Anyone using black soldier flies?

[mrdevensmom]

I would grow any type of bugs that like flour and wheat since we have lots of it. The wheat isn’t moldy but moths have been it due to improper storage. Is there a place that I could order some BSF from to get them started? I’m in AZ near Prescott and the weather goes from nice to very cold here in the winter. I’m looking at roaches too. I have an egger 8 year old that would be willing to help me handle them while I get over my ick factor lol. I believe most of the feed in the state is shipped in since there aren’t any mills here. I’m would do anything to cut down on the feed bill its about 30$ a day I have lots of chickens.

Thanks again

Leala

 

[tmoore8595]

Quote:
This is not normal. I only see this many on very humid days. Normally there may be only 3 or 4 on the ramp. On very dry days there may not be any. On this particular day it had been raining and I got almost a gallon.

I'm sad to hear that they like humid days. Here in New Mexico we don't have many of those. Is there anyone who lives in the dry SW that harvest BSF, or that knows if they are viable in the dry climate I have?

It's not that they can't survive in areas with low humidity, I think it's just easier for them to crawl out on rainy,damp days.

 

[D3invertebrates]

They should just show up, you may never see them but they are there. If you have to buy some online or maybe petsmart or something try looking for soldier worms or something like that I know thats one name there sold as, come to think of it Ive never seen em sold as bsf lol but they are like $20-30 a pound so there not cheap. If you have horses I know I find little batches of bsf under the poo thats in the field so if you know what to look for its not hard to find em. I think its just easier to just let them come on there own, if you build it they will come

you could try adding a bit of yeast if you have some handy thats sure to draw in the flies.

 

[CluckyJay]

The humidity in their containers will be plenty high enough to raise them.

If you have access to an old deep freezer, that works really well. You'd still have to fix a ramp though.

Just mix any flour or other dry foods you want to feed with water or old milk and they soldiers will eat it up. Kind of like pig slop, lol.

 

[tmoore8595]

I found a BSF in my greenhouse today.

 

[CalebBonds]

My homemade BSF larvae drum works great. I wanted to try the black soldier fly harvesting so took a 55 gallon drum, cut off half the top, and drilled some small drain holes in the bottom on the other side, tilted it slightly so that water would drain to the holes. I built a wooden ramp out of 1X8 scrap lumber. I ordered the $20 bag of larvae from ebay and put them in there with some horse manure and old feed. It took about a month for the house flies to disappear. Now I get around 20 to 30 larvae per day. One day I got over 150, that was after i had a chicken die and threw it in there. They had it gone in less than a 24 hours. If anyone is interested I could try to post some pics of my setup, $10 drum and some scrap wood. I also screwed some cardboard to a stick and then screwed that on the inside top of the drum, this gives a place for the adults to lay more eggs.

 

[tmoore8595]

My homemade BSF larvae drum works great. I wanted to try the black soldier fly harvesting so took a 55 gallon drum, cut off half the top, and drilled some small drain holes in the bottom on the other side, tilted it slightly so that water would drain to the holes. I built a wooden ramp out of 1X8 scrap lumber. I ordered the $20 bag of larvae from ebay and put them in there with some horse manure and old feed. It took about a month for the house flies to disappear. Now I get around 20 to 30 larvae per day. One day I got over 150, that was after i had a chicken die and threw it in there. They had it gone in less than a 24 hours. If anyone is interested I could try to post some pics of my setup, $10 drum and some scrap wood. I also screwed some cardboard to a stick and then screwed that on the inside top of the drum, this gives a place for the adults to lay more eggs.

Welcome to BYC, and please send pictures.

 

[brittneyshaleen]

Hello,

Wondering why there needs to be so much drainage with BSF? I have worms currently and it really only has as much moisture as I allow... does the way the BSF break things down create more moisture somehow? I certainly can't afford the $180 biopod, so I am researching the best DIY bin for my area. I am in central Arizona.

 

[cluckin_crazy]

Oops! I was logged under the wrong profile. It's me - brittneyshaleen - just a different login

 

[carnivore]

My homemade BSF larvae drum works great. I wanted to try the black soldier fly harvesting so took a 55 gallon drum, cut off half the top, and drilled some small drain holes in the bottom on the other side, tilted it slightly so that water would drain to the holes. I built a  wooden ramp out of 1X8 scrap lumber. I ordered the $20 bag of larvae from ebay and put them in there with some horse manure and old feed. It took about a month for the house flies to disappear. Now I get around 20 to 30 larvae per day. One day I got over 150, that was after i had a chicken die and threw it in there. They had it gone in less than a 24 hours. If anyone is interested I could try to post some pics of my setup, $10 drum and some scrap wood. I also screwed some cardboard to a stick and then screwed that on the inside top of the drum, this gives a place for the adults to lay more eggs.

Can you post some pics?