Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi Janet,

I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but there's not much to be repulsed about when it comes to BSF larvae.

They are dry to the touch, self-cleaning (inside and out) and self-harvesting. They do not transmit disease and nor do they show interest in human habitats. They convert kitchen scraps much more effectively than worms and they take a fraction of the time to breed and mature.

From the fish' perspective, they are a high protein bite-sized snack with an impressive mix of vitamins, minerals and amino acids.

For me, they offer the best chance yet to provide a source of animal protein for my fish (and other small livestock) that is free of the chemicals that are becoming increasingly problematice in our food chain.

......and I luv 'em.

Oh Gary, I think they're fantastic, I'm just still having the 'ewww gross' reaction. I think I'd do better if I got to see them up close and personal. I bait my own hook (bee moths, crickets, earthworms), clean my own fish, and just finished the diaper phase for my second kid. You wouldn't think a double-handful of larvae would bother me. Maybe it's the sheer volume of the things that you can generate. I dunno. I'm not always rational.

"And I luv 'em"...are they better in a stir fry, or with butter and salt?

Janet,

It seems you're eminently qualified to take on BSF larvae.....there are fewer things that stink worse than human babies.

As for loving them......the fish take them straight up. I'll have mine once they've been turned into fish meat.

I still think their gross, but I think I've been converted. How do they deal with the cold? I think I might have had these in my worm farm a few years back, but I don't remember them getting that big. Maybe not the same thing? I like the organic nature of the BSF.

Hi Savage,

They slow down in cold weather but the clever folks who have researched these creatures have devised a number of strategies for keeping them in cold climates. There are some links a few pages back which deal with the issue of cold weather.

I'm much more grossed out by the chemicals that seem to be finding their way into our food chain than I am the thought of eating fish that have been recycling larvae.

Gary

Yes Gary, I agree with you about the chemicals. I watched the segment on TV's Today Tonight with my husband and now he's a lot more interested in the AP and organic side of things. It's nice to know what goes into your food !

Gary,
Been reading your site about the permaculture stuff. Good reading. I may try some of what you are doing. Here they dig hand-dug wells and use cement tubes to shore up the walls. They measure 1 meter by 50 cm. They would be perfect for raised beds and are only $2.50 US each. Stack two for $5.00 and fill with dirt. Cheap bed.

Hi,

I assume you're referring to my concrete raised beds.

They work very well. I only wish I could have bought them for the same price you can get them. By the time we had our 1500mm by 600mm sections of pit pipe cut and transported they cost us about $150 each.

You could also fill them with the pumice rock (instead of bags) and use them as non-recirculating AP grow beds. If you plastered the base of them......and installed a drain pipe....you could probably use them as recirculating grow beds, too.

Gary

Gary, love the work you have done on the BSF - done the AP thing and checked my compost heap to find that they have taken up free lodgings there

SP have done the taste test on a couple of immature ones and have given the thumbs up, so will be organizing a harvesting machine based on your model.

congratulations - certainly is a worthwhile food source

Would love to give them a try, any insight on how to get ahold of some flies or larva.
Fantastic work Gary!

Hey GF,
Look on page 1, Doug posted a repltile pet place in Philly where you can order Phoenix worm larvae through the mail!

Ahh thanks Dave, got it.

Sorry for the late answer Doug, yes I'll be raising guppies for the yellow perch they will reside in a mini ap system Have about 400-500 now and just going to place my order for BS larva hopefully they will hatch and lay some eggs. Ill let them fly around the green house and breed in a bucket of chicken poop. Seems the adults only live for 8 days so can't emagine having a few flies bussing about would be a bother.
Again excellent work Gary.

We found BSF in some old potatoes (didn't get tossed when they should have) so we hung them up in the maggotry for the fish. That worked very well.

I finally just gotten around to looking up what BSF look like

Anyway, the local university has a march fly trap in our yard, and we're not getting anywhere near the number of flies up near the system that we were getting (lots of horse paddocks near by, the chook yard etc). It is VERY tempting to go up there and empty out their samples of flies into the fish tank (but I suppose that would probably skew their results somewhat )

Hi gotfish. I wonder if mixed sex Tilapi in the same tank with fish that would eat the young (Perch, Blue Gill, and Channel Catfish) would provide the protein for the fish that are normally meat eaters and keep the Tilapia numbers down. My water goes below 55F, so I need to keep some breeders in an aqaurium during the winter. Maybe.

I plan to get some BSF and chickens this summer. Getting to have an ecosystem going here.