Thousands of Grubs in Compost ( picture and video )

[geedub]

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1)The BioPod website states that BSF larvae are efficient at processing pet waste but they don't recommend it due to issues with pathogens. In my opinion they're taking that position because if they recommend adding feces to a BioPod they take the risk that people will be reckless and irresponsible. Since the vast majority of their customers are interested primarily in composting food scraps there's not a good reason for them to venture into poop. As a BioPod dealer I will join them in not recommending anyone use a BioPod to process feces.

2) (Assuming you still might want to culture BSF)

You can buy BSF larvae sold as "Phoenix worms" online, but it costs about $6 per 100. Since a small BSF unit can hold 10's of thousands of larvae 100 individuals isn't many, but it can work. I would buy one batch and see them through their life cycle to the point just before they emerge as adults. Around that time I would buy another 100 small larvae and begin feeding them. The subtle scent that actively feeding BSFL give off is a powerful attractant to the adults that will be emerging from your first batch. Ideally the new adults will mate and then find your BSF unit and lay eggs in it.

BSF can be found almost everywhere in the US and are especially prominent in the southeast. The other people on this forum that have BSF in their compost bins probably didn't seed them. In most cases all you need to do it to maintain some food scraps and eventually BSF will find them.

An alternative would be to find the BSF larvae already established locally. If you ask people who compost you might get lucky. Also feed stores often find them in open or wet bags of feed, but they might hesitate to admit it.

3) See #2, and by #2 I mean your second question.

4) I'm a skeptic and I started looking for a catch to culturing BSFL as soon as I discovered them. I've read extensively about BSF and cultured them for over a year. While BSFL aren't perfect in every way I have yet to find a serious drawback to composting with them. I have a page at my blog called "Take the black soldier fly challenge" and I invite anyone who can describe a substantial downside to do so.

 

[shmooborp]

i want them. i want them. i want them. i want them. LOL PLEASE... i have never seen them, and if i get them i dont want my neighbors to complain about all the BSF . are they a nuesence at all? i reallllllllyy want some , my chickens would LOVE it! how long does it take to make a fully functioning BSF compost bin, ? where can i get them? is there a link to a site or anything?

 

[countryboy]

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[countryboy]

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I personally wouldn't use dog poop - its much different when dogs are fed commercial diets.

Its much like HUMAN POOP

 

[geedub]

shmooborp, I can't imagine that you or your neighbors would find the BSF a nuisance. In fact if you don't tell them I don't think they would even know. I've released at least 100,000 mature BSF larvae on my property over the past year and you rarely even see an adult.

There are a few reasons that BSF don't become a nuisance when you culture them:

1. They only live as adults (flying stage) for a few days and then they die. This is different than with houseflies which live for 30 days or more. After emerging from pupation BSF mate and the females begin looking for a food source to lay her eggs near. The males are hardly ever seen.

2. BSF don't seek out humans and rarely enter houses. Another difference between houseflies and BSF is that adult BSF don't eat. Since they live such a short time they don't need to. They live off of stored fat and don't even have functional mouth parts. My BSF unit is 70 feet from our house and in one year I've found zero flies inside the house. If one enters a house by mistake it will literally beat itself to death against a window trying to escape. In fact they are also known as window flies for this behavior.

3. The BSF females will go where the best food source is, and if you're culturing them that place will be your BSF unit. BSF females are strongly attracted to the subtle scent of actively feeding BSF larvae. A properly designed unit concentrates this scent so most BSF will go there to lay and then disappear.

4. A properly balanced BSF unit has a mild and pleasant odor like wet straw. If a bad odor develops it's probably due to overloading the unit and you can bring it back into balance quickly by withholding food for a short time. One day last summer I added a freshly killed fish to my BSF colony. I checked it every hour that day to monitor the progress of the larvae and to check for bad odors. The temperature was in the 90's and with the lid on the unit you could stand next to it and not be aware of the dead fish. With the lid off you could tell there was a fish, but it was barely noticeable. The BSF completely ate the fish in just over 24 hours except for a few bones which took longer but didn't cause an odor problem. By processing waste so quickly it is gone before the bacteria that cause bad odors can multiply. I saw only two houseflies near the unit while the fish was being eaten. If you think about it you're likely to see two houseflies no matter where you are.

If you want more info you can always check out my website, hellooooooooooo.

countryboy, it's a funny fact that most of the people I know who get squeamish about the larvae are men.

Have you seen the video of Nifty Chicken's daughter calmly handling BSF larvae? You might also check out this video for an example of true bravery: Fiona Vs. Phoenix Worms

 

[shmooborp]

so what if i dont have any BSF larva yet? i have a compost pile that we put all our food scraps in, but have never seen the BSFL. so should i go buy some and introduce them to the compost? i have no ide.. LOL

 

[geedub]

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I wouldn't spend money on them to put them into an open container. This post and my next one after it address BSF in compost bins.

 

[shmooborp]

ok.. so i cant get BSFL. since i dont have them in my area. im in oregon. and have never seen them, so i guess that i will have to find something else? btw.. how long do u think it takes to go from one container of larva to a whole compost bin full? a few days? weeks? months?

 

[geedub]

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Ok now you're just teasing me right?

Of course you can get BSFL. They are currently found in Oregon.

If ten female BSF lay eggs in your unit you would probably have between 5000 and 9000 larvae within a few days.

 

[injunjoe]

Bsflarva: I in fact do have them here. I was watching one fly around and around, it would not land. So I caught it in my hand and low and behold it had the white back legs.

Now all I need to do is get them to lay eggs for me.
I put dog food in a box and hung it from a tree to keep the ants out. That did not help they(the ants)
were in the food by the end of the day. I guess I will have to wipe the wire with some poison, I hate to use it but..........

I am looking forward to my maggot farm! Well you don't hear that everyday!