(Sorry Dr. Sheppard, Dr. Olivier and Dr. Tomberlin…)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbFCr18symo
Alana is hands down the cutest of all black soldier fly researchers. Apparently her folks forgot to tell her that BSF larvae are yucky! Good parents.
Anyone concerned about Alana handling BSF larvae may want to read this which references scientific studies showing that black soldier [...]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNMtezlpDN8
I think I spent over six hours shooting video to capture this five second long event. I’m not really sure what value it has other than general coolness.
After exiting the pupa it ran to the outside of the bowl and spent about 10 minutes inflating it’s wings. Soon I hope to record that [...]
(click the spaceship for BioPod info)
The first shipment of BioPods has arrived at the ProtaCulture warehouse and will begin shipping out soon. I can’t wait to retire my homemade BSF unit!
And now for my BioPod blurb:
The BioPod is a convenient tool for using black soldier fly larvae to bio-compost organic waste like kitchen scraps [...]
Experiment causes black soldier fly larvae colony to crash!
Okay, maybe the Hindenburg image is a little extreme, but it’s difficult to get attention on the internet these days. The good news is that bringing my BSF colony back into balance shouldn’t be all that difficult. In the past when I’ve run into problems I’ve corrected [...]
Can I guarantee that you won’t get sick from contact with black soldier flies?
There is no species of animal on Earth that could live up to that guarantee, but researchers agree that black soldier flies (Hermetia illucens) are not disease carrying pests like common filth flies.
Black soldier flies are different
I can understand people’s revulsion at [...]
Composting with black soldier fly larvae and composting with earthworms (vermicomposting) are not competing technologies as much as they are complimentary. I’m not speaking from personal experience or research, but I believe it because I was told this by Dr. Paul Olivier, the inventor of the BioPod and one of the pioneers of [...]
In my previous post (below) I described how a person can develop something like affection for a colony of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL). If that’s the case then why do i enjoy feeding the larvae to other animals? A big part of it is the same pleasure I mentioned that you get from feeding [...]
As unlikely as it sounds, feeding a black soldier fly colony taps into the fun and satisfaction you usually experience feeding more “cuddly” types of animals. I believe most people will develop something like affection for the colony after a while. It’s true that some people feel initial discomfort with the larvae but this [...]
MAY 30
Today I harvested the first of the prepupal black soldier fly larvae from this year’s colony. At this stage their instinct is to leave the food source and find a suitable place to pupate. I don’t know much about this part of the BSF life cycle so I want to find out first hand. [...]
To establish black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) you first need to attract the adult (winged) females so they can lay their eggs. To do this you need to bait them with some type of food.
Types of food for baiting BSF
You may use almost any food scraps, but I’m experimenting with different types to see which [...]
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