Black Soldier Fly Larvae

Black Soldier Fly Larvae
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How would you like to be able to produce large live animal protein.out of thin air? Well, you can! The Soldier Fly is arguably one of the best kept secrets of sustainable farming. The larva of the Soldier Fly can be used to convert large quantities of organic wastes (including fruit and vegetable residues, offal and manure), into high quality animal protein that can then be fed directly to chickens and fish.
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CATEGORIES Aquaponics DIY Livestock Rations Microponics Plant Growing Systems Poultry & Game Uncategorized
The good news doesnt end there. This remarkable creature is genetically programmed to harvest itself. When it reaches maturity, it will climb out of its food source, crawl up a ramp (cleaning itself as it goes) and drop into a container ready for collection. SF adults do not go into houses or eating places. They do not have functional mouth parts so they do not eat waste and nor can they regurgitate on human food. They do not bite or sting and they are not associated in any way with the transmission of disease. Not only do they not behave like the irritating flies that afflict humans, Soldier flies actually reduce housefly numbers by 95% 100%..by denying the flies access to food. Soldier Fly larvae are dry to the touch and have no odour. The only real issue with Soldier Fly larvae is the poor image that attaches to flies in general and larvae in particular.
http://www.microponics.net.au/?p=175[9/4/2010 3:54:26 PM]
The mere thought of associating with worms and flies (much less fly larvae) usually fills most people with a sense of revulsion and the notion of close contact with bacteria raises thoughts of pestilence and plague. The truth is that, not only are there bacteria and flies that are harmless to humans, life as we know it would not be able to exist without bacteria and flies. The pet industry has overcome the image issue by marketing SF larvae, as live food, to owners of fish, birds, frogs and reptiles, under the more innocuous name of Phoenix Worms. In the quest for home-grown livestock rations, more robust smallholders have long experimented with earthworms and various types of larvae. Producing consistent quantities of earthworms requires some skill and takes at least 90 days to produce your first harvest. Producing consistent quantities of Housefly or Blowfly larvae will happen much faster but harvesting them will put you in direct contact with some of natures less endearing disease couriers. If you want to produce consistent quantities of animal protein with little effort and without getting too hands on, then Soldier Fly larvae are for you. Waste Conversion They have attracted the attention of researchers because of their capacity to consume large quantities of organic waste including pig and poultry manure. So voracious are the larvae, and such are their numbers, that they will sometimes displace worms. Like worms, they will retreat from light. Unlike worms, however, they can tolerate very hot conditions. When fed fresh manure, SF larvae convert protein and other nutrients in the manure into insect biomass. Aside from reducing manure volume by 50%, the larvae may reduce nutrient levels by 50% 70%. Soldier Flies do not limit their interest to livestock manure. They will happily lay their eggs in compost bins. Quite often, the owner of the bin will be oblivious to the fact that it is Soldier Fly larvae (rather than worms) that are consuming their kitchen scraps with such vigour. SF larvae also handle offal and dairy wastes very effectively. This is a very handy attribute because, when you process a fish, chicken or rabbit for food, about half of the live weight is going to comprise viscera (guts), skin, feathers, scales or other inedible waste that will require disposal. Soldier Fly larvae will convert this waste to live protein leaving you with compost that has an earthy odour and the texture of ground coffee. Soldier Fly larvae manure is a very useful soil conditioner and it makes excellent worm bedding. Life Cycle
Adults mature and mate in the wild. Soldier fly adults congregate in small numbers near a secluded bush or tree in order to find and select a mate. After mating, the female searches for a suitable place to lay her eggs. She produces about 900 eggs in her short life of 5 to 8 days. The male Soldier flies do not make contact with organic waste. To optimise their chances of survival, the females prefer to lay their eggs close to the waste rather than in it. About 100 hours later, the larvae hatch then crawl into the waste, which they begin to consume. They start out white and gradually change to grey. They have the appearance of large segmented maggots and are often flat on the underside. One end is round and the other end tapers to a point. Under ideal conditions, the larvae reach maturity in about two weeks In the absence of sufficient food, or in cooler weather, it may take up to six months for them to grow to the pre-pupae stage. SF larvae pass through 5 stages. Upon reaching maturity, pre-pupal larvae are about 25mm long, 6mm in diameter, and they weigh about 0.2 grams. Pre-pupal SF empty their gut during their last moult and cannot feed thereafter. At this stage, the larva has everything that it needs to sustain it as it changes from pupae to adult fly. The ability of the Soldier Fly larva to extend its life cycle under conditions of stress is a very important factor in its management for managing wastes and as a food source for poultry pigs and fish. When the larvae are ready to become adult flies, they clear out their gut and start to look for a safe and private place in which to pupate. Famous for their ability to climb a 45 ramp, the larvae will crawl out of their food source and make their way to a collection point having effectively sorted themselves by size (only those ready to pupate will make this journey) and having cleaned themselves on the way. The SF larvaes capacity for self-selection makes them a better choice for small livestock diets than earthworms which still have to be separated from their bedding and sorted by size using manual or mechanical means. Use of Larvae in Livestock Rations Producing your own small livestock rations isnt just a matter of economics; its a cornerstone of any attempt to produce clean, fresh food. Commercial rations may contain preservatives, antibiotics and a host of questionable ingredients. The only way you can be sure that you know whats in your livestock rations is to mix them yourself. Dried SF pre-pupae contain up to 42% protein and 35% fat and feature an amino acid and mineral profile which leaves them well suited for use as livestock food. Feeding studies have identified that SF larvae are suitable for use in poultry, pig and fish rations. Some researchers suggest that SF larvae are the nutritional equivalent of (and a suitable replacement for) fishmeal. This has important implications as wild catch fish stocks continue to dwindle.
Arguably, the biggest issue in using these remarkable creatures for livestock rations is overcoming the negative image that attaches to flies and insects. The simple fact, however, is that left to their own devices, small livestock will eat worms, larvae and insects very often to the exclusion of expensive commercial rations. Week old ducks, chickens or quail will hunt and eat flies and most species of fish will (in the wild) eat anything they can get their mouth around. Sustainability Any attempt to create sustainability that fails to acknowledge the role of bacteria and insects is doomed from the outset. Worms, larvae and bacteria transform materials like manure, plant residues and animal processing by-products into more worms and larvae and soil conditioner. The worms and larvae can be combined with other ingredients (like duckweed) to produce rations for quail, chickens, ducks, rabbits and fish and the soil conditioner can be used to enrich your gardens. Soldier Flies and backyard farming are good for each other, no matter how you cut it. -o0o-
Animal Protein Out Of Thin Air!
How would you like to have an unlimited source of fresh animal protein absolutely FREE?
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February 3, 2010 at 5:52 am
{ 44 comments read them below or add one }

deb
June 14, 2009 at 3:07 am
I am interested in the BSF for my chickens. I have vermicomposting
bins and occasionally find BSF in them but I want to do them in a separate bin. I have seen the Biopod on the net but isnt there a DIY way to do this? I was thinking of a bin on the ground surrounded by concrete blocks, and filling it with manure, some food waste and the BSF I find in my worm bin. Would this work?
gary
June 15, 2009 at 5:54 am
Debprior to buying a BioPod, we used to encourage the BSF to lay in a regular compost bin. Wed then shovel the larvae (complete with the compost) up into a 50 litre plastic tub. Wed enable them to self-harvest by putting a couple of ramps into the bin. The larvae would then crawl up the ramp and drop into another tray. Each day, wed empty the tray. Wed give some to the chickens and freeze the rest.
Nean
July 19, 2009 at 3:24 pm
How do you attract them to your garden I dont think I have ever seen them in WA nean
gary
July 19, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Neanif you collect vegetable peelings and kitchen scraps in a compost bin, theyll almost certainly find you. Its better to embark on a BSF growing exercise in warmer weather and youll know when theyre in your compost bin because the volume of material in the bin will shrink quite quickly and it will begin to go black. Once this has happened, if you stir the compost around a bit, youll usually find a writhing mass below the surface.
Jenny Gayner
August 5, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Can you use horse manure for the BSF?
gary
August 5, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Hi Jenny, I havent used horse manure for BSF but Im not aware of any issue. Give it a try.
polypus
September 21, 2009 at 5:39 pm
im in search of microlivestock which is able to survive almost wholly on bsfl, worms, duckweed, comfrey, and other easily grown backyard resources. id like to not have to buy feed both for economic and ecological reasons. i thought of guinea fowl. a few sites have mentioned that they can eat 90% insect meat but i have not been able to confirm this to my
full satisfaction. any ideas? this is a nice free resource i thought you and your readers would probably get into: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=1831#toc thanks gary for your answers to my other inquiries.
Shaddy
September 29, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Ive been culturing black soldierflies in west Afica Ghana and its amaing how they feed in W.A. They are so much abundunt in nature and i will give u the full details of my research later.
gary
October 1, 2009 at 12:05 am
polypus..I guess wed all like to find micro-livestock that will prosper wholly on food that we could provide at little or no cost. The closest that I can get currently is with our laying chickens. While we provide pellets, they eat very few of them because we also feed them BSF larvae and a bit of scratch grain. They free-range during the day so they must be picking up most of what else they need. We feed a few BSF larvae and duckweed to our jade perch and that reduces our reliance on fish pellets a bit but theres a lot further to go. While guinea fowl might forage for their food, if you plan to eat them (or even to get useful reproduction) you will probably need to give them a balanced diet.
Trish
Hi Gary
October 4, 2009 at 7:47 am
I was so impressed with your article on BSF that I tried to purchase a BioPod from Murray. Murray says that his experience is that the fish are not keen on BSF unless he coats them with fish oil. Is this your experience as well? Thanks Trish
gary
October 5, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Trish..fish are like children they have preferred things to eat. Whenever you attempt to introduce new food to any livestock, it is advisable to chop it up a bit and mix it with something that they like to eat. If that doesnt work, you can do what many parents do with fussy children..deny them anything else until they get hungry enough to try something different. While my jade perch will happily eat them, Im coming to the view that whole BSF larvae are best fed to poultry and game birds they love them and they (along with some scratch grain each evening) will substitute for a
good proportion of the birds normal diet (assuming that your birds are free range).
Eric
Hi Gary 1) do BSF larvae feed on raw eggs ? would they drown on a tub of raw beaten eggs ? 2) do they feed on rotting meat ? 3) can they be used on biomass that are high in oil content? cheers eric
gary
EricBSF larvae will eat almost anything and particularly eggs. You might need to mix the raw eggs with something to give it structure (like stale bread of vegetable wastes) or otherwise they might drown. They will eat rotting meat. As for the high oil content biomass I guess that would depend on what it was. The larvae themselves are up to 35% fat.
Cherie
Hi,
October 21, 2009 at 10:31 pm
A question re BSF. I recently purchased a biopod and this thought occurred to me as I was putting the food scraps from kindy into the pod. If the larvae are eating conventionally produced vegetable & fruit scraps ie. food that has been sprayed with chemicals etc, do the they retain chemicals from the food in their bodies? If they do, are we feeding our poultry etc equivalent to chemical pills? Has there been any research on this? What are your thoughts? Thanks, Cherie
gary
October 22, 2009 at 11:20 am
Cherie..an interesting question. To be truthful, I dont know how much of the chemical content of processed food is transferred in that sort of situation. I guess the bigger issue is whether we should be feeding that sort of stuff to the kids in the kindergarten. Perhaps the answer is to feed the kids good chemical-free food and, by extension, have a better quality food scrap to feed to the BSF larvae.
Old Trout
I am concerned about bioaccumulation and biomagnification of harmful substances building up in any of the produce that I grow. I try where I can to only purchase clean food and certainly only use home grown compost to breed BSF maggots that I feed to my chooks and fish. When dealing with closed systems such as aquaponics harmful substances may have no exit point and Im guessing largely remain within the
organisms. Old Trouit
John Doe
November 3, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Thanks for the great info. I have done some reading on Soldiers flies and their larva. I would really like to find some info on raising them entirely in a closed environment (from cradle to grave). Is there info on raising them indoors and keeping a running larva farm going full steam at all times? The reason I ask is that I live in an area of the USA that has freezing temps. for a good portion of the year. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks, John
gary
November 4, 2009 at 6:10 pm
John DoeI doubt that, due to the way that BSF breed, you could easily keep a BSF breeding operation going through a freezing winter but you can keep the larvae going for several months. Take a look at http://www.windward.org/notes/notes66/walt66-7.htm for an account of how some people keep them going through cold weather by putting them in an old freezer.
mcclure607
November 5, 2009 at 7:58 am
Can you use horse manure for the BSF? I read recently that horse manure contains more cellulose than pig or chicken manure, and that the BSFL cant break down cellulose, and therefore you would have to empty the residue (castings?) more frequently. However, composting worms *can* break down cellulose, and that they really thrive on the residue. It doesnt sound like a big problem if you have a worm box, too.
rolf kessel
HI Gary,
December 15, 2009 at 5:53 pm
I red your notes with interest.I bought a POD last year and it produced larvae.Now,after winter, there are no more lavae. I put our foodscraps into the pod and the ambient temperature is around 30*.. I will try milk next.I live in perth. any thoughts??. regards, rolf kessel 15/12 /01.
gary
December 15, 2009 at 7:04 pm
rolf kessel..if you continue to load food scraps into your pod, the BSF female will eventually find it. Remember that BSF are attracted to putrefying manure and food wastes. Putting some aged bread and milk will help get things going.
Kingsley Hannah
January 1, 2010 at 4:20 pm
hi there, thanks for a great article and all the great questions, i have a very similar but smaller flies/larve in my compost bin and it BSF in my worm bin i breed pigeons and am interested to know if anyone has used live food (BSF or any other) to feed there pigeons ?
lynda
How can I rid my wormery of soldier flies? They have taken over!
gary
Kingsley Hannahthe main ingredients in pigeon rations are grain and legumes. I dont know if they would eat BSF larvae. The easiest way to find out would be to offer them some.
gary
lynda.just wait for them to go through their various prepupations (five in total) and theyll eventually leave of their own accord. In warm weather, it will take around a fortnight for them to reach the final prepupation stage. If you cant wait that long, gather them up and feed them to your chickens. Theyll love you for it.
Karen
January 24, 2010 at 11:47 am
This is wonderful information thank you so much. But (deep groan) I discovered it a little too late for the enormous, heaving batch of creepy looking maggots that seemed to suddenly appear in my worm farm. Sadly, I have already drowned them, though I was able to marvel at their ability to survive immersion and climb up almost verticle walls. Having read through all the info above I am quite in awe of these wee beasties and have decided to start a separate compost bin just for the BSF. As Im going to use an ordinary black plastic rubbish bin with a lid Is there a particular access point into it that will allow the female to enter and lay her eggs? ie should I just cut a small hole in the lid?
gary
Karen..you can use a rubbish bin to rear BSF larvae but youll need to modify it for the purpose. Heres a few tips: - Drill some small drainage holes in the base of the bin so that the leachate can drain out. This is powerful stuff.so much so that any time you want your significant other to spend a night in the guest room (or another country), just dab a bit of it behind your ears. - Drill a couple of small holes (about 25mm) in the lid so that the female BSF can enter the bin. - Wire something that she can lay her eggs into to the lid. BSF wont usually lay their eggs directly into the compost but rather somewhere
adjacent so that when the eggs hatch they can just drop into the food source. - BSF self-harvest so, at this stage, its better that I refer to you to the BSF thread on my forum for the detail on that. Youll also learn lots more about these amazing creatures.here.
Darren
Wow
February 22, 2010 at 4:15 pm
I have just found this after searching for info on maggots in the worm farm. There are loads of these things in the compost bin, its literally heaving in there. So here I was thinking that I would get rid of them and I came across this info, thanks. So I guess Ill just leave them be then. I dont really need to harvest them for anything, I am happy to have them breaking down compost, so is it OK to just leave them in there? Will they still go through the life cycle and become adult soldier flies? Also I turn the compost regularly and feed the worm farm from that. Are they OK with that? Dont want to upset my newly discovered worker population. Also to confirm the theory that they are soldier fly larvae, I went down to have another look and sure enough there are adult females everywhere trying to get in and lay eggs around the lid. Which is great. They seem to be more active in the afternoon though. Cheers and thanks DJMCAU
gary
February 25, 2010 at 9:11 pm
Darrenyou can leave them in your compost bin and theyll migrate out once theyve undergone their fifth pre-pupation..to become flies and repeat the cycle. Dont be concerned at the thought of breeding flies. BSF show no interest in people or their homes. Adult BSF have no functional mouthparts they only live for 5 8 days just long enough to breed and lay more eggs. You can turn the compost heap. The BSF larvae will just move out of the way and then get back into it once youre finished. In fact, if youre looking for very rapid bio-conversion of plant and kitchen wastes, BSF are far more effective than composting worms. Once youve had them in the compost bin, you can expect subsequent egg-laying to occur. The female BSF is attracted to the scent of previous larvae activity.
Toni
April 2, 2010 at 9:11 am
Thank you. I was just sifting my compost and came across these little beasties for the first time in 30 years of gardening. I had no clue what they were until I started Googling and found you. Never thought Id be happy about fly larvae!
gary
April 2, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Toni.if youre keeping chickens, theyll be even happier than you are. If youre just into gardening, BSF larvae will become valued partners in bio-conversion of plant and kitchen wastes for your garden.
Toni
April 3, 2010 at 5:03 am
Coincidentally, I will be keeping chickens soon, so, the timing of this find is brilliant. raptors.) Im currently researching coop plans to find something suitable for my situation (intense summer heat, cats and various
Jerry
April 12, 2010 at 10:16 am
Hi Gary and everyone, I blog about BSF and I just wanted to comment on a few points made above. There has been a lot of confusion about the protein and fat composition of BSF larvae. Meal made from the dried larvae contain 42% protein and 35% fat. According to Dr. Craig Sheppard the fresh larvae contain 17% protein and 9% fat. Im afraid I used to misrepresent this in the past and I want to set it straight where I can. Something I also need to disagree with is the notion that BSF composting must be accompanied by foul odors. When a BSF colony is properly balanced it will not have a bad odor, at all. Bad odors are caused by an overabundance of anaerobic bacteria, something that is relatively easy to avoid. In fact Ive had very good aromas emanating from my BSF unit in the past. The general rule is that a BSF unit should smell like wet straw and whatever waste youre processing. I think the most common two reasons for foul odors in a BSF unit are poor drainage and overfeeding. Any standing liquid in the compost results in a zone with little oxygen. Even the constant churning of the larvae cant support enough oxygen in a flooded environment. The BioPod as it is shipped does not have a good drainage system and you should add a pre-filter to the bottom before adding waste. Coconut fiber (coir) serves this purpose well but you must find a method of preventing the larvae from shredding it. One method that might work is to add a layer of soil or rocks over the coir to add some space between it and the feeding larvae. A wire mesh might also work. When I installed coir in my unit I covered it with about 10 cm of compost and all of my drainage problems were resolved. As for overfeeding I think a good general rule is that you should not add more waste than the colony can process in two days, on average. Cheers!
gary
April 12, 2010 at 6:53 pm
Jerry.thanks for the clarification on the protein and fat levels. Its a bit like Duckweed (which are often said to be around 40% protein) where the figure relates to dried weight. While Ive yet to experience a BSF aroma that I like, I do accept that odour is often the consequence of what you put into the BioPodand the rate
of feed. I agree with you about the drainage design on the BioPod. On my unit, the stainless filter module is jammed in the retaining ring. I also discarded the plastic leachate container after the attractant splashed out onto my hand once too often. I use half a handful of spent coco coir in the collection bucket to dry up the moisture that can often otherwise gather there. I used to carefully pick it out when I fed the larvae to my fish. Now that we save them for our chickens, I let the birds do the sorting. Ive just cleaned my unit out so its an opportune time to try your pre-filter suggestion..and to commit to a better feeding regime. Thanks for your input.
Jerry
April 12, 2010 at 9:30 pm
Thank you Gary, I think you have a great blog. I hope I can make time to explore aquaponics in the future. Maybe someday spellchecker will even recognize the word! Your experience with bad odors is the norm and I think its partially due to the BioPod and its incomplete drainage system. Please dont misunderstand; Im very fond of Dr. Oliviers invention. Its understandable that the first run of the first product ever made for a new science might need adjustments. Improving the drainage on a BioPod is simple enough, but our initial lack of knowledge caused many people to struggle with compost that was too wet and therefore created bad smells. The best anecdote I can offer about pleasant aromas from a BSF unit happened in a DIY bucket composter I once operated. I had just established a nice colony, it was draining well and the odor was light. I had half a loaf of stale cinnamon bread which I added to the unit. I wasnt consciously monitoring that colony at the time, I was just using the bucket to get rid of my food waste. Later I passed by that unit and I noticed the distinct smell of cinnamon. Not only was the smell fairly strong, it was delicious! It was as if I had just walked by a bakery! Now, I must admit that it was a little strange to be attracted to a smell coming from a bucket full of food waste on a hot summer day, but that is what I experienced. Ive had similar experiences processing breakfast cereal, pecans, dry pasta, etc. The dry pasta was a real surprise because it doesnt smell much as is, but as the BSF processed it the smell was that of a boiling pot of it. Im fond of pasta and it was odd to experience such a comforting and familiar smell coming from a composting unit. Last season I used BSF to process approximately 30 kg of whole fresh fish culled from my pond. I could lift the lid almost any time and find no pest flies in the unit. A person could stand just next to the unit and if they didnt know what was inside they would not have known by smell. Of course I had a sufficiently dense colony that I could add 1-2kg of fish and see it disappear by the next day. Odor causing bacteria never had a chance to establish themselves. One more tip for keeping the colony balanced is to use wood shavings or
sawdust as an additive if the compost becomes too wet. The wood acts as a moisture buffer and I half wonder if it has antibacterial properties. I have always used sawdust for this purpose and it might be part of the reason Ive seen mild odors from my colonies. Shaving may help hold oxygen in the compost due to the shape of the pieces. Pressure treated lumber should be avoided because the insecticides might harm the larvae. I seem to writing more on your blog recently than on my own! Cheers
gary
April 13, 2010 at 2:39 am
Jerry.I agree that the BioPod is a clever invention .and that its weak point is the drainage system. I never had the same issues with odour when I grew larvae in a ventilated compost bin. Interestingly, we disposed of some spoiled bananas very recently which produced a yeasty sweet odour..which bears out your comments about various feedstuffs. Given your input, Im moved to experiment a bit more with drainage and moisture management. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
newies
Hi Gary,
May 3, 2010 at 5:48 pm
I am interested in setting up a bio pot to have the BSFL for the fish. I just want the BSFL only, should I have entrance hole in the bucket to a particular size eg 2mm dia. Or can you pls suggest any other way to have the BSFL only. I am living in QLD Thanks
gary
May 3, 2010 at 7:15 pm
NewiesIm not too sure what you mean when you say BSFL only. Do you mean just BSF larvae as distinct from other fly larvae? If so, then the size of the entry hole wont do it because smaller species of fly will be able to get it anyway. Theres no problem if other fly species do lay eggs in the BioPod. In fact, they are probably going to be more acceptable to your fish than BSF larvae. Over time, weve determined that only certain species of fish seem interested in eating the BSF larvae. Given that the tough outer skin is pretty much indigestible, there is also an issue with the amount of mess
they introduce into the fish tank. We havent abandoned the idea of feed BSF larvae to fish but we have more work to do on how we best integrate the larvae into a fish diet. In the meantime, our chickens eat them by the bucketful.
Aeon
Hi Gary
June 23, 2010 at 11:30 am
Ive been reading with great interest about the biopod; VERY exciting. I have braved the world of conventional maggots and am so happy to see a product that can protect us from the pathogens and general muck of dealing with houseflies and their larvae. I am interested in issues around other fly species particularly houseflies and their presence in the biopod. Is my biopod going to be swamped with them as well? I cant wait to produce some relatively clean larvae for my livestock and very keen on experimenting with your proposed larvae/duckweed combination and considering adding hardboiled mashed quail eggs as well for chook & fish food.
gary
June 24, 2010 at 7:41 pm
AeonBlack Soldier flies are amazing creatures. They are an excellent animal protein source for chickens and pigs. Chopped up, they will be eaten by quailand some fish will eat them (although I probably prefer other fly larvae for this purpose). The larvae/duckweed/boiled quail eggs rationbound by some bran and pollard (and possibly some sprouted grain) would be a very good ration for free range poultry.
Barbara
July 2, 2010 at 10:43 am
We have a white painted house in Melbourne and last summer had what we think are soldier flies. The larvae we found was a light brown colour, they then turned into a small fly, then into a black beetle which crawled up our white walls! I was not impressed, but reading some comments Do I put them (the black beetles) into the compost? Try and find the larvae which was in my beds of rhubarb and runner beans and put that into the compost. Help required please!
gary
July 2, 2010 at 10:20 pm
Barbara.BSF larvae are about 20mm long when fully grown. Following their final moult (instars), they bury themselves in the earth and undergo transformation into a fly (as distinct from a beetle). You can find several threads on BSF on Aquaponics HQ.
Mike
July 15, 2010 at 9:59 am
Im trying to figure out a good system for mature larvae: How many to sacrifice to chickens and how many to put into the pupation bucket. Ive also pondered over the idea of selecting the largest larvae just by quick
inspection and allowing those to pupate, while the smaller larvae are given to chickens. Any thoughts? Im a little confused about another thing: I observed several mature larvae that had pupated, as this was indicated by a popped out hole in the outer shell, though there were other larvae that had been in the pupation pod for months and had not pupated at all (they look all dessicated). Should they be presumed dead? Thanks
gary
July 16, 2010 at 7:38 pm
Mike..we through the occasional handful of harvested larvae onto the ground where they bury themselves while they are transformed into flies. This is not entirely necessary (because the larvae are all over the place) but we subscribe to the traders code that one should always leave a little something on the table. I doubt if selecting your larvae on the basis of their size will have much bearing on the size of future larvae because the small ones are generally the same as large ones but for the fact that they walked off early (often because of hot weather). Ive had larvae die in the BioPod before..I thought it was because I put a dead cane toad in the pod (although I cant be sure). Put your larvae in daylight and, if they dont move fairly quickly, theyre dead. BSF larvae dont much care for light.
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