Black Soldier Fly Composting Bin

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.

Yes, this is more expensive than I thought was reasonable for some basic plastic pieces. Yes, definitely smaller than expected. However, yes, it works as intended! My initial compost (old leaf bucket) already had soldier fly larva so it was a simple transfer and today my chickens and ducks got some snacks while composting is working well under those lids. So far so good

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?

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.

I have built 3 different DIY BSFL bins but they never really worked. Finally decided to pay the high price for this one. I have s as n ongoing wild soldier fly colony in my compost bin but extracting and washing was disgusting. Used it to seed this bin and my reptiles now have easy quick healthy treats! If more people buy this hopefully production can upscale and price decrease. It’s a very effective design. I set it up on blocks and used 2” of pine bedding as a base.

Not very well put together held together by skewers rather than a nut an bolt lots of airflow holes but failed to add screening so every thing just escapes. Restarted my cologne multiple times last year just for them to morph an fly off. Only recommend this if u need compost teas so only red wrigglers or night crawlers as bsfl will escape at a alarming rate

I had nice black soldier flies in my regular compost bin, so I thought I could set this up and get it running very quickly. But it took quite a long time (few months) for the soldier flies to find it and start populating. In the meantime the houseflies we’re going crazy over my compost, and that was not very desirable. Smelly!Now that I have my black soldier flies established, I get about 2 cups of larve every couple of days which is pretty fun.