Maggots

[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?

 

[Tonyroo]

You could contain your in bins in a screen frame to keep house flies out. But you'll need to kill the house flies as you see them while your tending to your bins.

 

[Sids Bok Boks]

You could contain your in bins in a screen frame to keep house flies out. But you'll need to kill the house flies as you see them while your tending to your bins.

Thanks, but I need it open so adult BSFlys can enter to lay eggs. I probably need to do more research on BSF farming. Maybe I should have covered up the BSF larva after I put them in the bin and kept a layer of wood chips or something over the compost.

 

[Matrajeous]

I was trying to attract wild black soldier flies instead of starting with purchased larvae. My bin when I started was over run by maggots But no actual soldier flies. Then I noticed that black soldier flies started laying eggs on the bark of the tree NEXT to my set up by not on the cardboard IN so I confiscated the eggs and placed them in the bin. Within 3 days or so of the the maggot invasion of the bin and me transferring the eggs from the tree to inside the bin on top of the cardboard the maggots suddenly disappeared. No trace of the legions I had already witnessed. Several weeks have passed and now I have what appears to be a bin full of soldier fly larvae but no one is climbing up to ramps to self harvest they look like they are trying to pupate within the food pile bin?????? But have not seen a single regular fly maggot since.

 

[austroberta]

:
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?

I usually try to scoop up as many as I can with a cup and then pour boiling water over them. If you stick something like a big piece of cheese in there, they'll all swarm around that and then it becomes much easier to scoop them up.