Black Soldier Fly Larvae

[GaryD]

Hi,

Now that the warm weather is upon us, it's soldier fly time!

A rapid reduction in the volume of material in my compost bin, coupled with the characteristic blackening of the contents, means that there are larvae in the bin.

While I still have a few kilos of frozen larvae in my shed freezer, it's nearly time to begin the annual BSF larvae long march.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

It's BSF time again at Creek Street Micro Farm.

Photo 1 - My very complext BSF harvesting rig. The compost is shovelled into the big tub. The two ramps are sections of lid off an NFT Trough. The larvae walk up the ramp and jump off into the trays at either end of the tub.

Photo 2 - Last night's meagre harvest - self-cleaned, dry to the touch and evidencing no odour whatsoever.

Photo 3 - fast food for fish in the freezer.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

The unseasonal cool weather of the past few days has meant that my BSF harvest has been light......just a small handful each day.

I've begun to load up the compost bin again. This time, we've lined the base of the compost bin with soiled shredded office waste from out of the quail pens. I'm hoping that the BSF take to the paper waste.

GaryD

[GaryD]

Hi,

I've transferred another small heap of compost into my BSF harvester. This lot's teeming with small larvae so I'm expecting some good harvests in the next 7 - 10 days.

Gary

[gavinl]

Hi Gary

Just wondering if you could write about your compost setup in more detail, if you have the time. I have your book and have read your info on soldier fly larvae collection, but am wondering what compost bin set-up you use. Is it an ordinary bin? What modifications have you done to let the soldier flies in? Do you still have worms in your compost bin? Could you explain your procedure from kitchen scraps to soldier fly larvae and worm castings?

Thanks
gav

[echidna]

Well Gary, the BSF have just invaded my worm bin. Last year, at this time, they invaded the compost mound, and reduced it dramatically. Quick question, will they eat onion and citrus scraps? I have a "slow" compost mound for non-worm friendly foods and would like to convert it to BSF in warm weather if possible. (Onions, leeks, garlic etc are a basic here.) They seem happy with wet shredded paper, so what don't they like?

[GaryD]

Hi Echidna,

They'll eat anything that will rot.....including citrus and onions. I often find a half a lemon or a spoiled orange that is jammed with them.

Hi Gavin,

Just wondering if you could write about your compost setup in more detail, if you have the time. I have your book and have read your info on soldier fly larvae collection, but am wondering what compost bin set-up you use. Is it an ordinary bin? What modifications have you done to let the soldier flies in? Do you still have worms in your compost bin? Could you explain your procedure from kitchen scraps to soldier fly larvae and worm castings?

From the start.....we throw all of the kitchen scraps into the compost bin. If the BSF don't seem all that interested, we throw some milk into the bin to get the right aroma happening

Photo 1 - the black thing in the bottom left hand of the photo is the compost bin - it has holes big enough for the adult BSF to get in.
Photo 2 - once we detect BSF larvae in the compost bin, I shovel them into a 50 litre tub.
Photo 3 - the 50 litre tub with the harvesting ramps in place. When the larvae are ready, they walk up the ramp and drop into the tray.
Photo 4 - another variation on the ramp theme.

Every morning, we simply shake them into a plastic takeaway food container and then place them in the shed freezer where they go to sleep to be reincarnated as fast food for fish.

Feel free to ask any other questions.

Gary

[gavinl]

Thanks heaps Gary - that sorted it out. I will start my system when I get home. Just one last question (or two)....do you have a worm farm anymore? ie Would you think about throwing the material the soldier fly larvae don't eat into a worm farm or would you just through it on to your plants/garden?

gav

[GaryD]

Hi Gavin,

I do have a bulk run worm bin. It's full of the paper litter from the quail pens......and a small bunch of worms are slowly working their way through the lot.

The castings produced by BSF larvae are said to retain up to 50% of their original protein levels so they are perfect for worm bedding. Of course, you can just use it directly on the garden, too.

The bulk run worm bed (photo) has an aluminium lid which keeps the worms inside and the birds outside.

Gary

[justafarmer]

This is very interesting.

I live on the South coast of Victoria. Does this BSF live in this climate?