Maggots in my Black Soldier Fly bin

[Sids Bok Boks]

Hello! I am new and this is my first post. I started a Black Soldier Fly bin about a week ago with 1000 larva. Three or four days later my bin had about 5000 house fly maggots (estimated of course). I think I will have to start over. How can I keep fly maggots out of the bin?

 

[Saveria]

I saw in this video that you just have to give it time and the BSF will take over and the houseflies will be gone. Just make sure you have a place for the BSF to nest, (everyone suggests cardboard) and that everything else is to their liking.

You are in a climate that they live, right? Otherwise you will need to get grubs somehow and have them pupate near the bin.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I understand that temperature is also a significant component, and BSFL prefer a warmer temp than do maggots - but I've never been able to get the system to work, so take my musings with a large grain of salt.

 

[Sids Bok Boks]

I saw in this video that you just have to give it time and the BSF will take over and the houseflies will be gone. Just make sure you have a place for the BSF to nest, (everyone suggests cardboard) and that everything else is to their liking.

You are in a climate that they live, right? Otherwise you will need to get grubs somehow and have them pupate near the bin.

Thank you very much. That answers my question about the maggots. I live in North Carolina as well so hopefully I will have some flies soon.

 

[Saveria]

They sell live grubs online, too. If a few weeks pass and you don't see any flies you can buy some grubs and place them on the ground near your setup where they will burrow and pupate, then hopefully see the awesome place to lay eggs

I also just read that wet cat food is irresistible to them, of all things. I saw some people putting a container of cat food in there to draw them in. I guess the black flies will get on there too, though.

Good luck!

 

[Sids Bok Boks]

They sell live grubs online, too. If a few weeks pass and you don't see any flies you can buy some grubs and place them on the ground near your setup where they will burrow and pupate, then hopefully see the awesome place to lay eggs

I also just read that wet cat food is irresistible to them, of all things. I saw some people putting a container of cat food in there to draw them in. I guess the black flies will get on there too, though.

Good luck!

Thank you. I’m going to have to be patient.

 

[CrystalAnon]

I saw in this video that you just have to give it time and the BSF will take over and the houseflies will be gone. Just make sure you have a place for the BSF to nest, (everyone suggests cardboard) and that everything else is to their liking.

You are in a climate that they live, right? Otherwise you will need to get grubs somehow and have them pupate near the bin.

I have the same issue right now. But not with fly maggots. I don’t know what they are… so tiny, I can’t even see. But they have taken over the top portion of the bin. The BSFL are doing fine, it seems. But I have no idea what they are! They’re smaller than a grain of sand. I tossed out SO many last time I refreshed the bin with bedding, to get some of that sludge that built up to break up. Still there’s SO many of them! Anyone have a clue? I feel like I would need a microscope to see what they actually look like, to get an idea of what they might be trying to grow into.
I’ve seen lots of fruit flies, cockroaches (giant ones!) and some kind of alien vs predator looking thing that I don’t recognize either.
Any ideas?!