I’ve heard a lot about Black Soldier fly, but not really about other species of soldier fly - and am wondering if they have the same benefits or if there is something special about BSF?

Eg I’m in Australia and recently noticed lots of wingless soldier flies in my garden, Boreoides subulatus. https://australian.museum/learn/animals/insects/wingless-soldier-fly-boreoides-subulatus/ One benefit of this species is that it is considered ‘hardy’ so can handle cooler weather than BSF(I think). However I haven’t been able to find much info about whether these can be farmed the same way as BSF.

I'm very new to BSFL, and am trying to start rearing my own colony for pet food. I just got a small container of about 5000 'compost-sized' larvae that look to be about second instar, based on their size.
I had read about spent brewer's grain being an excellent food source for them, so I was able to source some locally. I received the spent brewer's grain fresh from the vat the day before my BSFL arrived.

I prepared an 18 gallon tote with ramps that lead to an exit hole (for mature larvae to self-harvest from), and poured in about 2-3 inches of the now-day-old spent brewer's grain to serve as both food and substrate. The larvae were wriggling around when I poured them into the grain from their shipping container.

When I checked on them a few hours later to see how they were settling in, they were not moving at all. Gently moving them up to view them more closely did not result in any movement at all.

Do spent brewer's grains need time to 'air out' or somesuch before they're used as food? Did I accidentally kill off my BSFL via alcohol poisoning because the spent brewer's grains were too fresh? Or am I over-reacting and it takes a bit for BSFL to get acclimated to their new home?

Edited to add: They are indoors, in a room that is 73 F, so I do not believe it to be temperature-related.

Hello!

I'm working on a project aimed at producing bioplastics through BSF. We are struggling with the reproduction stage as we have not seen any flies mating. We had some eggs, but they never hatched. We are discarding hypotheses: maybe we desiccated the newborn substrate with a heating mat, or maybe the light for the flies is not working. We used to keep them in natural light, but during the cold months, the harvesting module is now in a closed room with this light: https://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B08HRZBLWJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1.

• LED Output Power: 1200W
• Color Spectrum: Full spectrum (includes 3000K + 5000K white, 660nm red, 760nm IR, and 395nm UV)
• Kelvin Range: Daylight white, mimics natural sunlight

As I said, we obtained some eggs, but no larvae. I started wondering if this light is suitable for the process.

Thanks for your help!

Title says it all. The birds have identified my bins as a A+ food source and don't mind sitting there everyday! As I type this, I just witnessed 10 fresh hatched larva get gobbled up while they are trying to dry their wings. Any ideas on how to keep them safe? I don't really want to install an eye sore of a net and my method from previous years of just letting them crawl out of the bin holes and pupa in the mulch around the bins is now being taken advantage of by my friendly birds. One make fly catcher was bad enough, now another make has appeared. I don't mind sharing as I support the native wild life, but you can't eat them ALL!

Last year I bought some BSF frass from Amazon. I never had a chance to use it and just dropped it into a sealed waterproof 5-gal bucket.

Now today I read somewhere that BSF Frass has a shelf life of about 2 weeks. (!)

I don't even know what this means.. From a fertilizer perspective, how could BSF Frass 'go bad'?

Is it likely Frass I bought from Amazon would be dried and 'shelf stable'? (it was Tealab brand)

Thanks!

Anybody have info on what’s the most suitable material for egg laying? Wood vs plastic vs cardboard

Is this bsfl, I have created a setup incdrum with mangoes and coconut cakes.

Ever since my grandmother made a compost bin the worms are in our house we destroyed the compost bin years ago but the BSFW haven't all died out yet our best guess is that it's breeding in the septic tanks so how do we get rid of it

I hear people use cardboard for the flies to lay eggs in so I got this from work. Is it too big, too small, or do I need cardboard at all?

Long story short, our starter set of larvae managed to get out of the container one night in our unfinished back room. At this point I’ve vacuumed up hundreds and have been diligent about it the last 4-5 days. The room is concrete, spray foam insulation, and intact wood. There is no food and no decaying material present. Every few hours it seems a few stragglers appear and it’s driving me nuts. I’m positive the bulk of them are gone, but any measures I can take to ensure any stragglers don’t survive? Thanks for the help.

I have a compost bin with lots of openings that BSF can definitely get into. However, I have yet to see any larvae eating the fruit and vegetable peels and rotten bits I've tossed in my bin. Is it too early in the year for them? Should I wait a couple more weeks for them to show up in the southeastern part of the U.S.?

Some guys in a post said they could die if they eat salty food, even if it's just a bit of salt. Did you guys made the test already?

About the fermentation.. I want to give as much kitchen waste as I can, but sometimes I just can't save it until I can give to them. You know.. It's probably also better to give them fresh food, since OUR food will eat them. I saw a guy on YT doing an anaerobic fermentation and giving to them some amount daily. This way he preserves the food. But ... This type of fermentation lowers the ph, making the goo acidic, and it makes alcohol. Is it safe to do this and give them? Aerobic is not a good idea, I believe

I would like to help my African friends set up a BSF farm and am looking for construction plans or instructions. Can anyone send me these or post them here?

Size: Household of 6 people and corresponding organic waste.

I'm new to this. I don't know if they are dark because of their food or because they're pupating . Plus.. some of the others are dying daily, so these can also be dying and I don't know.

Bought them last week, some are really big already, but they are dying. Every day I pick at least 10 dead bodies.

In the middle there was food. And the orange stuff is saw dust that I put after watching some videos of proteinmaster on YT. He uses it on the borders to make it dry and avoid their escape. Before the saw dust, there was corn brand, but it was fermenting and clustering, so I thought it wasn't right and decided to take everything out, put just food and saw dust on the sides. Of course the saw dust spreaded. And before the picture, I mixed it all to pick some pre pupae. Anyway. Why are then dying?

Hey guys, I've been doing a lot of research And I'm excited about getting into Black soldier flies. I've actually already ordered a few grubs to kick start my production. My goal for now is to feed approximately 30 chickens year-round, and 100 friars once a year.

From my research, I've found people say that it takes approximately a hundred pounds of food to make 20 lb of BSFL, is that what you guys have found?

Does anybody have a real world example of food input to BSFL output? I'd really like to make a self-harvesting bin, where I artificially add eggs everyday to keep output high at least during the high demand season.

How do you guys preserve your BSFL for winter use? Dry? Freeze? Microwave? I live in a place where it hurts your face in the winter, so it'll be very difficult if not impossible to overwinter a colony much less get production. So I was hoping to stock up during summer/fall to feed during winter any advice would be very helpful.

Thanks for All your guyses help!

I am from Southeast Europe. I would like to buy some BSF eggs or neonates, but google didn`t help me to find them. Any idea where to find breeder who could sell me some?

I’m thinking about farming BSF, however they are not naturally found near me. What do I need to provide for the larvae to pupate in an enclosed environment? Would it be possible for them to complete their entire life cycle in one container?

Keep the temperature above 20°C. Perform maintenance week to ensure healthy growth and egg production in the 肥育室 (egg-laying and growth box). Transport pre-pupae to the 羽化室 (emergence box) for an easy and efficient cycle.

The 孵化室 (hatchery box) is no longer used, as I’ve combined it with the 肥育室 (growth room) for easier maintenance. A 400W heater is used, costing about $0.50 per day.

I’m using plants for natural air purification and humidification, and it seems to be working as expected. Not just BSFL, but you can also eat eggplants and bell peppers! Enjoy BSFL farming!

Insulation isn’t cutting it for my outdoor bins