has anyone here tried Black Soldier Fly (BSF) production like this?

Hey all!

I am about to start a black soldier fly project for a production flock of birds, and possibly also to supplement our waste fed hogs. I have been dabbling with different systems and feel as though these two videos (below) offer the best possibilities for a larger production system. Would you all agree? Of course, many of the forums or recommendations I have read about were for the 'Pod' design, where your BSF lay and self harvest all in the same bin.

This video goes over a high scale production. Start at 5 minutes.


A more entertaining video from a group in Kenya. The farmers here got some type of Rockefeller grant.


Have any of you tried this out or have recommendations regarding this process for BSF production?

Cheers!

J. HUNT

Hi J, welcome to Permies.

Thanks for recommending the two video links. They are great examples of the large scale BSFL production system.

The differences of these two system and the pod design are not just in the scale, but also in the synchrony of larvae developmental stages. In the pod and other similar operations, larvae of different stages are mixed so one needs to find a way to separate the prepupate ones from the rest larvae, taking advantage of their tendency of crawling away searching for pupating location.

In the large scale system, eggs are collected and added to food scraps so all the larvae will be the same size. When they reach the desired size, they can be sieved, cleaned and packaged efficiently. The key is to have a good set-up for mature flies to mate and lay eggs. They are tropical insects and need certain temperature and light condition for that. If you live in a colder climate you will need some indoor space for year round production.

I have BSF naturally showing up to food scraps in warmer months from May to November outdoor. I let my chickens eat them large and small. I am interested in making the chamber for BSF matting so I can collect large quantities of eggs, both for a cleaner setup and for winter food waste processing indoor.

Keep us posted on your progress.