Black Solider Fly Composting Bin- Easy Set up Design, Efficient and Low -Maintenance, Turn Your Food Waste into Rich Organic Soil, high -Protein Animal Feed

The bugs don't build up as fast as we may have thought, but that's probably due to the amount of compostables put in the container. We need more of these! They do work great and our chickens love the treats every so often.

I've had this for a few years, with less success than makes me happy. Rather frustrated when i check on the bin, and as you can see in the photos... the 500 ct. bsf's i've purchased are basically all dead. I think someone needs to clarify how to keep them from settling to the bottom and suffocating in their own mess, please? Last year, i placed a 1/4" steel mesh on the bottom, and for several months that actually provided larva to harvest from the removable side collection trays. This year, i added coco coir and hydroton clay pebbles, trying to fix the problem. In the 3 photos, you can see that was not a successful method. I would love to hear from ppl that know what i am struggling with, who overcame the trouble, please?

We have been raising soldier flies for over 10 years. Previously, we made our own from d coolers, Rubbermaids, and 55 gallon drums. They all worked well but we ended up wity so many poultry and fish to feed that the convenience of having a ready made bin that is molded with a lip to prevent escape is worth the price! We have been using ours for 6 years. Recently, I lost the pins but Vermitek came through and I was able to get new ones. Replaceable parts is an important part of any self sufficient lifestyle so I was glad Vermitek offers them instead of telling us to buy a whole new unit. We changed the drain on ours by attaching PVC with holes drilled in it to get a little bit better drainage, but it was easy to do. BSF larvae domt do to well with cellulose, so we start our compost in these bins and then move it to a rotating bin or pile once the grubs are done. That way, you get the benefit of harvesting the grubs before they pupate into adults and fly away with your nutrients, and you still get more complete breakdown in your second bin. If you skipped the grub bin, you would still probably get BSF but isolating them and harvesting them would be much harder so you would lose the nutrients in each grub that matured and flew away. By harvesting the grubs and feeding them to your critters you retain the nutrients in your system.

I like this thing but I’ve run into a few problems that I am trying to work out. I like that it’s a dark color. Doesn’t stand out in the garden. It’s not real noticeable. I like that I can compost food waste in it because my yard is too small for a big compost bin. Between this and my two bokashi buckets I’m able to add small amounts of compost regularly to my garden beds and pots. My first batch of larvae never left the bin. They would not use the ramps. It was below 50% humidity outdoors so that’s a possible factor. If I misted it, they’d use it, but it was impossible to keep the humidity up inside, even with the compost being very moist and keeping it in a shady area. After a rainstorm I had a small exodus into the collection bins. I tried several methods to separate them from the compost and waste and none worked well. By the time they got to the dormant stage I just dumped the bin and let the chickens dig through the mess. I collected enough to start the love cage and accepted I’d have to start anew. My second batch of larvae did much better with the outdoor humidity well above 60%. Now that it’s June the cycle of the bin is doing much better. I live in the Deep South so the humidity is currently above 80%. Great for the flies. The filter at the bottom clogged up but it’s to be expected when tossing wet food items in there. Not a big problem for me so far. Ants… keeping ants out of this box is almost impossible. I rubbed vasoline at the areas they were trekking in and that helped until they found a new way in. I was okay with them until yesterday when I saw them packing off live larvae. I’m going to try to put this bin on legs and treat the legs to prevent ants from getting in. There is no place for the soldier flies to lay. I’ve had them lay on the walls, which dried up in the heat. They lay inside the collection containers where there’s no food. This bin doesn’t come with any type of eggie system. I created a hardware cloth rack to sit just above the compost and set a few eggies on it. Some made from stacks of cardboard. Some from wooden medical tongue depressors. The cardboard got more “love.” However. Annoyingly, they liked the folds of the rubber bands holding the stacks together way better! I didn’t realize it and squished several clusters… the rubber bands breakdown super fast, so I’m going to try something else to hold the stacks together. The cost. Well, I feel like the cost is a bit high. I think the bin should have legs to deal with the ants and it should include an eggie system for the price. I would probably order again because I do like the design, the color, and it does work…. Plus, I’m too lazy to build my own. I accept it’s got a few issues that need to be addressed but again, I think legs and an eggie set up should be included for the price.

After seeing a few in Florida while on a trip I bought one to try out and see how I could do. The system is easy to setup. I didn’t have instructions in my container but it’s easy to put together by the company picture. The larva make the food media into a frass liquid over time, the container has an auto drain when the frass/liquid increases in the bottom. The stuff is liquid gold for plants when diluted in regular water. My hens love that I have live BSF larva and the food waste my hens wouldn’t eat is now consumed by the larva. After 14 days the larva started to self harvest by climbing up the ramps and falling into the collection bins. The product is $20 cheaper now buying direct from their website versus from Amazon.

Love love love this BSF composting bin. It was so easy to acquire a large amount of larva in a very short amount of time. I almost got a Bio Pod until I saw this bin on Amazon and I'm so glad I did. This is WAY better than the bio pod and it's much easier to use. I had thousands of bsf larva within the first month. But I also hung strips of cardboard inside my bin for the adult flies to lay there eggs in. I highly recommend doing this if you want a lot of larva quickly. I use the larva to make compost sooo quickly and I feed some of the larva that I harvest to my bearded dragon and I give a ton to my friends for their chickens and quail and I still have plenty left to throw on the ground near my bin to Pupate,mate,and restock my bin with bsf larva. Worth every penny!!

What am I doing wrong. I have fly larva crawling on the outside of my bin?