Closing The Loop
A worm bin is a whole ecosystem , we know the worms are not the ones breaking down the food that ' s the job of bacteria and fungi . But they are not the only organisms suited to the task , amongst other critters , there is another master composter which has started to attract a lot of attention : the Black Soldier Fly Larvae ( BSFL ).
This is a worm farming magazine so why talk about fly larvae ? Worm farming is , for the domestic users , mainly about diverting our food waste from going to landfills and polluting the environment , however as amazing as they are , compost worms cannot compost everything . Well they can but most bins are small , enclosed systems , we need to avoid some types of food such as protein rich ones including meat and dairy products . Now the interesting bit is that ( BSFL ) can consume that food waste and they do it so fast the food doesn ' t have time to go bad .
Some facts about the BSF and heir larvae :
01 . The adult flies and pupae don ' t sting and don ' t eat and thus are not attracted by human and their food .
02 . At no stage of their life are they considered pests and are not vectors of diseases .
03 . What worms eat in a week they can eat in a day or less .
04 . The pupae are excellent animal feed ( chicken , fish , reptiles etc ...) rich in protein and calcium .
05 . The presence of an established colony of BSFL will reduce the surrounding population of house flies by the secretion of a repelling pheromones and mainly by outcompeting other larvae for food .
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