Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Black Soldier Fly project

Took me a week to read through 25 pages of this thread.

I am excited to start a BSF colony this Spring with my own DIY design. I noticed BSF in my traditional compost last Summer. Some of that compost found it's way into houseplants with inactive BSF pupae. We had maybe a dozen or so BSF emerge this winter in the house. I took in the inactive compost in January and saw the adult BSF by the end of January.

Is anyone still selling (cheap) starter BSF packs? I may get a BioPod if I can afford one by the end of the Summer. My first BSF cultivation attempts in the past 3 weeks were failures & all were filled with pest fly maggots. I was also way overloading my buckets with scraps creating anaerobic conditions. I am starting over small this time & working on my DIY bucket (2G.)

I like BSF so much that I gave an Informative speech in my college Public Speaking class about the benefits of BSF composting.

If you need a drill blank, let me know, I can mail you one. They may be hard to find at a hardware store. I got bunches, plus, I can use up some of these stamps from 1988

Hi GE, I hope you enjoyed the thread. Keep in mind that some of the advice I gave in the beginning might not be what I recommend now.

About starter kits; you don't need one. A starter kit might speed up the process of attracting the local BSF a little, but it's purely optional in an area with wild BSF. You've got plenty of BSF where you live and they will show up again when the weather is warm enough. The most likely reason you aren't having any luck now is that it's still too cool to support BSF reproduction. The pupating BSF are probably waiting until it's warmer to emerge. House flies and fruit flies get started earlier. I live near Tallahassee FL and I saw my first adult BSF of the season here on April 12th. I only began seeing a good number of adults emerging a few days ago.

For those who want a kit anyway; I'll be offering BSF starter kits at my website in a few weeks, once the mating season is in full swing. The only cheap starter kit that I ever knew of was the one I made available at cost to my BioPod customers when I was a dealer. I did that to offset some of the expense of the BioPod and to set myself apart from other dealers. Since I'm not promoting a commercially manufactured BSF unit now I won't be offering that deal anymore.

The multi-stage kit I'll be promoting soon will cost $39 which includes USPS Priority shipping. It's time consuming to put together and it contains roughly 4000 BSF; 2000 eggs and 2000 larvae, give or take. I've raised a few kits to maturity to get a decent estimate of the count. I can't guarantee the number of BSF in each kit but I try to include extra just to be safe. As far as I know you won't find that quantity of BSF for less money, and the combination of eggs and various ages of larvae is a much more effective way to jump start a colony than using only larvae of similar age. It's also pretty neat to watch the tiny larvae develop in the hatchery that they're packaged in. Without a hatchery it's extremely hard to see the very young larvae in a pile of food scraps.

There will also be a larvae-only kit for $29. That kit will contain about 8 oz. of juvenile and mature larvae. The count will vary depending on the average size of the larvae, but it will normally be 2000+ individuals. This is another competitive price, but I think the best value is the multi-stage kit.


I'm having great success using whole kernel corn to attract BSF, as I mentioned in another post. Keeping it mostly submerged allows it to ferment which creates a stinky smell* that BSF females are attracted to. I started some a few weeks ago and now it has a fairly strong smell which is good in this case. The best part is that I don't see mold and fungus that you get with most food waste. It doesn't seem to attract as many pest fly species either. I've used cornmeal from the beginning but the suggestion of using whole kernels came from someone who uses it to attract feral hogs. He told me that it also attracted BSF. The whole kernels are easier to work with. I wish I could recall who gave me that tip...

*It's not true that bad smells are part of a balanced BSF unit. I'll keep repeating this as long as that myth continues. BSF are attracted to the smell of rotting food, but once established they will eat waste so quickly it won't have time to develop bad smells. This depends on a unit that drains properly.

blacksoldierflyblog.com/2010/03/21/black-soldier-fly-composting-smells-good/

2 gallons seems a bit small for a BSF unit. I have no doubt it can work, but I think you will need to limit the amount of waste you process to a few ounces per day. I consider my 5 gallon unit as the practical minimum even though I prefer the proportions of the shorter 3.5 gallon buckets. In general wide is better than tall.

Cool!

JKB,thanks for the generous offer, I'll take you up on it! I'll send you a PM with my address.

By 2G I meant 2nd generation. It is approximately a 5 gallon plastic litter container that is squared off on the sides. I will post some pics in a couple weeks if my design proves effective.

I did notice that your thread evolved in the knowledge it gives. "Learning is a process." I will keep trying to attract BSF with my bait boxes near my old compost pile. If i cannot get a colony started by mid-May, I will consider a multi-stage starter kit.

Thank-you so much for the information.

Is there a good design online for a self-harvesting bin made from concrete? I would think this would be the most cost effective for a permanent design. I am going to attempt to make a ceramic mold for a semi-underground unit this Summer. I may use a terra-cotta planter as the underground part of the unit. I figure a two or three piece design (base, ramps, cover) may work. Also, if my ceramic unit is somewhat decorative, these may be marketable up here. Another idea I have involves hanging an 18" diameter PVC pipe and building the model from that base. I want to get a little more creative than my boring plastic buckets.

If anyone out there has some unique and creative DIY design, I would love to see them.

Should I feel strange for scoping out coffee shops & grocery stores for BSF food sources?

Of course plastic buckets have their place; they're light and durable, cheap if you buy one and often they're free, and they're easy to work with. However I agree that there are almost infinite possibilities for various shapes, styles and materials for BSF units. As an example just look at how many products exist for traditional composting. Regular composting, like BSF composting, doesn't require a specific device but if you can afford one or make one the process can be more efficient and convenient.

I'm convinced that in the future there will also be several choices of BSF units on the market. Some will be utilitarian and maybe some will be nice to look at. It's all good and I'm looking forward to it.

Dr. Olivier published a design for a cheap and simple BSF unit made with concrete. You can see that at the bottom of this page. It's an elegant concept in my opinion.


Well, I do that and I always feel strange...

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!

Hi Grub, GW is the man and I'm sure he will be along later today. Since you are in
Northern CA, what you have might not be BSF, but will still make good fish food.
The toilet tank idea sounds interesting - the only concern might be heat build-up.
There are photo posting instruction on the main forum menu. Please try to post some
pictures. Keep the ideas coming. This stuff is real interesting to many of us.

My idea for taking care of the heat was to bury the tank in the ground 3/4 way. The 'effluent' could flow into a gravel bed under the tank. I am going to pick up the tank after class tomorrow, so I should be able to buy supplies to rig my system by this weekend

I will figure out how to post a pic. I just need to ask one of my kids (ages 10 & 13.)

Any BSF enthusiasts up here in NorCal following this thread?

Hey GW, I thought about BSF the other day. I pulled some FA out of my pond, and
thought it may be edible to BSF larva . Ever try it? (sorry if it's already been
brought up!)

Hi all, it's nice for you old timers to visit the BSF thread.

It's been a long day and I'll check back tomorrow.

Grub Enthusiast - "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..."

I knew you weren't directly criticizing my bucket design, but seeing the words "boring" and "plastic bucket" in the same sentence gave me a rash. It's better now. I also started with a square cat litter bucket which you can see in earlier posts here.

It might be possible for me to ID a medium size BSF larva if I had a good photo. The weather in northern California does seem too cool at this time to support BSF reproduction, but I can't be sure about that. Just looking at weather stats I would guess that Seattle never has proper BSF weather yet there they are. The best way to check your larvae is to keep one in a jar until it pupates. I think most of the common pest species mature quickly so you might get an adult in a few weeks. There are other fly larvae that are similar in size to BSF. Once I found large larvae that could easily be mistaken for BSF and I collected one. When the adult emerged I had a False Stable Fly. Blowfly maggots also get as large as BSF. If you can upload a photo of your larvae I'll try to ID it. A close up of a few larvae would be best.

You can literally use any container as the basis for a BSF unit. To get the most functionality you need to incorporate; a way to let the mature larvae out, drainage, ventilation, and a way to stop the larvae from exiting in an uncontrolled fashion. Good drainage and ventilation are the only ones I consider mandatory. One consideration if you bury something in the ground is ants and other critters. So far I haven't had a big problem with ants but under some circumstances they will attack BSF.

Hey there bobad! I tried adding FA to my colony and it looked like all they did was crawl through it. BSF can't eat through the skin of a fresh tomato but if it rots or you cut it open they can. BSF might be able to eat FA after it rots or if you chop it but at that point it might not be worth the trouble.

JKB, I finally stopped at the post office to check my PO box and I got your drill blank. It sure is kind of you to give me this tool and to take your time to ship it. Also, I think you forgot to use your old stamps since I didn't see any on the Priority Mail box you used.

Thanks!

Jerry, have you seen any adult BSF yet?
I haven't, but have a lot of stinking fruit waiting for them.

Hi Randy,

I've seeing a lot of them lately. I think that the past few years of protecting the larvae through emergence as adults is paying off. I mentioned using fermented corn as an attractant and that's working out very well. If I were you I would get a batch started. You can speed up the fermentation by leaving it in the sun as much as possible. It might also be faster to use cornmeal. Here's a post I wrote about it: blacksoldierflyblog.com/2010/04/28/attracting-black-soldier-flies-with-corn/

I also want to try using fermented cabbage and also milk. I think I'm done with using assorted table scraps to attract BSF.

You are very welcome!

In the long run, it ended up easier.

Glad you got it!

Thanks Jerry, I'll try some corn.

Randy, did your BSF show up yet?

Jerry, I haven't seen any, but I appear to have some around. Twice I have "harvested"
about 50 small black grubs. These larvae are 1/2 the size of the ones I had last year.
Do they sound like BSF?

Sometimes I get small mature larvae if they didn't develop under optimal circumstances. Did you find these in the collection bucket of your BioPod? I'm thinking that maybe these mature larvae were laid last fall and overwintered without the benefit of a consistent food source. Anyway, if these are preparing to pupate then the wild BSF are probably doing the same.

I have read most of the 26 pages and it nearly satisfied my interest in these flies. This has been my number one source of information I could find on BSF's and want to thank GW and others on this thread for a job well done. Can't think of the last time I have found a thread to be so helpful.

Even though the season is underway, I am confident I can find some BSF in my area and start up a culture. I still need to build a container, but for now I am testing the water by locating some BSFL by setting out some fruit in a shoe box.

I hope it works out so I can add this nutritious source of food to my two wild caught American Toad's diet.

Repter

Welcome, Repter. This really is interesting, thanks to GW. Check out his blog on BSFs.
In my BioPod unit, I'm finally starting to see activity. If you need anything I might be able to send you a few larve.

Thats great to hear and thx for the offer, but I will see if I can manage to find a wild population first. I will let you know if my impatience gets the better of me. So far just plenty of fruit flies.