Comments on: Black Soldier Fly Trap

By: Kim from Milwaukee

Kim from Milwaukee — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 14:16:13 +0000

That was creepy and gross and fascinating!!! Such movement they make in that bin, whoa! I bet they make a great protein source for birds, like mealworms, but I’m not fond of the thought of flies in my house.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:08:28 +0000

In reply to John Pixo.

Hi John,
While I’ve certainly heard of people keeping both in the same system (and claiming to do so successfully), I have yet to learn of a specific type of bin/bed that’s designed for this purpose. Like you said, it seems as though the BSFLs basically take over a lot of the time.

By: John Pixo

John Pixo — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 23:46:24 +0000

Hi everyone,
My name is John, and I run a website which is relevant to this thread – http://www.blacksoldierflyfarming.com
Recently on our forum we have been discussing the creation of a system that uses both worms and BSF’s in the same unit.
We’ve found that BSF’s are such strong eater’s that they generally overpower the worms, but hopefully we can come up with a design that uses the benefits of both these amazing creatures.
Has anyone got (or even heard of) such a bin?

By: Larry D.

Larry D. — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 00:14:21 +0000

I use them in my system.Not for everybody.But you can make a system where it is a flowthru.A large flowthru! And one side leave with worm only food.Add leaf litter and paper products,etc. to one side.The other side put in foods that both love.After the soldiers are done,the worms finish it off and move back to their own side if they need to.
You keep adding food BSFL like,they go in a feeding frenzy,and lay loads of eggs after they hatch out.If you feed off and on,it seems to control the population a bit.And you can make them kind of go dormant.
You want BSFL.If they live in your area,just leave a big bag of spent coffee grounds in the plastic bag from your favorite coffee shop.After it goes funky,the soldiers will over take it in my observance.Corn mash was too smelly for me when i tried what others said worked.DID NOT SMELL GOOD! Coffee still smelled like coffee!And i also think they are fooled by it generating heat like larvae would.

By: nightrow

nightrow — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 11:04:05 +0000

I don’t recall reading that it requires any preparation. It’s already broken down material, so it’s good as is. It looks like shreded leaves, it is in fact the cellulosic part that the BSF don’t eat.
Waste from a BSF system is like 5% of input (in weight i think), so you are not going to feed big worms system with it, which may be a good point (only small system required).
I wish i could try BSF, but living in europe and having no garden I can’t.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 11:39:44 +0000

I hear ya, John – pretty crazy stuff!
Not sure about actual BSFL “compost” research – don’t think they’ve been studied (in that way) nearly as much as composting worms.
—————-
Nightrow – thanks for the insights. That definitely makes more sense!
I bet that’s a great way to turn it into a top notch natural fertilizer. What does the BSFL material look like? Does it need any preparation prior to adding to worm system?

By: nightrow

nightrow — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 22:04:32 +0000

“It’s been said that they work well with Red Worms”
In fact, after some reading on BSF, i can tell you that was is working is to give to worms the ouputs of the BSF, with worms in another system not in contact with BSF.
Seems like they are going trough it quite fast, making a already processed remaining even smaller.
BSF are know to be able to control a system by making other leaves, so yeah dont put BSF and worms in the same bin.

By: John Duffy

John Duffy — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 02:43:46 +0000

Man…That was freaky,scary, wierd…looked like something out of a sci-fi movie.
Hmmm…I wonder if that’s what happened to Jimmy Hoffa.
Loved the time lapse photography!
As soon as I satisfy my curiousity with worms, I might have to give those little buggers a try just for the “very interesting” appeal.
Have there been any studies as to the effectiveness of BSF compost?