Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

okay, I finished the J-MAX Simple BSF Larva Harvester. It has been constructed and deployed on the North side of my house in the shade under a large bush. I olny had some old lettus, but I hope to have more organic material tomorrow. This is still all theory. I will let you know if it works.

Here are some pictures:
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Here is my original sketch, but I decided it would be easier to use a rubber tub, and it was on sale at Walmart for $4.00


Picture looking at the bottom showing the hole and the hose wired to the bottom to guide the larva to the hole as it tries to climb out when it is ready to pupate.


A close up of the hole.

A side view showing the angle and the larva catch bucket placed under the hole.
I have a piece of scrap plastic that props up the lower edge of the lid so the BSF can get in to lay eggs.


Here is a picture of the larva catch bucket made out of a water jug.

Something I have always wondered about BSF...

How do you get them to lay eggs in your compost/waste pile?

If they don't populate houses the way houseflies do, why are they anywhere nearby enough to find your bucket?

Just put the old lettice out there, they'll find it!!!

It is out and composting. I informed the wife that NO organic food waste is to go in the trash can. It is all to go in the BSF Larva Harvester. I am going to clean and bleach the big trash can. It should not stink anymore.
Oh, and I did drill two drain holes in the bottom. One in each corner. I guess even if the harvester does not work, I can always just reach in and take the larva out.
My fish are too small to eat them right now, but my chickens are not!

so how do you keep ants out? I've found that with worm bins the only way I know to keep ants out is to put the legs/feet of the bin or table it is sitting on in containers of water or mineral oil (mineral oil is nice in that it doesn't evaporate and mosquitos won't lay eggs in it.)

I need to come up with something to keep the ants away. They have not found it yet...

I've read that ants won't cross a solid line of baking soda. Haven't tried it myself.

We have a really horrible time with ants here. Just yesterday I discovered that a bit of vine had provided a path from the fence to one of our worm bins!!!!!!!! Ack!!!!!!!! It really sucks to try and rid a worm bin of ants since any chemical strong enough to hurt ants is gonna be very bad for worms. Diatomaceous earth can help against ants but if there is a source of moisture (like a good worm bin) many of the ants tend to survive at least for a long time. I found this out when I tried to use it against ants in my grow beds. Now I just do my best to ignore ants in the grow beds and the only major damage they seem to do lately is farm aphids on my pepper and okra plants.

Anyway, a table or stand of sorts that you can place your harvester on that you can put it's feet in tins or containers of water or mineral oil can protect your harvester from ants so long as there is no other path (like a vine or blade of grass) up past the containers to the table or bin. Other methods can be something like putting petroleum jelly around the outside of the harvester and jug so that ants climbing up will encounter the sticky surface before they can get inside the bin. This can work but then you have to be careful not to wipe off any of the jelly and you need to re-do the barrier regularly too as dust and debris create pathways for the ants to cross. I have actually used this method to keep ants off my okra plants but you need to cut away anything that provides other paths up to the plant and I would not do it to any really long lived plant (like a tree) as the petroleum jelly will stop the bark from breathing and could do major damage to the tree in the long term (probably take more than a year to even notice the damage though.)

found this....

Non-Toxic Ant Killer Recipe

1 - 72 ounce box of instant grits per acre

Really, that is all that is needed to eliminate or control an ant problem. It does not kill on contact or instantly like the traditional ant killers, because grits are not toxic or poisonous. Usually within the first twenty-four hours a noticeable difference can be seen and approaching forty-eight hours the ant colony should be completely destroyed.
Application Instructions

First, walk the lawn or area where you are having an ant problem and flag every ant dirt mound that are found using either flags, paint or sticks. Last, Pour generous portion of instant grits around each ant dirt mound and do not disturb the area. It is that simple.

Do not dampen or wet the instant grits before or after the application. Use this technique only on clear sunny days, because it is very important to keep the instant grits dry before and after use or application.
Ant Expansion

The ants die from the inside out, because the grit when eaten mixes with the ant's digestive juices and expands inside the ant's stomach that eventually kills the ant.
Warning:

Do not feed to ducks, because it can cause death. Ducks and geese are unable to let gas (fart) and during the swelling of the grit gases are produced inside the stomach, which ducks and geese are unable to release the gases and can die instead.

could be sprinkled around the harvester or even put in containers on the grow bed..

jT

I need to try the grits around my yard and the harvester. We had ants bad, but the Queen spread Amdro Ant bait around the yard 2weeks ago. We had over 30 ant beds and I just see 3 that survived. I will take them out with grits. I guess ants can't fart either!

I've done the treatment with grits before. Seemed to work some what temporarily at least. I don't know that I would want to use grits in a BSF or worm bin though since I'm not sure the grits in too much quantity wouldn't be bad for the worms or BSF larva.

There is a benefit to using something like grits around the yard, they will help fertilize the soil at least.

Birds like Ducks and Geese have crops in the neck to store food before swallowing it all the way. This allows hard foods to soak up water and soften up a bit before traveling into the gizzard, to be ground up by small stones/grit (no teeth you know) and digested. This is why birds can eat rice (like after a wedding) corn, instant grits and other hard grains without harm or bloating. A goat, cow, or horse could not eat an equal volume of the same grains without suffering bloating and maybe death. And they all can pass gas quite well, both ways, I might add. Drop by anytime and my geese will take a moment out of their day to demonstrate for you....

Neat idea for the harvester. I hope it works very well for you.

Diatomaceous Earth (DE)
This all-natural substance is made by mining and pulverizing the fossilized silica shell remains of unicellular marine algae known a diatoms. DE is a very common substance that is found in many applications. It’s used as filtration, as a deodorant, in cosmetics, food products, dental-care products, animal feeds and grains, and it even has pest control properties.

In the realm of pest control DE has two main modes of action. First of all it is a powerful desiccant. On top of that, it has the properties required to excise the protective cuticle layer of many insects exposing them to desiccation. Under the microscope the individual particles of this fine powder are similar to oddly shaped roughly geometric flakes for lack of a better term. Before they’re pulverized they’re more like three-dimensional structures. Think coral.

This wonder substance is a great pest control barrier because the properties mentioned above aren’t overlooked by the pests. Many insects, if they encounter DE, will turn away. Ants, for example, simply will not cross a line of DE. That’s smart. It they did cross the line, they’d be cut and DE’s powerful absorptive qualities would work on drying them out by way of their newly-exposed cuts. It’s really quite dramatic at that level.

You can buy this from your feed store. You put DE on the hey that covers the floor of the chicken coop and it keeps it from stinking. Strange how it cut the ants!

CRAP!
I went out to check on the BSF larva harverster and there were two BSFs flying arounf it, but no sign of larva. I opened the harvester and there were ants in there. I am trying to get rid of them. I may have to make a short table with 4 legs and have the legs in water. That will be the easiest way. AHHHHHHH!