HL writes:
“David,
Recently I watched a video of yours in which you mentioned not being thrilled with black soldier fly maggots as composters because they flew away with your fertility. I myself are thrilled with them because they quickly dispose of garbage and I can obtain fertilizer easily by pouring water in their bin and letting it drain out the bottom as “maggot juice.” I get at least one bucket per day of stinky maggot fertilizer this way. I think most of the maggots who migrate out of the bin get eaten by small local wildlife.
Maybe you can give BSF another chance!”
Attached was this photo of a nice black soldier fly bin:
It’s rather like my worm bin:
A tub and a drain with a bucket – my kind of simple!
As for not being thrilled with black soldier flies as composters; yes! that dislike is indeed based on how little compost they leave behind. The maggots are voracious, eating everything they can in a furious orgy and then pupating and flying away with MY COMPOST in their bodies! People talk about how BSF are super efficient at disposing of waste. It’s just… I want some of that waste in my garden, not off in nature somewhere where I can’t get it.
That said – I appreciate the email. HL obviously has a good system going and is doing something I have not tried by using the leachate for fertilizer. It may be a good replacement for what we lose.
If the BSF larvae were also going to chickens rather than being eaten by nature, the design would be stacking functions, permaculture-style.
Thank you for making me think, HL. It would be interesting to make a new bin and test out how the leachate works compared to worm bin leachate, which I am using the same way.
There are so many good ideas out there it’s going to be hard to try them all in one life.
One response to “Give Black Soldier Flies a Chance!”
I have some bins that look very similar to the picture. I have little holes drilled in the top of the lid so rainwater will seep in. The lid has about a 1″ lip that holds the water on top until it has a chance to go through the little holes.
I’ve got some stuff that is 3 years old; I keep adding things to it. It’s rank and the liquid is really dark…the plants seem to like it a lot.