r/BlackSoldierFly

Wow, this has come together almost exactly as I’d hoped. All of the pre-planning was so worth the effort.

Even on for 101°F forecast high here in Maryland’s July sauna, the highest temperature I’ve recorded inside the greenhouse has been 102.2°F. The open side windows, roll-up door, and oscillating fan have done a great job keeping both the temperature and humidity remarkably stable, with no wild swings during the day or overnight.

Before setting everything up, I spent several days watching how the sun moved across my yard so I could choose a location that gets the most shade while still receiving enough daylight for the adults to breed.

The little garbage disposals are doing an amazing job. They’re processing about a ½-gallon Ziploc bag of kitchen scraps every 24 hours. There’s no foul odor, no excessive moisture, and no signs of overheating or hot spots inside the bin.

One thing I noticed today was that the collection cups had accumulated quite a few larvae that weren’t actually ready to pupate yet. I simply returned them to the feeding bin, and I think those collection cups are going to become my daily inspection point for harvesting feeders for my crested gecko while letting the truly ready prepupae continue on to pupation.

This is my first attempt at raising Black Soldier Flies. The larvae are among the most nutritious due to the calcium content and ratio … and I’m tired of paying $20 for 250 mostly dead larva from online & the big box stores.

I set the entire thing up (including 5,000 small larva, 2,000 medium larva, and 1,000 pupa) for under $500. Any extra larva can go to our cichlids and goldfish, as well as our neighbor’s chickens (they give us eggs for free so its certainly a fair exchange!).

Just finished modeling and printing this anatomically accurate (at least I hope it is), 20cm modular Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) for AgTech presentations and educational displays!

The 3D printable 3mf kit is now uploaded on Cults3D! For enthusiasts and facilities and researchers looking to print their own exhibition models: Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) - 20cm (palm size) scale 3D Print Kit

#BlackSoldierFly #InsectFarming #AgTech #3DPrinting #Sustainability

From some of the suggestions I received here, I made some improvements. I enlarged the breeding area to about 3.5’ square and 5’ tall. My flush of flies from last years pupates had died off before these upgrades. I bought 1000 pupates from eBay & had no problem hatching them. They mated and laid eggs fairly quickly.

I used a cooked rice/fruit/coffee slurry & babied them on feed for while. The larva are thriving, I then switched to some soaked chicken feed because it’s less work. I am hoping to get the full lifecycle going before I start in with the farm waste.

The problem I am having now, is they they are crawling out pre-maturely (I think). At first I thought I wasn’t feeding them enough & they were searching for food. Now I think they are crawling just because🤷‍♂️

Maybe the population is getting too dense for my box? The main feeding area is about 2’ square.

Any idea why they would be crawling out so aggressively - they haven’t turned grey yet. I am not thinking they are pupating.

Any thoughts?