Know what you are getting
Please read the disclaimers and descriptions below before you order. If you live in one of the far northern states there’s a good chance you don’t have wild BSF in your area. This will make culturing BSF much more complicated than if they were present in the wild.
Price
Our multi-stage kits contain approximately 1000 larvae of various size/ages as well as an estimated 2000 BSF eggs in a specialized hatchery. Our price for this kit is $37 plus actual shipping costs.
Shipping information and guarantee
BSF die the moment they reach a temperature of 113ºF/45ºC. For that reason we can only guarantee kits that are shipped using an overnight service such as FedEx Overnight or USPS Express Mail. The cost of these services varies by location and generally ranges between $20 and $60. We will be happy to calculate the least expensive overnight option for you; simply contact us and let us know your address.
It is your responsibility to be available to receive the kit, and if it is returned to the shipper’s office it is then your responsibility to pick it up within 24 hours. You must also open the kit the day you receive it to allow the larvae to breath. Under these conditions your kit is fully guaranteed.
A starter kit is not required undermost circumstances
Assuming you live in an area with wild BSF a kit is not a necessity and furthermore, a kit alone is not enough to populate a BSF unit with; you must ultimately attract female BSF from your local population to succeed. The main purpose of the starter kit is to aid in attracting the local BSF to your unit to help jump start reproduction. The kit can speed up the process but it cannot guarantee success.
A BSF unit relies on a free roaming population of adults because mating can’t take place in the confines of such a container. In the absence of an existing BSF population you must establish “wild” BSF on your property. A BSF kit can theoretically seed a micro population where you live, but I have no personal experience doing that. If you wish to give it a try I’ll do everything I can to advise you.
In general the warmer and wetter your climate, the more likely it is that you already have black soldier flies in your area. Colder and drier climates represent the least likely places to find BSF and they are the most challenging places to establish a colony. This is also true of elevations over 5000 feet (1500m). The native range of BSF is the southeastern U.S. but over time they have been transported around the world. BSF are most commonly found in the USDA plant hardiness zones 7 – 10.
(click map to enlarge)
Our multiple life cycle kit
The black soldier fly starter kits that I’ve seen for sale elsewhere are made up of only juvenile (light colored) grubs. An all-juvenile kit is relatively quick and easy to collect and package, but I don’t believe it represents the best strategy for establishing a colony. Our kit is made up of three different stages in the life cycle of the black soldier fly; eggs, juvenile grubs and mature grubs (pre-pupae). I believe that starting out with more than one stage of development helps “jump start” the life cycle in a way that a single generation of larvae can’t. Our kit is a bit more complicated than an all-juvenile kit, but the learning process involved in implementing it will be a good introduction to the basic knowledge needed to operate a BSF colony successfully.
The eggs
When your kit arrives it will contain BSF eggs which may have already hatched during shipping. The introduction of very young larvae ensures that there will be actively feeding BSF in the BioPod for 2 – 3 weeks after the initial batch of juveniles (included in the kit) have matured and self-harvested. The presence of actively feeding larvae is the most powerful way to attract egg laden female BSF.
The strategy of our kit is to have the larvae from the hatchery still feeding at the same time the mature larvae from the kit have pupated, emerged and mated. Having these two complimentary life stages active at the same time gives this kit an advantage over single stage kits.
The juvenile larvae
(click images to enlarge)
This is the stage that is famous for being waste-eating machines. The juvenile larvae (tan color) will begin eating the food waste you provide immediately when you add them to your BioPod or homemade BSF unit. As they eat they emit chemicals that serve to attract any nearby adult BSF females searching for a suitable egg laying site. This attraction is the key to any starter kit and ours is designed to maximize the presence of juvenile larvae by introducing them in various ages including larvae that are only days old from the hatchery.
The juveniles also emit chemicals that repel houseflies, fruit flies, etc, but the number of larvae in a starter kit will not produce a sufficient amount for the repellent effect. Your juvenile larvae will most likely share the BSF unit with other fly species until the BSF are well established. You can minimize the reproduction of other fly species by covering the food scraps with an inch or two of shredded office paper (not newsprint or glossy) or wood shavings (preferred). You can also avoid attracting many species of pest flies by not adding meats, poultry or fish scraps at first, but you can process these products after establishing your colony.
One common mistake is adding too many food scraps to the BSF unit initially. The larvae included in a starter kit are only capable of consuming a few ounces of food per day. A total of a few pounds of scraps is plenty in the beginning, you can gradually add more as needed. The result of adding too many food scraps initially is that you will end up with a lot of mold and fungus before the larvae can process everything. The mold/fungus won’t hurt the grubs, but it makes the process less pleasant for the operator. A certain amount of decomposition is actually good for attracting BSF, the issue is controlling the amount and this is best done by starting out small and adjusting as needed.
You should not remove any food scraps from your BSF unit after installing the starter kit because the assumption must be that larvae are present in any and all scraps. This is true of the tiny larvae that emerged from the hatchery, but you must also assume that some local BSF adults have succeeded in finding your unit and have laid eggs in it. The resulting larvae could be anywhere in the food scraps and are so tiny at first that they are difficult to see without magnification.
The mature larvae (prepupae)
The mature larvae are almost black in color and are called pre-pupae because this is the last stage before they pupate. When a BSF larva transforms from juvenile to mature it changes in important ways other than just color. In the prepupal stage the larvae do not eat so they don’t develop a mouth. In place of a mouth they have a hook-like appendage to aid crawling as they migrate away from the food source in search of a protected place to pupate. The self-harvesting aspect of BSF is a result of this migration. Mature larvae will circle the edges of the BSF unit, eventually being guided up a ramp if one is in their path. A properly designed ramp will direct the migrating larvae to drop into a collection bucket. An inch or two of sawdust (not pressure treated), peat or rice hulls in the collection container will help calm the larvae by giving them a something to hide in. They can remain in the collection bucket for several days without any attention.
Installation of the kit
The egg container (hatchery)
Due to the time it takes for shipping, the eggs in our kits have often hatched by the time they are received or they will hatch within a day or two. Either way, the installation is the same. The eggs are packaged in a small plastic container with a snap-on lid. Do not remove the lid. The tiny grubs are very prone to dehydration and the hatchery protects them. The lid has a slit in it which has been sealed with clear packing tape. Remove the packing tape and place the container in your BSF unit, upside-down on some moist food. A slice of moistened bread is ideal for this purpose. Be the bread remains moist for several days, adding a few drops of water each day as needed.
If the tape which covered the slot on the lid has some of the tiny BSF on it you may gently rinse them into your BSF unit with a few drops of water.
The egg container is shipped with a small quantity of food in it and some larvae may stay inside for many days. There is no reason to rush to remove the hatchery from the unit. When all but a few of the larvae have left the hatchery you may rinse the any remaining larvae from the container with a little water before permanently removing it.
The bag of larvae
The kit includes a large plastic bag with a combination of mature and juvenile larvae (small and large) and a small amount of bedding material. Simply empty the larvae and bedding into your BioPod or DIY unit. The juveniles will begin eating and the mature larvae will soon migrate into the harvest container. The bedding is a combination of sawdust and BSF castings and it contains the scent that serves as a powerful attractant to female BSF seeking an egg laying site.
As the larvae mature
The dark mature grubs will gradually accumulate in the collection bucket. In an established colony you could feed these grubs to pets, livestock or wildlife, but when starting a new colony they should be allowed to pupate into adult form (winged stage) and mate. A typical BSF unit is not a closed system which means that the adult BSF are released so they can mate outdoors and then return to the unit to lay their eggs.
A BSF unit at full capacity will have enough larvae in it to cover the surface area with few inches of solid larvae, maybe more. Until you achieve that density you should focus on building up the colony. I don’t recommend feeding any mature grubs to animals until you completely establish the colony. Each pair of BSF that you sacrifice as animal feed represents 500-900 eggs that might have been laid in your unit. I also don’t recommend scattering the mature grubs on the ground while building up a colony. I think it’s best to protect every mature grub until your colony is at capacity.
If you scatter the collected mature grubs on the ground that leaves them vulnerable to the many predators that target insects. It’s fair to assume that only a small percentage of released grubs will survive to become adults. It’s best to keep the mature grubs in a container such as a bucket with a lid to protect them. The container needs to have several holes with a diameter of at least 3/4 inch to allow the emerging adults a way to escape. The holes will also provide necessary air for the pupating BSF and also aid in keeping the temperature regulated. Like the BSF unit, this prepupae container must be completely shaded and protected from rain. Adding an inch of bedding material such as sawdust (not pressure treated), peat, etc to the container will encourage the grubs to pupate, but it must stay dry and loose so the emerging adults can climb to the surface.
If you see dark grubs that seem stiff and aren’t moving do not assume they’re dead. What you’re probably looking at are pupating BSF. The video below will give you an idea of what the pupae look like, and how fast they emerge.
The bottom line
I hope I haven’t made bio-composting with BSF sound overly complex because in reality black soldier flies are very adaptable and forgiving.
Stumble upon it!