Black Soldier Fly Larvae

[GaryD]

Hi,

I've just made one of my periodic visits to www.blacksoldierflyblog.com/ ......and, as usual, it's been worth the trip. Jerry is a die-hard BSF bloke....and very agreeable, too.

If you're planning on keeping BSF....or building your own BSF composter.....you would do well to visit his site.

Like others, I've been less than impressed with the odour that emanates from a dysfunctional BioPod. Jerry explains why this happens and what to do about it.

Gary

[Who Me]

Just a quick question...anyone in South West W.A. got BSF composting going?

Thanks in advance

[Who Me]

well just went and dumped some kitchen scraps in the failed compost bin, it's tipped upside down and the lid wasn't put on properly. it was failed because the scraps were too deep with not a lot of aeration, so it eventually went anaerobic and turned into a big ol slab of think gunk with scraps on top.

yeah so in my disgust I tipped it upside down...after cooling down righted it all but left the lid on, but no properly, flipped the lid open and yeah the usual midgies in there but out creep a bunch of bluey black almost wasp like insects, but no stinger tail. I think we have BSPs here, now just hafta track down a few pics to properly ID them...

IMHO I think we're away with BSPs here so the protien harvesting is looking good, so too the composting and so too the composting toilet down the shed, all in the future, all slowly slowly but step one is already acheived and awaiting me to get moving hahaha

Happy days lol

[MarkIX]

I was wondering do BSF live n melbourne or is it too cold?

[kingjam]

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

Gary,
I'm not able to view the three photos of your BSF composter. I'd love to see how you've done it. Having got my tilapia yesterday I am now trying to find free food to feed them. How do I see your pictures?
Kingjam

[kingjam]

quite a sophisticated harvesting rig!
could it be possible to have a ramp right out of the composting bin and straight up to the fish tank?
would avoid all manipulation

and do BSF and worms live together in peace?
can they be combined?

Frank

Hygicell,
How about just locating your BSF harvester above your fish tank. That way they will just fall into the fish tank. That is what I plan to do
Kingjam

[keith_r]

i don't think you'd want it to empty directly into the tank, it would be too easy to overfeed and cause other problems with your system..
they'll keep fine in the freezer in ziplock bags..

[GaryD]

Hi,

Recent high temperatures (40 degrees C yesterday), have stimulated a heap of activity in my BioPod.

The first photo shows what was happening in there last night.......and the second image reveals that it's all quiet after a night of revelry and pigging out.

A spike of hot weather will often cause BSF larvae to crawl out of the BioPod right into the collection chamber. (Photo 3). We collected about a litre (over 2 pints) of larvae this morning.......and the chickens were delighted.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

A few observations on the BioPod.....

In the past, we've put all manner of things in our BioPod.....including dead chickens and quail, fish guts, plate scrapings, bread, vegetable scraps.......you name it. And it stunk to high heaven.

This season, we've been rather more constrained and we only put vegetable peelings and egg shells in it now. The smell is vastly improved - hardly any odour at all.

The other thing that I've observed is that, although we often have the entire feeding surface writhing with larvae, that is never reflected in the quantity of larvae that end up in the collection chamber. If the main chamber of the BioPod is any indication, we should fill the collection pot several times over.......but it doesn't happen.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

I put half a bucket of duckweed into the BioPod yesterday evening. This morning, there is very little evidence of it.

This is an interesting exercise in rapid bio-conversion.......system nutrients being used to grow duckweed which is then used to grow BSF larvae.

Gary