Black Soldier Fly - Indoor Rearing

When I looked at BSF a few years ago I ruled it out for my area because our climate isn't suitable for outdoor rearing. The received wisdom was the indoor rearing didn't work, because it was impossible to get them to mate reliably.

It looks like this problem has now been cracked, and there is now a startup raising them in London.



Here is an EXCELLENT playlist documentary about BSF on youtube:
BSF Documentary

For those who aren't familiar with them, they are rapid digesters of waste food material, that make lovely protein and fat rich larvae for feeding chickens, fish and reptiles. There is a decent income to be made producing these as a business, as well as a space for them on the small scale for a homestead.

Wow that is an incredible system! We’ve raised BSF in an outdoor bin. It would be nice to have a protein source for chickens year round. Not sure if I’m ready for the flour yet =}

Another big change over the last few years. You can now buy BSF EGGS in worthwhile amounts for getting a project up an running.

I seem to remember hearing that black soldier fly larvae bins smell much more than compost worm bins do. The one BSF set-up I've ever seen was outdoors, and the part with the dried up bugs did smell sort of like dried seafood, kind of strong. That may be an issue if keeping a bin indoors.

My understanding is that the bin itself should be essentially odourless if it is running properly. Odours happen if pockets of the material go anaerobic - simply using a blunt fork tool to fluff it up periodically helps with that. And the liquid needs to be allowed to drain freely - it needs to be handled like a liquid manure/blackwater. No collecting and storing it, or it can turn putrid.

Wow this is amazing,I really like everything about your technology and I hope you will be the lead I the future

Thanks for sharing, interesting video. They didn't show the setup inside the breeding chamber though, commercial secret maybe?

I got a  broken chest freezer with top sliding glass door, compressor was not working but the insulation was still good. By putting a heat lamp inside, I should be able to provide enough heat and light for adult flies to breed and collect the eggs. I might give the freezer a try in fall when the temperature is still mild. It will be outdoor though, my husband won't be happy to see flies inside the house.

Hey all,

I am looking into starting a BSFL system to convert food waste into chicken feed on my farm. I have a large supply of food waste (veggies, meat, dairy, etc) from the grocery store that I feed my pigs and would like to use a portion of that to feed larvae. And the benefit of keeping other types of flies away would be awesome.

Given the quantity of food waste I have access to, and the amount of chickens I need to feed (100+) I am looking for a larger system. What type of digesters do y'all use? The protapod seems to be the only commercially available bin and while I wouldn't mind paying the $300, shipping costs to Maine from Tar River Trading Post in NC are almost half the price of the pod! Does anyone know of any other sources for a protapod or a good DIY bin for a larger scale setup?

Also I'm curious whether I would have better results from buying live larvae to start or if they would show up on their own.

Thanks!