Recent Posts

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 10
1
Black Soldier Fly / Re: Identifying black soldier flies and grubs
« Last post by BelgianPup on September 02, 2010, 03:10:04 PM »
Hello, HornFrog!

The grubs slow down during cold temperatures.  They still eat, but don't change much, and they don't turn into adults.  If temps inside the container get to freezing, the grubs will freeze and die.  Here in WA, I've found live grubs in a compost pile after a freeze of 8ºF for nearly a week.  They appear to stop their progression to the dark brown form, and just continue to exist, waiting for the warmer temperatures of summer (here, anyway).

How cold does it get down there, and for how long at a time?  If the BSF container was placed on a board that crosses your 'fish tank', I wonder if the temps would remain above freezing enough to keep the grubs alive?

As for feeding, one of the moderators here used 'hog feed'.  I'm assuming that is some form of corn.  I'm also assuming that he soaked it.

Sue
2
Troubleshooting / Re: Larvae not in collection bucket
« Last post by BelgianPup on September 02, 2010, 02:55:30 PM »
The experts here say that if the waste is too wet, condensation will form on the walls of the BioPod, and the grubs can use the moisture to crawl up the walls.

Drying out the waste should dry out the walls and keep the grubbies in the container.

You might have to raise the lid of the BioPod a little bit to let excess moisture escape.

Sue
3
Newbies / Re: Say hi (and learn how to post a new topic)
« Last post by HornFrog on September 01, 2010, 08:07:53 PM »
Hello! My name is Marc and I live in Central Texas. I have a small flock of chickens and harvest about 8 to 12 eggs per day. They are free range plus I suppliment their feed with layer's crumble. They are eating tons of grasshoppers this time of the year in our area but still go for the crumble. I am building a new greenhouse and chicken coop which will stand close together with the chicken run between them. I have a 1000 gallon fiber glass tank that I intend to put in the greenhouse to raise tilapia or catfish in an aquaponic system. The Biopod sounds like a great compliment to this system because the BSF have such a high protein and fat percentage to the the feed for either chickens or fish. In this area we have high temps for about summers of 4 months (in excess of 40C or 95F to 100+F). Mild falls and springs with cold 3 winters (more than 40 freezing days and most nights freezing or close). I am trying to sort out whether I need a couple of Biopods or a Protopod to take care of my needs with what I envision ultimately. I like the hanging vermiculture bags and want to put those in as well. I am worried about the winters and the high temps in the summer plus we have fire ants everywhere.
4
Troubleshooting / Re: Larvae not in collection bucket
« Last post by rolivier79 on September 01, 2010, 04:37:28 PM »
I have had this happen too. My waste got wet and the grubs were wet, so i did like jerry did on blacksoldierflyblog.com and put some velcro around it. But as jerry pointed out correctly, the velcro on the slanted side of the ramp will not stop them. It's a small gap but it does happen. Once I got my waste drier, by leaving the drainage cap open and connecting a whose to feed a duckweed try this didn't happen anymore.

You can tell from the picture that this unit was pretty soupy, and was about to crash.



Robert
5
Newbies / Re: Say hi (and learn how to post a new topic)
« Last post by rolivier79 on September 01, 2010, 04:30:23 PM »
Welcome Ian !!! Let us know how it goes down-under.
6
Regional Issues / Re: Hawaii
« Last post by rolivier79 on September 01, 2010, 04:23:56 PM »
Hey Ben,

You probably ran out of food. the fact that everything turned black is something most most people who overfeed a BioPod™ should be looking for.

Feel free to feed up to 1/2 lbs of food waste a day, but don't go over 3 inches.

Here is a good commercial setup that was being fed daily (remember this had probably 50,000 - 100,000 grubs in it):

We would come in and the waste from the day before was unrecognizable and had turned black.



Then we would deposit the waste


The next day we would come back and only deposit when everything was black again.

Obviously when you are seeding a unit, you don't have all those grubs in there. But this is the goal that we are aiming for and I would do this all without feeding more than 3 inches of food.

So add a half pound of food and when you notice that the food has changed (eg 3 days) add another half pound.


Tips from my handout at the workshop in hawaii:
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=1RppNMkQZUM3lfgy88ldrbGssR56PJEGV6qDrekDaYGEDD8meuKhPXQQO-v1x&sort=name&layout=list&num=50

Here are some of the main points to keep in mind when seeding your  BioPod™ Plus in Hawaii. Your altitude and climate should be fine and you obviously are getting them in your compost bin. You do not need an egg laying disk for females to come lay eggs. Did you feed them frequently enough.

Proper Feeding Ratio: up to 1/2 pound of waste a day for first 6-8 weeks.
Do not fill BioPod™ with more than 3 inches of suitable food waste until one inch of grubs are actively present. NEVER ADD LIQUIDS DIRECTLY TO A BIOPOD™.
Place outside in shaded area (to avoid overheating)

Favorable Seeding Materials Include
 Fruits and Vegetables
 Pasta and Breads
 Coffee Grounds
 Coconut Flesh
 Melons
 Fermented Corn Cob
Seeding can last up to 6-8 weeks. The BioPod™ Plus should have no foul odors and have formed a dry coffee like compost (not pasty and stinky) on the bottom.
 
Once Seeded you may start using the following:
5% a day Meats
Fish
Dairy
Citrus
SIMPLE RULE OF THUMB: All of the waste put in one day must be fully digested and reduced before adding waste the following day. After about a week of feeding a healthy colony of grubs, the operator learns what quantity of a particular waste his grubs can handle.

NEVER ADD LIQUIDS to the BioPod™ directly. If surface is to dry you may mist your unit with a spray or soak bread in liquids prior to placing them into the unit.

Drain Frequently or Continuously. The drain fitting on the BioPod™ Plus is designed to be able to attach a Garden Hose.
7
Black Soldier Fly / Re: Identifying black soldier flies and grubs
« Last post by HornFrog on August 31, 2010, 03:13:08 PM »
We have a small flock of 13 laying chickens that we feed and free range. I want to build a new larger coop for them and additional other fowl in future which will stand beside a new greenhouse that will be 12WX40LX9H. A 1000 gallon fiber glass tank (actually an unused church baptistery!) will be inside the greenhouse to raise tilapia or catfish. I want a Protopod to provide a large proportion of food for the fish and possibly to suppliment the chickens. If output of grubs is large enough I could freeze them and feed them during the winter to both chickens and fish. What I was wondering was when do the BSFs die or go dormant when temps in winter drop? Also, if food and plant scraps are too few for the Protopod can I substitute water soaked cracked grain or deer corn?
8
Black Soldier Fly / YouTube video
« Last post by Lumenos on August 30, 2010, 12:14:57 PM »
The YouTube video is no longer available. Is someone gonna answer TerracycleSG?
9
Regional Issues / Re: Hawaii
« Last post by bdiscoe2 on August 29, 2010, 11:41:24 PM »
Hi Robert,
I'm in Ahualoa, on the Big Island, at 2500', cool and moist climate.
I bought a BiopodPlus this year and set it up on June 8.  I found a nice shady place for it, put in around 1" of vegetable scraps, and waited.  A week later, only fruit flies.  So, I 'seeded' the pod with a cup of BSF grubs picked out of my existing compost pile, and watched and waited.  Nothing happened, except the waste turning dark and shrinking. I tried adding a little bit more food.  I tried adding more grubs, still nothing, no sign of grub life inside the unit.  In late July, a small handful of full-sized grubs appeared in the collection bucket (somewhat less than the number I put in).  I tried soaking some corn kernels and adding a sprinkling of them.  One month later, no sign of anything besides dark, shrunken waste.
I've read the manual twice and both Hawaii talk PDFs.  I am still unclear on how the unit is supposed to function.  There is no gap under the main lid or convenience lid, so there's no way for a female to get inside, right?  The original Biopod had holes at the top and a place for the eggs to be laid.  The Plus doesn't have any of that, so it's not clear how it's supposed to work.  In my case, it isn't.
Help?
Thanks,
Ben
10
Newbies / Re: Say hi (and learn how to post a new topic)
« Last post by morrie on August 28, 2010, 12:34:32 AM »
hi all

picking up my new biopod tomorrow
i'm from queensland australia, have a range of animals, chooks, reptiles, fish, aquaponics and wild birds
looking forward to getting some good stuff to feed some of these firnds
cheers
ian
Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 10