Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Nice idea! Or perhaps a BSF Larvae treadmill? Or mouse wheel for BSF Larvae?

Hamish, BSF have no mouth and as such are not interested in food (only finding a mate ) when they get their wings, so would say that they would not be interested in fly traps

Appreciate that the BioPods appear to be well manufactured Hamish....

But like Steve and others have said.... if the price was more reasonable, not only would I buy one.... but so would many others....

Considering they sell at half that price in the US (and we're roughly $-$ parity), even allowing for importation, I think they're over priced.....

Plenty of info in threads on the forum here (and on the web) including instructions for DIY setups......

Appreciate your living situation though Hamish.... and a neat self contained unit definitely has a landlord pacification factor....

P.S. .... nice of them to give you some "starter" fly and larvae..... but they're everywhere and would have/will self populate anyway.....

Here is an industrial way to collect a lot of bugs for the fish to feed on:

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/txt/s1064578.htm

I would buy a bio pod even at an unreasonable price just to get started and have a plug and play system thats neat and clean. However, they have never made them available or contacted we about a shipment in which they were to reserve on for me. Now, I dont even get emails back... :pottymouth:

Custome support...

Oh well..

Dan, you're not alone. I've emailed a few times with no response.

Glad to see that they don't just dislike me. heh

They are obviously non descriminating,..........,,they hate everyone equally.

I was wondering if anyone has used the bsf 'tea'. You know the liquid that comes pouring out of their compost bin? I started an experiment yesterday...

10 small starter pots with 4 basil seeds in each.
4 pots watered with... Water! (control)
2 pots watered with pure bsf juice
2 pots /w 4 tblspns bsf juice in 1 gal. water
2 pots /w 1 cup bsf juice in 1 gal. water

i'll take some pics and see how it goes.

I live in Pennsylvania and purchased some BSF larvae last winter. They did a great job on a test container of garbage. I have set up a container with rotting vegetable matter outside but have had no luck attracting any from the wild. Is there a way to 'seed' a colony? Do we not get BSF in PA?

I'm not sure if you get them in PA. I've got a bunch of them.. what did you get sent as a starter colony? Did it grow from it's original numbers?

Apparently they are a nuisance pest in central america because they will lay eggs on young bananas... maybe add some bananas to the container? I've read people say they have luck when their containers are in a sunny location but the literature says to keep the container in the shade because if it gets to hot the maggots will leave the colony. Maybe put your starter box in the sun? In my bin the eggs I see are always under the lid where it's dark but warm from the sun hitting the other side. I'm guessing that the sun just helps it get hot enough to make the spot seem inviting. They live in decaying matter so I bet they like the warmth.

have you tried googling Pennsylvania and black soldier fly?

Is .75 inch / 1.9 cm / 19 mm a large enough opening for the soldier flies to exit? This is the size I used for my BSF compost bin.

That's the best biopod rip off I've ever seen! And for the price, I don't blame you

I don't think the size will be as much of an issue as the placement? From all other designs I've seen, when they get to the top of the guide channels/ramp/poly pipe etc, there is hole they drop through, not crawl through. But who knows! It's not an exact science aye Good luck with it, I'm sure 3/4 inch should be fine, I would probably have used an inch, but that's only because I like round numbers

I actually did have a question to all the BSF ranchers out there I'm thinking of setting up a system in Ballarat, Vic! Now, from everything I've read people have been having less that ideal results in cold climate area's. I mean, it's just bloody snowed here ffs! Has anyone had any success in Ballarat or an area with a similar climate? If so what did you do to ensure a successful harvest?

Cheers!

...and a divider so that don't crawl back down the other side

I did modify the design to include an exit pipe that the worms drop down into from either side. I was getting a few worms with the first opening, but now I get them all. The most I have got from this is in a quarter gallon of worms in a single day.

As to cold climates, I dont think they will grow as fast and you can place styrofoam on them to keep them alive, but I dont know that they can breed if its freezing.

I've read they slow their growth in cold weather, likely to overwinter and then growth and mating resumes come spring.

We just built a new worm/BSF bin and are currently testing it. I attracted the BSF by creating a disgusting mix of vegetable scraps, some meat scraps, some chicken manure from our chickens and poured some old milk over the whole thing. It was pretty rank but I had BSF in just a few days and they are growing well. I had read that including meat or milk product will help to attract the flies in the area.

I'll get some pics and post and then keep updated on how it works once we get to a bigger stage - as in whether the whole thing works for self-harvesting.