- Jul 15, 2014
- 35
- 4
- 32
Just wanted to show off my very easy and highly productive black soldier fly bin. This is just a cheap home depot plastic garbage can along with a few feet of 2" pvc pipe, 2 2" "street" 90 elbows, 2 kool-aid containers to catch my larvae, a 3/4 pvc T and sleeve and one inch piece of 3/4 pvc pipe on top for fly access, and a cheap Tupperware container to act as my hatchery.
I cut the 2" pvc pipe into one 2 foot and one 3 foot length to give my larvae two ramps to drop into my kool-aid containers. I used a miter saw to cut the ends of both 2" pipes in half and used an old milk container to help funnel the larvae in. All penetrations in the garbage can were done with a razor knife. No glue was used anywhere, so everything can be easily moved and adjusted if necessary.
I used a small piece of wire to attach rolled up cardboard for the flies to lay eggs on...they use it.
The hatchery was a bit of an afterthought, but it is working out well. I throw a few larvae in there and they hatch into new flies. I researched hatching and breeding bsf and most operations are very concerned with lighting and other environmental factors. I just connected the Tupperware container to the garbage can and don't worry about it. My hatched flies stay in there, and new flies coming in through the T on top of the garbage can migrate into there as well. I keep rolled up cardboard in there for them to lay eggs on, and when I notice eggs I hang it from the top of the can on a piece of wire for them to hatch and fall into the can.
My bin is in my rabbit enclosure, so not exposed to direct sun, rain or raccoons. I got a nice jump-start on mine with the huge amount of bsf larvae already under my rabbit cages, but I see new flies going into the top all the time. I haven't had it going very long, but it is already very productive and my chickens love the larvae. The bin is sitting on a cinder block inside a 5 gallon bucket to keep crawling insects out.
I cut the 2" pvc pipe into one 2 foot and one 3 foot length to give my larvae two ramps to drop into my kool-aid containers. I used a miter saw to cut the ends of both 2" pipes in half and used an old milk container to help funnel the larvae in. All penetrations in the garbage can were done with a razor knife. No glue was used anywhere, so everything can be easily moved and adjusted if necessary.
I used a small piece of wire to attach rolled up cardboard for the flies to lay eggs on...they use it.
The hatchery was a bit of an afterthought, but it is working out well. I throw a few larvae in there and they hatch into new flies. I researched hatching and breeding bsf and most operations are very concerned with lighting and other environmental factors. I just connected the Tupperware container to the garbage can and don't worry about it. My hatched flies stay in there, and new flies coming in through the T on top of the garbage can migrate into there as well. I keep rolled up cardboard in there for them to lay eggs on, and when I notice eggs I hang it from the top of the can on a piece of wire for them to hatch and fall into the can.
My bin is in my rabbit enclosure, so not exposed to direct sun, rain or raccoons. I got a nice jump-start on mine with the huge amount of bsf larvae already under my rabbit cages, but I see new flies going into the top all the time. I haven't had it going very long, but it is already very productive and my chickens love the larvae. The bin is sitting on a cinder block inside a 5 gallon bucket to keep crawling insects out.
