BioPod™Plus-2nd generation

  11 Responses to “BioPod™Plus-2nd generation”

1. 

   dan says:

   May 19, 2011 at 9:44 pm

   hi guys i think your webpage is great i live in ohio on a farm and we have grain so i can actually try to attract the bsf . but i have already cheated by buying some bsf larvi from some exoticpet place online i got 100 grubs for 13 somthing they are pretty neat i have them in a small container with lid on it with holes in it i gave them a half of a bananna today and they seem to really like it . the reason i bought them is because i wasnt seeing any around here some guy in columbus ohio said he knew a guy that had them . i was thinking i could start my own colony here on my farm we have beef cows and we feed them corn grain so maybe i can try the fermented thing to try and attract some bsf . so thats about it . thats a nice biopod maybe one day i ll buy one . thanks dan luther
2. 

   Jerry says:

   May 23, 2011 at 3:53 pm

   Hi dan,

   I use corn because it’s convenient but I don’t want anyone to think it’s vastly different that other foods. BSF larvae will eat just about anything we eat and more. Basically; if it rots but isn’t high in cellulose like paper, stems or leaves BSF will eat it.

   If you’re in southern Ohio you have better chances of finding BSF but we do have confirmation from Indianapolis and Champaign, IL.
3. 

   dan says:

   May 24, 2011 at 11:31 pm

   hi my bsf larvi that i have bought have done a good job eating food i put in i just move them into a bigger container i put some drainage hole in bottom so if any liquid well leak out in to another container . the smell isnt too bad i have smell worst things . i might have to buy one of these biopods . thanks dan
4. 

   Eldon R. Hinkle says:

   May 28, 2011 at 6:23 pm

   I read the articel back in the winter months, and built a bucket like the one in the article. But it is late May and I still have no larvi? What can I do to get them to come, I built it but htey have’nt come?
   signed Larviless
5. 

   Jerry says:

   May 28, 2011 at 7:13 pm

   hi my bsf larvi that i have bought have done a good job eating food i put in i just move them into a bigger container i put some drainage hole in bottom so if any liquid well leak out in to another container . the smell isnt too bad i have smell worst things . i might have to buy one of these biopods . thanks dan

   Hi Dan,

   My concern is that you are only working with a tiny number of BSF larvae since you referred to buying them. A few thousand larvae can only process a few ounces of waste per day. A unit the size of a BioPod requires 10′s of thousands of larvae to function properly, therefore you need to attract wild BSF females to your unit for egg laying. Until you establish reproduction you will be very limited in what you can do with BSF.
6. 

   Jerry says:

   May 28, 2011 at 7:29 pm

   Hi Eldon,

   First, how can you be sure you don’t have larvae? You can’t just glance into the composter and know that you don’t have them. Here is a quote from my recent post about attracting BSF:

   Often people are successful at inoculating their composters before they even know it. It’s important to understand that it can take 2 – 4 weeks from the time that eggs are laid until you can easily see the resulting larvae or “grubs”. Sometimes you can see clutches of eggs laid in the corners or crevices of the composter or bait container, however, often the females randomly scatter their tiny eggs on the inner and outer walls of the unit. That makes it almost impossible to see them without magnification. The newly hatched larvae are also tiny so after the bait (food scrap) has been out for several days they could be present without being obvious. For that reason it’s usually not wise to throw away any existing bait and start over; you may very well be discarding recently hatched larvae

   Secondly, you need to have BSF in your area AND they need to be actively breeding to seed your unit. Reproduction began in south Georgia about six weeks ago, but a friend in the Atlanta area hasn’t seen his BSF yet this year.

   Finally, the bucket doesn’t attract BSF, it’s just a container designed to make managing a small colony easier. If you want to focus on building up a colony you may find my post about attracting BSF helpful. http://blacksoldierflyblog.com/2011/05/18/attracting-black-soldier-flies-the-basics/

   Good luck!
7. 

   daniel vinograd says:

   August 13, 2011 at 2:21 pm

   Do BSF s exist in the san diego area?
8. 

   Greg Walls says:

   August 22, 2011 at 10:44 am

   Hi
   Do you have any of the commercial units, and what would shipping be to zip code 28098?
   Thanks
   Greg
9. 

   Jerry says:

   August 25, 2011 at 8:14 pm

   Hi Greg,

   The best thing to do for the large units is to contact ProtaCulture directly. Good luck.

   http://thebiopod.com/
10. 

    nancy ashley says:

    February 21, 2012 at 11:09 am

    Hi, I am interested in the Soldier Fly composting system but I live in Ontario, Canada. Are our temperatures too cold? Can I compost in the house?
11. 

    Mike aka BW says:

    February 22, 2012 at 11:57 am

    Hi Nancy. I don’t think BSF are native to Ontario. There have been sitings reported in the Vancouver BC area but the rest of the country is to cold as is the NE US. There are small lighted indoor setups used to raise BSF as feeder insects for pets. You could try something similar.