Comments on: Timing the transition-larva to adult black soldier fly

By: AfterMatthew

AfterMatthew — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 04:20:24 +0000

Jerry,
I’m interested in maintaining a sustainable black soldier fly population for my eight chickens, but I’m wondering a) if a family of 3 and a baby who are mostly vegetarian (maybe 2 servings of meat a week) will supply enough proper food for this and b) how easy is it get them to reproduce? In what state do you obtain the flies, and is your system designed for sustainable populations?

Great website, fascinating indeed,
Matthew

By: rawcompost

rawcompost — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 18:26:26 +0000

Great site. Lots of good information. My understanding is the life cycle of BSF is: eggs hatch in 102 to 105 hours (4 days and 6-9 hours). the larvae mature in about two weeks to 6 months determined by food availability and temperature. Mature BSF lives 5-8 days (lays eggs within 2-4 days of getting wings). Please, let me know of any observation contrary or otherwise.

By: marty crist

marty crist — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 22:52:12 +0000

I shore would like more info on achieving adult flies
thanks to everyone who contributes

By: Simon

Simon — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 13:07:30 +0000

Oh,ok..hmmm.Fair enough!

By: Jerry

Jerry — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 12:47:50 +0000

Simon,

I’m not sure you understood my point. I didn’t say it’s not feasible to work with a storage bin; in fact it’s the most common container used by myself and others. The only issue with them is that making a ramp system with rigid pipe takes a higher level of expertise than my bucket design. I’ve made very effective units with rectangular storage bins and someday when I refine the design a bit more and I’ll publish directions to build one.

By: Simon

Simon — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 12:39:45 +0000

Looks like I may be FORCED to build my own as there are currently no Australian distributers available [Circle 3 is,apparently looking for another OZ distributor.] I have yet to hear back from other US dealerships, but Catawba Coops wanted US$215.94 just for shipping, and the unit itself is “ONLY” worth US$189.50 = OUCH BIGTIME!!!

By: Simon

Simon — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 12:33:17 +0000

Hi,again.Point taken…However the new Biopod Plus is square/rectangular….

By: Jerry

Jerry — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:48:18 +0000

Hi Simon,

Thanks for positive feedback.

Myself and others have worked with rectangular storage bins and pvc pipe ramps some of which can be found online. It can work, but in practice I think it’s more challenging to build than the bucket composter. The adjustments needed with the bucket ramp system are minor and only necessary once or twice a week usually. A sketch is a good starting point but the behavior of the larvae often causes unforeseen issues. The only reliable way to know if a design has merit is to test it with a colony. I look forward to more people working on DIY designs and I hope you have success with yours.

A potato sack might work; I would probably try several layers and also loosely stitching them together.

By: Simon

Simon — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:16:33 +0000

Has anyone tried using an old potato sack [you know the old fashioned material type,] as a bottom filter?

By: Simon

Simon — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:12:21 +0000

Sorry if that last post was verbose or confusing.All I was trying to say is why not just get any old plastic storage type box and some rigid plastic piping and imitate what’s been done commercially internally with the new BioPod Plus.This [in theory at least,]should get round the problem of the fiddly bits with the current design (ie. funnels, floppy tubing and magnets and maybe all the fiddling and adjusting that that particular set up may involve.) I’ll try and see if I can post some sketches through..