lbs/wk) and somewhat irregularly and I think I have about 10,000. (At full capacity a 2 foot diameter bin will support 100,000.)
You can store final stage BSF larvae in anything with a 1/2 inch lip, uncovered, for several weeks at room temperature. They can survive lower temps so it could probably be extended significantly with refrigeration. Furthermore BSF are so plentiful and cheap that I wouldn't even bother storing them if I didn't need them immediately. I've been letting my mature larvae go free for the last few months and I haven't noticed any more adult flies in the area. The adults just don't spend their 2-3 day life spans around humans. (House flies live up to 30 days.)
A 3 foot diameter or similar sized square bin could produce 1500 pounds of larvae/year. I don't know much about feeding fish, but given the high quality nutrition of BSFL it seems like that could be significant enough to consider. Theoretically it would not take any more effort than filling and maintaining an automatic game feeder.
I just compared nutritional analysis of BSF to mealworms. (I'll have to go up a few posts and edit some statements I made about BSF because I based them on dried larvae.) The mealworms look better for fat and protein, and the calcium and phosphorus is better for BSF, I just don't know how to interpret that data. My guess is that the high calcium content of BSF would be an important factor.
Concerning the yuck factor, I believe it's something that comes from experiences with rotting carcases and pestering house flies. I'm not a lover of most flies either, but after working with BSF for a very short time I was completely comfortable with them. Revulsion quickly changes to appreciation when you witness the life cycle of these fascinating insects. It helps that the final stage larvae are clean and dry (they disinfect themselves) when they drop into the collection bucket.
