Black Soldier fly larvae (BSFL) farm (Hermetia illucens)

It took a while but I finally finished off the BSFL barrel to where I am happy with it.. Have already taken a few larvae out to feed the fish & chooks.. The perch are not real keen on them but will eat them if left in the tank over night.. Might have to look at another way to make them appetising for the fish.. The chooks have no problems gobbling them up as is though :D»
Hopefully with the flies eating meat scraps it will add even more nutrients within our system..
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Have a great one everyone.
Rob.

[@amandabowling7574]

My husband and I are just beginning our aquaponic adventure. We’re going to your videos for every single thing we do. Very thankful to you!

[@RobsAquaponics]

I hope they give you a few useful ideas Amanda. 👍 Cheers & happy growing.

[@barahng]

So glad to see you tried out the BSFL, they really are amazing as chicken/fish/reptile feed. I save hundreds if not thousands a year thanks to those guys.

[@RobsAquaponics]

Hey there.. Haven't got a farm running at the moment but still pick a fair amount out of the the worm farm & compost at times.. Our fish don't like them but the chickens go crazy over them.. Cheers..

[@barahng]

They don't? Wow, wonder why that could be though. My catfish and Koi love them.

[@RobsAquaponics]

barahng The jade perch spat them out.. We thought they were taking them but found most of them on the floor of the tank the next day :-/ I think Barramundi/sea bass & trout take them.. Not sure about the silver perch though.. The jades will go grasshoppers & worms though.. Just fussy eaters I think..

[@SerialDelta]

Hi Rob, I have a few very small Talapia in a blue barrel here in Thailand. I fed a few BSFL to them this morning from a very "How's ya father" BSFL farm (albeit an old bucket full of scraps under a mango tree) There is 1 large cichlid type fish which will chow down the BSFL no ramaa's, but the smaller Talapia couldn't get them down. So I squashed a few before throwing into the tank.. The litle Talapia loved them, even fought over them.. It was nothing to see 2 or 3 fish trying to eat 1 BSFL

[@RobsAquaponics]

The Chooks/Chickens love them here & is a great way to provide cheap, healthy protein for them.. Tried feeding them to our fish but they weren't too keen on them.. I like them for their ability to knock off meat scraps which is something that would normally get thrown in the bin here.. Really need to set a farm up again.. Cheers Jack..

[@RobsAquaponics]

Hi there Mark & tar.. I think I might try to harvest them when they are a bit younger for the fish as a treat but will leave the majority for the chooks.. Would be good to see how your puree works & would be great to see a clip.. Murray Hallam said that some people make a meal out of them with some greens & flour to get the perch to eat them.. Looking at making another more weather proof farm to leave in the chook pen.. Think they would love to have have larvae on tap :) Have a great one Mark..

[@RobsAquaponics]

:D Sounds like you on a winner.. I haven't set our barrel back up since it got flooded out earlier in the year.. Am looking at converting a compost tumbler into a farm that will just sit in the chook yard.. Will feed it scraps as well as chook manure.. Might try crushing a few to feed the fish as well once its up & running.. Thanks for that & have a great one..

[@honeybacres]

Maybe it wasnt meant as a how to but it gives a pretty good idea of how to make one. It seems like the chooks appreciate the larvae heaps more than the fish.

[@CongSon87]

Thank you! I like BSF too.

[@BorealWormer]

Great seeing the evolution of your bin. Slanting the whole bin works much better then collection tubes or ramps. A bit of confusion about "Pheremone vs.Synonome" A synonome is a chemical that allows interspecific communication, between two species. When actively feeding, BSF maggots produce a synonome that only attracts adult BSF females back to the pod, but tells pest flies to stay away.

[@RobsAquaponics]

I think they like them better as well.. I was told that some people macerate them & turn them into pellets with flour but think I will leave that for now.. Might think about it if the farm produces more than we can feed the chooks & fish though..

[@BlackWarriorLures]

Nice drainage system. That's what I need.

[@RobsAquaponics]

+Black Warrior Lures Hope it's given you a few useful ideas. Cheers mate.

[@RobsAquaponics]

Shall look into Synonome... Just going of what I have read online on various sites without fact checking... Thanks for that, I like to be pulled up when I get things wrong so I don't keep repeating it.. Have a great one..

[@RobsAquaponics]

I did make up a smaller bucket farm but think it is too small & very poorly made Dale.. Would be great to have one in the chook yard & am thinking of getting a smaller barrel so we can install one there.. Would be great to put all the fallen mangoes in there & the chooks could pick the larvae off as the harvest themselves.. We found that they heated up the worm farm& the worms tended to evacuate where the larvae were feeding.. I think they would also try & pupate in the dryer sections as well..

[@RobsAquaponics]

Thanks for that... I know the fish love eating small grasshoppers...

[@markallen200]

Great design Rob! I harvested nine pounds this past summer with the system that I paid way to much for. I have found that the chickens are much happier with the larva than my Tilapia. I am curious to see if your perch get accustomed. My next step is to puree the BSFL with some broccoli and then freeze into cubes for feeding. I am hoping it is just a texture problem right now. Love the engineering!

[@RobsAquaponics]

Couldn't help you there sorry.. Have only looked into the Jades but will be looking into other species to go into the new tanks come spring.. Think the chooks will be getting ours until then.. Not much help am I.. Have a good one.

[@RobsAquaponics]

Ha ha ha ha.... Thinking about starting a meal worm farm next to see if the fish will like them more than the BSFL... Stay warm Dale :)

[@RobsAquaponics]

Thanks for that.. Couldn't get back in to have a look at the sweet potato tower.. FB says "NO!!" Have a great one..

[@suvasishnag4394]

Rob Bob's Aquaponics & Backyard Farm can I feed goat poo as their feed

[@RobsAquaponics]

I think we need some more larvae in there Brock but hopefully the chooks & fish will both get a fair bit of feed from it :) Have a good one..

[@RobsAquaponics]

Will be testing the stench factor out this week as we have 98-106°F days ahead :D

[@RobsAquaponics]

I feel under appreciated by the fish at times John... At east the chooks are up for a scratch & cuddle every now & then.. ;) Hope your having a great one..

[@meanshoes]

Very , Very interesting Rob Thank you. for a moment I thought I could get the smell of the whole operation :) this must leave you with a fair amount of food for everyone how eats it eh?

[@1949RL]

Try some crickets too.I got a worm bin in grow barrels and crickets in another,Moved some crickets over to worm bin and they seem to be getting larger faster.See ya.

[@RobsAquaponics]

I told Bianca I needed to re-edit it & put that in :D Yes, If you build it, They Will come.. **nods**

[@RobsAquaponics]

Worth a shot though... Have a great one :D»

[@soilgardengro6942]

Very good video ❤❤❤

[@jokerbookshop]

the chickens love the larvae.

[@RobsAquaponics]

Our girls love the BSFL.. We collect them whenever we can from the compost & worm farm to give them a treat.. Cheers & have a great one, Rob.

[@Majorme2]

I'll be doing updates... The real challenge will be keeping them warm enough this winter in the greenhouse .. Those -0 temp are a challenge.. Although I heat with waste oil.. I'm getting my oil stores up as we converse....lucky you no real cold temps... Howard

[@RobsAquaponics]

Sound like you have it sussed.. Any chance of a look at your system once its up & running? Ours flooded so I pulled it down & used the slop to hep heed a compost heap.. Really need to get another up & running here.. Cheers, Rob..

[@mediamaker2000]

I don't think I've ever seen a black soldier fly. I notice the houseflies because they are a pain in the neck. I'll have to look that one up. Could you make something similar but in a smaller scale that would work? Could you make a combination larvae farm and worm farm? It sounds like you already had going on. Is there any reason to keep them separate? Now if you could make one and put it in the top of the chook pen, you could auto feed them ;-)

[@renebermudezromero9080]

gracias por la info y compartir, un buen método sencillo y eficiente saludos desde Mazatlan, Sin, Mex

[@RobsAquaponics]

Espero que la información en el clip te haya ayudado. Que tengas un gran día, 👍👍 Robar (Google translate) I hope the information in the clip helped you out. Have a dreat day, Rob

[@scott98390]

How about an update on the BSF larvae, Rob?

[@CongSon87]

Thank you.

[@kaviarasan7247]

Super brother

[@RobsAquaponics]

Cheers. 👍

[@paultmckay]

Hi Rob, ta for the vid. I spoke to murray too and heard that his perch were not overly fond of the older larvae. We are in melboure and wonder if you know how outher fish species go with them?

[@RobsAquaponics]

Thanks for watching :)

[@Jackmanis]

Hey Rob, Thanks for the info. We have a compost bin for the last couple of years and never knew what these critters were. I get hundreds of them in my compost bin and when it rains and water gets in they high tail it out of there. Then the birds have a feast. My question is, should I be harvesting these guys for any useful purposes? thanks mate

[@Majorme2]

I'm about to enter the BSF raising....

[@RobsAquaponics]

Nice one Howard. Has been a few years since we've had a farm up & running here. Do see loads in the different compost bins around the place though.Cheers & all the best.

[@eduardomacose9198]

Nice video

[@markallen200]

Yeah, you may want them in the chook pen once you get a good whiff of them near the house on a hot day. Hehe! I may try my hand at a video, I am not nearly as personable as you are though.

[@mahaent09]

Whether soldier fly adult rightly attracted and reach the provision made for egg laying...??? How many eggs u r able to notice there in the corrugated sheet...??

[@RobsAquaponics]

I found that scraps like banana & mango peels tend to attract a lot of the BSF. I didn't notice many at all on the cardboard & think the majority of the eggs were laid either onto the bedding itself or elsewhere in the farm. Hope that helps some. Cheers.

[@cliffcouture8382]

Hi Rob. I'm working on my first BSF project here in the Philippines. This is my 3rd retirement project after the worms and my 2 aquaphonics tanks. On my BSF bin, I have recycled a plastic bin i used from the worms. I first put in coconut husks , (just chopped in quarters to keep the plastic netting off the floor of the bin) then added some stones, coffee grinds, and the fruit on top. The problem as i see it , is the mulch and coffee grinds is always very wet and very thick and sticky, almost like glue or paste. I don't see how they can move around in it. There was no liquid coming out of the faucet because it was plugged so I tore it down to start over again. How can I make it so it's not wet? BTW i like all your videos. Keep up the good work Cheers Cliff

[@RobsAquaponics]

+Cliff COUTURE Hi Cliff. Glad you're enjoying the clips mate & hope they give you a few useful ideas. I found that the BSFL love the moist conditions to live in but that sounds a bit too gluey. I haven't done much more with them since this farm as they didn't turn out to be a suitable feed for the jade perch. A great site to check out that can teach you much more than I can is Black solider fly farming. They have a load of great information on the site including plans, clips & a forum. I haven't been there in a while but found the information top notch if that helps any. www.blacksoldierflyfarming.com/? Sorry I'm not much help with the BSFL & hope you find some useful info there. Rob.

[@RobsAquaponics]

+Cliff COUTURE Sorry as well for taking a while to get back to you.

[@vintageb8]

What do you do with the dead BSF adult carcass? Can it be fed back to the maggots?

[@RobsAquaponics]

I never saw any around the farm while it was up & running Irwan. Cheers mate.

[@ConcernedMushroom]

is this system still working for you? I always seem to have trouble getting my BSF grubs to climb up the tubing or pipe or whatever new thing I decide to try for the season :-/ Wouldn't it be funny if all I needed to do was drill a darn whole and have the pipe going into the bucket directly?!?!?!

[@RobsAquaponics]

Hi there. This system was retired when it was flooded out during a thunder storm. I'm looking at building a better one as I had issues with them self harvesting from this unit. Sorry it took a while to get back to you too. |Cheers.

[@ConcernedMushroom]

No worries....thanks for getting back with me at all. :) I always enjoy your videos so thank you. Let me know if/when you find the "perfect set up" and I'll do the same if I do. haha

[@ndbaker74]

Most of the sites i have seen on BSFL state that the adults are rarely, if ever seen. Curious if you have had any adult fly bodies and if the fish or chickens would eat those too...

[@RobsAquaponics]

+ndbaker74 We see the adults around all the time here around the compost piles 👍 I think both the fish & chickens would consider them fair game. 😉 Cheers.

[@RubyWu1994]

Hello I like your new system. I'm a design student working on city food waste. Would that be possible to make it in urban area if I solve the BSF escape problem and providing ease of havesting?

[@RobsAquaponics]

+Ruby Wu Hi Ruby. I think there are better designs than my farm out there. This site has some tried & proven BSFL farm plants that might help you out. www.blacksoldierflyfarming.com/ They are fine to set up in urban setting like we're ,living in. 👍 Hope that helps some. Rob.

[@RobsAquaponics]

I haven't had any farms going since it got washed out in the January rains Scott.. Am hoping to have another crack at them once it warms up a bit.. Cheers :)

[@lolgalit]

by the way is there a posibility not to feed the larve to animal but rather wait till they turn to adults to create more larva?

[@RobsAquaponics]

Hi Olga.. All you need to do is scatter some of the harvested larvae into the soil or a compost pile & loads of adults will emerge.. We have them breeding in our compost pile & worm farms here so there will always be some around.. Hope that helps :) Rob..

[@CoolRanchSociology]

Wait, did you say in the comments below that this setup flooded later on? Was this because of a design flaw, or AOG?

[@RobsAquaponics]

Hey Theodore.. Had a lot of rain storms & the farm just wasn't sheltered enough where it was located under the house.. On the up side, we still have them in the compost pile the farm was emptied into.. Cheers, Rob.

[@ericmastenbrook9020]

I have seen another video about harvesting larvae and he used a metal sifter to separate the larvae from the coconut shavings (He used flour but, same concept). Have you tried doing that instead of trying to pick through to get each one? Seems like it would be a lot faster. Happy Harvesting!

[@RobsAquaponics]

These fellers should harvest themselves Eric.. This unit was working well until the rain flooded it :/ Cheers..

[@ericmastenbrook9020]

No, I mean once they climb out of the barrel and fall into the coco peat. Once they have harvested themselves, to separate them the dry material in the "Harvest bucket"

[@RobsAquaponics]

Ahhhhh, I get you now Eric Mastenbrook.. I ended up using a wire straining ladle to separate the larvae from the coir.. Worked really well :) Cheers mate :)

[@anthonyebenezer2877]

Eric could you tell me why you saw the video about harvesting larvae using metal sifter

[@RobsAquaponics]

No help here but will tag Eric Mastenbrook for you Anthony.. Cheers mate..

[@ericmastenbrook9020]

Looking for supplementing food for my tilapia and bluegill. The gills are pretty picky when it comes to food. They really don't like the pellets. They want live food. I hope that answers your question Anthony Ebenezer . If not, get back to me and I'll try again, because I'm not 100% sure what you are asking. Have a good day

[@adamtolley9129]

nice video how are the fish going feeding on the lavae

[@RobsAquaponics]

+Adam Tolley The jade perch rejected them Adam :/ They love grasshoppers though so they get a dozen or so of them a day at the moment ;) Hope to get a cricket farm set up as I think they'll like them as much as the hoppers. Cheers mate.

[@bhones2504]

Hey Rob! Nice harvester, I'm working to build one, I'll use your as model! Did you improved it over the years ? Any tips? Thank you!

[@RobsAquaponics]

+Bhones Hi Mate. I ended up scrapping this unit a while back after a bad rain storm flooded it out. Haven't set it back up again as I wanted to try a different style that was less complicated. Was thinking of trying the unit the folks from garden pool have made. Will probably tweak it a bit to suit my needs though ;-) gardenpool.org/beneficial-insects/black-soldier-fly-composter-automatic-chicken-feeder Another place with some nice designs is the Black Soldier Fly Farming page if that helps any, www.blacksoldierflyfarming.com/ Cheers mate.

[@bhones2504]

+Rob Bob's Backyard Farming OMG Rob, you are the best! haha! Hugs from Brazil

[@DaleCalderCampobello]

You have nasty pets and just when I was sort of getting over the worms you do this. LOL

[@mediamaker2000]

lol

[@zacrost1621]

Im from future😎

[@RobsAquaponics]

Hope the weather's fine there. 👍

[@TemplarX2]

You must get quality fish from that.

[@RobsAquaponics]

Hi there.. The fish we run (Jade perch) ended up not interested in the BSFL so the chickens ended up with them all.. We don't have the farm up & running any more but have loads in a compost pile out the front.. The chickens get some collected for them a few time a month as a treat.. Cheers & have a great one. Rob.

[@PepperRancher]

Love it :) I made a stop motion showing my BSFL bin here, check it out on my page if you have time :) Black Soldier Fly Larvae Stop Motion "Feeding Time" - BSFL composting

[@RobsAquaponics]

Hi there & nice clips.. What sort of camera did you use if you don't mind me asking? Its sort of mesmerising to watch them in action.. Have you seen the trout clip? Thanks for sharing.. Cherers

[@PepperRancher]

I used a sony action cam HDR-AS10. HOWEVER, I dont like it: 1. the lense is too "fish eyed" and even worse 2. the battery only lasts a few hours while taking 5 second interval shots, leading to 3. You CAN NOT charge the camera while it is in use, meaning 4. You have to miss hours of subject while recharging the battery. The iphone now includes time-lapse function, so I plan to make my next phase of videos in higher definition without having to stop in the middle to recharge. I have seen the trout clip from Mrstummel (same user as backyard boogi i think?) is that the one youre talking about? I admit his video is much better than mine, but I will be working to make some better videos soon :)

[@RobsAquaponics]

Animal Farm Thats the clip.. Have seen it pop up all around the place :-) Am looking at getting a proper video camera here as the poor stills camera is getting a hammering making the clip.. Am looking at setting up a small Styrofoam box farm over the next few days.. Have been saving all the scraps from around the house for it.. Cheers..