the BSF only lives a week or so. If you were to start with your own grubs(phoenix worms) then as they mature you will have introduced BSF into your area if there are none at the time. The compost tea that is a by-product from the composting will attract the BSF to lay their eggs. The tea will also deter other flies from inhabiting your pod. There may be other soldier flies at first (there are over 20,000 species) but the BSF will prevail in time. It would be interesting to see a working operation of the bio-pods or any other phoenix worm farm. Keeping the BSF in check to ensure only captive bred would be extremely difficult as these intriguing creatures are used in many other apps other than producing the wonderful grubs that our dear herps eat. Uses include composting animal waste, human food waste (they make a pod for event usage as in concerts) , an additive in poultry eed to increase protein intake, also added to other feeds for the same, using them in landfills greatly reduce the food waste we toss on a daily basis thus reducing the methane build up as the grubs devour it rapidly, fish farms use as a feeder ... actually the uses are extremely wide spread. Many backyard gardners reap the benefits of the pod as the composting only takes a mere 24-36 hours versus the months a typical composting bin takes to produce the same. At first I was sceptical in the benefits of having a working pod but as the benefits unfold it looks like a great alternative just for the gardening aspect for household usage. A person with horses or any livestock can benefit as the manure pile accumulates the grubs break down the manure to usable fertilizer in a fraction of the time . The "tea" has a few uses as a liquid concentrate fertilizer and a pest fly deterent. Also to be used as an attractant for the BSF to lay eggs in a place for easy collection to hatch more grubs. Think of the typical garbage a household either throws away or sends down the disposal. 5 pounds per day typical for a family of 4-6 will be reduced to a pound af compost. 100 pounds of garbage plus 1 pound worth of grubs will give you 5 pounds of compost, several quarts of "tea" and a whopping 20 pounds of more grubs. Really worth looking into even if you are hesitant to feed the grubs to your herps. You can always use them as fish food or even bait. The BSF will thrive well in the warmer regions but can survive in the colder areas except the winter times as the grubs will need some heat to survive the winter. These are things I have read both from the bio-pod site and their message board including some blogs from members there.
