Anyone using black soldier flies?

[Ariel301]

Does anyone on here culture black soldier flies for their birds? Are you using the "BioPod" or a homemade device? I'm interested, but that pod is REALLY expensive and I think I could make something myself if I could figure out exactly how it should work. How do you get the thing started--where do the flies come from? Do you have to buy flies to start it, or do they just show up? If they show up, how do you get the right kind of flies and not just house flies or other pesky ones I don't really want thousands of hanging around my yard? Does this thing only work part of the year--when it is warm enough? We don't really have flies of any kind that I notice during the winter.

 

[geedub]

Hi all,

I encourage you to try my DIY bucket design, but please keep in mind that a unit that size can only handle ounces of waste per day, not pounds. The BSF bucket is more a learning tool than a larvae production unit. I think it's best to learn about the behavior and life cycle of BSF on a small scale before trying anything larger. Here's a few photos to help you with ID:

I found this adult on a cool day so I was able to handle it:

No bite, no sting, not vectors of human disease:

4 days to hatch + 8 days of growth; it's hard to see BSF in waste until a few weeks after eggs are laid:

19 days after hatching:

This large larva is ready to transform to the final larval stage where they're dark colored and stop eating:

In this stage the larvae try to leave the food source in search of a safe dry place to pupate. Self-harvest systems target this stage:

There are several flies that have large larva, look for the "hairs" and ridges:

 

[triplepurpose]

We actually have the "protapod" http://thebiopod.com/pages/pages/protapod.html for our two dozen plus dual-purpose chickens. Several other farmers around here are experimenting with them as well. I've been told one of them is consistently getting about an inch of larvae in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket, and idealy you can expect up to 3-5 inches in that time. So, a lot. Although I'm not sure how this translates for the smaller units.

So far it's been touch and go for us and most of the others. Part if this seems to be due to our climate (Hawaii: so, warm, humid, year round production). Most of the issues relate to drainage problems in the bottom of the pod exacerbated by the humidity--it's very easy to have an anaerobic layer develop in the bottom, which stinks like hell, and tends to repel some of the mating adults, reducing yields. But there are a lot of things you can do to fix this...

The pods aren't complex, so for folks with a small flock who enjoy tinkering could certainly come up with some sort of small-scale immitation that would provide a least a little high-quality feed. It seems a lot of folks are already doing that. The key thing, I understand, is having a good drainage and having the ramp angle just right--hand digging for grubs is definitely labor-intensive, so having it be self-harvesting is a huge bonus--in fact it's one of the big reasons why BSF is so exciting as a sustainable feed source.

The BSF are found just about everywhere in the world, but depending on your particular area they can often be elusive. Look for them in compost piles, manure piles or similar areas. Someone I know even found some in their composting toilet.

Or see if somebody in your area has some. Supposedly you can also get the larvae mail-order too, I've heard, but you shouldn't really have to. You can also bait your unit or a bucket or whatever with fruit or, some say, soaked/fermented grain, and the adults may surprise you by appearing seemingly out of the woodwork. Once you have some larva, you can work to build up the population in the vicinity of your pod by releasing a few (or all) of your larvae into loose dirt areas nearby. Or if birds or other predators are a concern (around here, everybody tends to have wild chickens--jungle fowl and feral--rampaging around their property) you can make a little grow-out area sort of like a raised bed filled with dirt, and cover it with chicken wire. The basic idea is that the larvae need to leave the feeding pile and bury themselves in the soil to pupate--that's why they climb the ramp of a Pod to try to get out.

I'm new to this too. I know a lot of this may not be directly applicable to some of you, since Hawaii's climate is so different from, say those of you in Arizona

, but I wanted to share some info all the same in case somebody finds it helpful. There is a lot of info on the internet, but you really have to search around...

BSF hold great promise as a sustainable poultry feed, I think. Chickens are intended (by Nature, God, evolution, take your pick) to derive their protein from bugs, not from the soy meal or slaughterhouse by-products found in commercial feed, and both the chicks and those of us eating their eggs and meat would be better off for it. Also, BSF can be produced locally anywhere in the world, using organic waste products, and the whole thing can be integrating into composting systems, producing zero waste, only useful by-products! Ok, enough of my proselytizing...

Good luck everyone!

 

[CluckyJay]

Yummy.

 

[RichnSteph]

Good information to know there Gator. We've been feeding ours everything. Chicken and duck scraps from processing. Fish parts and dead fish out of the AP pond and any and all veggie scraps from the house. We feed the larvae to our chickens and fish in the pond and so far no issues. I'm heading to a local seller tomorrow to pick up 600lbs of used brewers grain to start feeding them and hope to have them still active enough come November to feed them the leftovers from processing deer. I amazes me how quickly those little grubbies consume anything we put in there.

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

I really want that biopod, being limited to materials I can't make a good one. I'm also not sure if you'd fine very many adults in your dry air. Even in Florida, there's been a decrease in adults, despite the high temps. All I did was stock a 5 gallon bucket with 3 pounds of wet, mushy, chicken layer and some cracked corn I soaked in water for 3 weeks. I had a bucket writhing with the larvae 3 weeks after. Though during the first week the bucket had lots of house fly maggots. http://blacksoldierflyblog.com/bsf-bucket-composter-version-2-1/ <----- That design is very good, and should cost around 25-30 dollars if you have no supplies.

 

[Ariel301]

I saw that design, and am thinking I could redneck something up that works pretty good for almost nothing. I just need to know if the flies do or could live here...

Also, if anyone is using one of these, how much larvae does it REALLY produce? I tend not to trust what the ads on the manufacturer's websites say about things like this, it sounds too good to be true.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

BSF are very common here in Tucson, AZ, despite our dry air. If you have a compost pile or bin, look in there and you'll see the larvae. The adults look more like bees or wasps than your standard housefly. Go to google images and search for Black Soldier Fly for pics of the adults and larvae. I never saw one until I started composting and even then, there aren't swarms of them by the bins. In fact, I rarely see them. There are, however, thousands and thousands of larvae in the compost bins. They've also infiltrated my vermicomposting bin. I find them in the compost throughout the winter, but I'm sure their relative numbers are lower then. I'm going to figure out how to cultivate them for easier harvest. PDB: I know what you mean about the cost of the biopod and thanks for the link to the bucket composter, I've bookmarked it.

 

[Ariel301]

Hmm....I think I may have to try this!

 

[Rozzie]

My coturnix quail love them. However, I'm not growing them intentionally. They showed up in my compost pile all on their own. Occasionally I'll go grab them a few. They go NUTS over them.