I have put out several buckets to try and attract bsf. Most have scraps. Some just vegetable matter, some bread and corn cob, some corn in water and corn cob. Some potatoes buicuits. I think it will be about 30 days before I can seen any results but maybe sooner. If any one lives near Greeneville, Tn 37745 and would give us a start of larvae I would appreciate the push forward in our adventure to raise bsf. Thanks for all the posts and information that all have worked to provide

Hi dadandson, welcome to the forum.

You might want to try adding some raw shredded cabbage to some of the waste. It breaks down pretty fast and the smell seems to be good for BSF. I know that I've written a lot about corn, but really there are a lot of good choices.

Where you live you should have larvae sooner or later. Keep us posted on your progress and feel free to ask questions. I ask almost everyone to consider submitting photos to our locator map: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=21

Will the bsf digest egg shells?

I can't say no, but if they can it would take a very very long time. I vaguely remember something about BSF being able to break down bone very slowly. For the most part they consume soft foods and even something like a raw potato will take them a long time to shred.

I also have manure that I would like bsf to convert to larvae. It attracts blow flies and other nasty creatures. I have used it as a fertilizer on pasture and it makes the grass grow but would rather convert it into bsf larvae if possible. It is very wet should i put it out with holes drilled in the bottom of the bucket to release the water or will that make to to dry?

I haven't used manure with BSF so I don't know but I doubt you would have much problem with it being too dry. You can always add a little water if needed. Might be best to try a few different approaches.

Jerry & others,

The bait has been out several weeks. The corn has a sour smell and has seems to be mold on some of it. The rye and grain mixture has lots of gnats and some little white Larvae or maggots that I cant tell their species. The food scraps have some maggots but not sure if they are black soldier flies or not. I do have an exterminator that sometimes comes across large quantities of soldier fly larvae on his travel and hopefully I can get a start from him. I sure wish I had this endeavour started. I would like to build a big bin for them to feed in and self harvest. I will keep trying

thanks david

Mine LOVE chicken manure.

Jay Jay,

If im in your area would there be a chance to get a start of grubs from you? I have not got them coming yet, at least Im not sure. I had some larve but im not sure if it is common house fly or soldier fly.

dadandson, can you get a close up photo of the larvae? I can probably ID BSF larvae with a decent image.

We may have them started there are grubs in several of my buckets but I'm not sure if they are bsf or not. Some are white some are gray and there is a lot of others bugs and gnats in there also. I kind of thought that there would be no other bugs in there. Is there a way to post pictures to this forum so someone could identify what I have. Also I just have them in a bucket with lid and holes in the side. Do I need to put velcro around the hole openings to keep them in?

The repellent effect only kicks in when you have dense BSF colony.

To post a photo you need to create an account with an image hosting site like Photobucket or Image Shack. When you upload an image there it creates a url address for each photo that you can then post here. I may allow image attachments here in the future, I just need to consider bandwidth issues.

Mine look like J J posted but some are white some are grey. Some are big some are real small. Not sure what to do next?

I just saw your youtube videos JayJay and the one that IDs BSF larvae is great. I gave it a thumbs up and hope everyone else will also. See it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyBw8FjNWJM&feature=relmfu

d&s, the colors you mention are correct for BSF. In the last juvenile stage the larvae are often a bit darker than in earlier stages. The next stage is the very dark stage where they don't eat. If you have BSF they will soon turn to the coffee color of mature larvae. One way to ID them is to put some mature larvae in a jar with air holes and maybe a little sawdust or shavings. Keep them warm and don't let them dry out completely. You might want to gently mist them with water if the ambient humidity is low. In 2-3 weeks the adults should emerge and you can make a positive ID then. Anyway, if yours look like the ones in JayJay's video (ridges and hairs) then I'm pretty sure they're BSF.

im pretty confident I have them now how do I get them to expand and should I put the velcro around the bucket so they won't crawl up the sides although they don't look like they are but Im a greenhorn. I love this and I sure hope I can get a bin made that works. Should I combine all buckets or keep them seperate? Mine are just simple square cat litter buckets that have some holes drilled underneath the lip so water won't pour in. Very simple but they worked. Now I need a harvest bin and I'd like to make a big one. I have some plastic signage that has the little holes for them to make egg laying areas. I havent put them in the top of the lid yet, should I install them next to get better production? I also have some scrape plastic sheets 4X8 that I could make the bin out of and it would not rot. Also have aluminum frame material that the plastic will insert in and hold.