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 black soldier fly research.
Add another hobby to the list
It was Dr. Olivier’s work that first inspired me to work with black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens), so his enthusiasm for vermiculture is enough to motive me to try my hand with worms. Apparently the friable compost that is a byproduct of BSF composting is a superior medium for raising earthworms. As soon as my larvae have produced sufficient compost I’ll start a worm bin. In this article Dr. Olivier mentions the beneficial relationship between red worms and black soldier fly larvae that can be utilized for maximal waste processing
Calling all earthworm enthusiasts
I would like to exchange ideas and information with anyone experienced in vermiculture and who is interested in incorporating black soldier fly larvae into their systems. Feel free to post a comment, send me an email, or better yet, join the BioPod forum and post in the Vermiculture section. The forum is brand new so it’s pretty quiet now, but it should be a good place to discuss these two composting techniques. I started a thread in the Vermiculture section and you can find it here.
