Breeding BSFL at home (pic heavy)

After a while of wondering if it would work, and a bunch of tweaking, I've got the whole BSFL (phoenix worm) life cycle going strong!

First, here's my grow-out bins for the larvae: Just some 5 gallon buckets, propped up on bricks, with a small plastic shoebox rimmed in stick-on velcro for a collection bin. They are fed various kitchen waste, such as apple core, veggie skins, etc. I also throw a bit of wet chicken feed or wet dog or cat food in about once a week to make sure they get vitamins. Please excuse the mess, this is in my shed.


Here's the adult breeding bin: This is an early rendition, but you can see what's inside better. I now have more dirt and a bigger attractant bin.

A more up to date picture. You can see that I added 1"-2" of dirt and some leaf litter, also a strip of sticky velcro to prevent crawl out by the pre-pupae. It's a little more difficult to see because of the humidity in there (but that's a good thing for them). Also, a much bigger attractant bin for them to lay their eggs in. I have wet dog food in it at the moment, though wet chicken feed or used coffee grounds will work too.


I'm unsure of the precise size of the tote, it's approximately 20" by 13" by 13". It was the only thing I didn't have to buy.

I cut the lid holes with one a bit bigger than the other all the way around.

I then used the larger hole for ventilation with a screen. You can see here the hole I made in the side to allow for more light:

And used the piece cut out of the larger hole to make the door on the smaller hole, with small zipties for the hinge:


A peek through the door:


As for the rest:
A small fake plant for the adults to rest on. This is important, because it allows the males to set up little 'territories' on the leaves. The males fighting for territories gets the females 'in the mood'.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Seasonal-Inch-Plant-Bush/989298181

Styrofoam half ball to keep the plant secure. I just jammed the stem into the styrofoam and buried it in the dirt so the plant can't fall over.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Make-It-Fun-Floracraft-Styrofoam-Half-Ball-4/36741931

I'm using these clip lights, one sits on top of the screen, and one is duct-taped to the side:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bayco-SL-300-8-5-Inch-Clamp-Light-with-Aluminum-Reflector/14003467

And these LED lightbulbs. I like LED because they only get comfortably warm. The flies actually sit on the bulbs sometimes with no ill effects.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-LED-Light-Bulb-16W-100W-Equivalent-A19-Daylight/2243356

The lights are on a timer, and on from 9 AM to 3 PM. I couldn't find a timer at Wal-mart with 2 plugs, it was actually cheaper to buy a single plug timer and a multi-plug.


Now, as to the care:
Adult BSF don't eat... They actually CAN'T eat, due to no mouth parts. I've heard that they can drink, however, so humidity buildup is very good to have. To keep up the humidity, I spritz the egg-bait, then lightly on the dirt. Not too much on the dirt! If the pre-pupae think they're going to drown, they'll try to crawl out and leave nasty muddy streaks all over the inside of your bin. Not harmful or anything, as they can no longer get out since I added the velcro, but what you really want is for them to burrow down and progress to pupae, not freak out and try to escape.

About once a week, I remove the egg-bait, (which is full of tiny baby worms, 1/8" - 1/4" long) dump it all into my grow-out buckets, and refresh the attractant.
That's my one flaw with this design, is trying to get the egg-bait out without letting all the grown ups out... I'm still working on that, as it's a pain to have to chase down all the adults who fly out.

Also, I'm working on being very selective with who gets to breed. When I sort the pre-pupae who've crawled into the collection bin each day, I only select the biggest and fattest 10-20% to put in the breeding bin. I"ve definitely noticed a difference after about a month--I used to get only a few of the big ones (sometimes I had to dip as low as 5% to only take big pre-pupae for breeding), but now I'm getting 80-90% giant fat pre-pupae.

Thanks for the info and good writeup! How is the smell in and around the bin? I've heard that this is often best as an outdoor project due to the smell.

I would definitely say the grow-out bin is an outdoor/shed project. There is a smell from the decomposing foods. Although, if you have it outdoors and not in a shed, make sure you protect it from rain and predators. I learned the hard way that possums are very fond of the grubs and had to start over.

The adult bin doesn't really smell much, as the egg-bait is changed out often enough for it not to have much smell. Using old coffee grounds produces the least amount of smell as egg-bait. So I could definitely see the adult breeder box being kept indoors.

Thanks for this! I've asked a couple of times but no one's been able to give an answer; now I can give it a shot!

If doing the BSF farm in the carport or garage or garden shed , Cam , beware of the resident wild West Aus geckos and smaller skinks who will be only to happy to visit the bins and pig out on the maggots, pupae and flies, you farm will "draw them like flies".

I know of someone who tried a similar thing with crickets, only to have the local geckos and frogs come visiting every night .... he had the best fed wild frogs and geckos in the neighbourhood.

Small addendum:
I'm now dumping the egg-bait either every other day, or every 2 days. I was getting so many babies that they felt overcrowded and tried to escape.
And unlike the big pre-pupae, the tiny babies can get through the velcro just fine...
I know when it's time to dump the bait when it has a 'honey-comb' look from all the little babies chowing down on it. If you look real close, you can see a few of the tiny white newborns.