Black Soldier Fly Larvae

[GaryD]

Hi,

The weather is hot and particularly humid in our part of the world today. It's having an effect on our BSF larvae.

I harvested about a litre of larvae from our bio-pod......and the chickens were delighted.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

An even bigger day in the BioPod.....

Gary

[JohnMc]

Gary,

I am curious. Have you ever experienced a BioPod death due to heat?

[GaryD]

Hi John,

I assume you're talking about the larvae dying due to high temperatures.

The answer to that proposition is.....No. BSF larvae will often migrate out of the pod into the collection chamber when it gets too hot for them......regardless of what stage of development they are.

Having said that, the presence of smaller larvae does not alway mean that there has been a walkout by BSF larvae. It can also mean that other fly types have laid their eggs in the BioPod.....and that those have climbed into the collection chamber.

BioPods need to be kept in the shade or they will definitely overheat......since they generate their own heat in addition to any effect from the ambient temperature.

Gary

[francois]

Hi Gary
i have also been finding some BSF larvae in my worm bins...
BSF larvae is something i want to add to my fish diet...
your success has really got me going on this subject...
i like what you are doing
keep it up

[francois]

Hi,

An even bigger day in the BioPod.....

Gary

wow

[Earthan Group]

Gary you mind if I swing by and pick up some mature grubs from my next mission?

[GaryD]

Hi Paul,

No problem.....we're swimming in them at the moment.

If you're looking to establish a BSF operation, it's best if you take some of the contents of the BioPod......the "compost" and the leachate. The odour that comes from a BioPod is apparently a powerful attractant to any female BSF in the area.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

One of the advancements that we made, this season, was to keep meat, fish and cooked food scraps out of the BioPod.......and that's made a big difference to the foul odours that we experienced previously.

Recently,we've put fallen mangoes into the 'Pod and it currently smells like fermenting fruit.

A BioPod will never smell like roses, but it can be better if you limit the feedstock to old fruit and vegetables.....and duckweed.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

Our BioPod has been dormant for months.....so I got in and emptied it out before hosing it clean and washing out the shadecloth filter.

While is was full to overflowing at different times during the past year, only about 6 litres (1.5 gallons) of "larvicast" remained.

When I sorted through it, I found hundreds of small dormant larvae.......and, yes, I can confirm that golden perch eat BSF larvae.

Anyway, the BioPod is now ready for some vigorous protein production during the coming months.

Gary