I’m pretty sure there are BSF in Portland, but I would be surprised if you say mating before June, July being more likely. The larvae can survive if only kept warm and moist, for reproduction you need warm days and I expect the bulk of mating will happen in August for your area. You can start anytime with whatever larvae you can buy or collect but it’s cost prohibitive to purchase a significant colony. Still, it would be preferable to have even a tiny colony as the mating season begins because they will serve to attract the local females very well. In your cool climate you’ll need to maximize the short breeding season.

I am not sure I can tell you about the mating. Reading Jerry’s comments, I would guess they just did their thing on the back porch without me noticing. I can confirm that the life cycle has REALLY slowed down. I have a piece of plastic pipe coming out of the plastic bin…a way for the mature ones to leave the bin. They crawl up the pipe and drop into a separete container. I have only actually seen three do so at this point. But I continue to have new, small larvae.

I did not have BSF in Maine but I did not do much outdoor work there.

Happy New Year!

I’m surprised to hear about BSF showing up in either Maine or Idaho. Did you find them in both states or just in Idaho? I’m very interested in your observations because my experience is in a much warmer climate (FL/GA). I hope you will keep us posted about your progress this spring and summer.

I lived in Maine and now live in Idaho, both very cold places in the winter. I had BFL show up in my compost late in the summer a couple of years ago. I was amazed as I watched them reduce anything I put in the bin. The next summer, they didn’t come back until August. I would like to have them all spring and summer so I brought some inside this fall. I put a small plastic bin (11 x 7 inches, 8 inches deep) on my enclosed back porch. I have been feeding them kitchen scraps all fall and winter. They are doing great! It is about 55 degrees on the porch. My container is getting full and not able to handle all our kitchen waste and I am getting ready to move them to a bit bigger bin. I keep the bin covered with a small piece of fabric so I can easily deposit scraps. There is a very mild odor, but not a bad odor. (My compost bin outside never smelled bad either, once the BSF came.) In this way I can overwinter and have them all year. For those of you who need a larger amount, maybe you can just use a larger tub, and mutiple tubs. I have really enjoyed having them in the porch, next to the kitchen.

In this way, anyone can cultivate BSF!

I generally shy away from the common term “maggot” because of the negative connotation. I’ve been using “grub” lately even though it’s inaccurate. I’m currently considering the term “grublarvamaggot”.

Your statement “… the residue from biocomposting with black soldier fly larvae can be used as a soil enhancement similar to that made using traditional composting techniques. It is also a very good medium for raising redworms which show increased growth in BSF residue.” got me thinking. How do BSFL castings compare to worm castings?

If you just wanted a soil amendment are worms required? Do they ‘finish off’ the BSFL castings producing a better product? Are worm castings more marketable than ‘maggot’ castings (less yuck factor)?