THE BLACK SOLDIER FLY
In our fight for a cleaner and healthier future, the Black Soldier Fly stands out as a front-line solution for a significant number of issues we face today. These tough little guys transform organic waste into valuable feed products at an amazing rate.
BLACK SOLDIER FLY BLOG POSTS
Not Feed Alone
Not Feed Alone While producing ingredients for animal feeds and reducing volumes of food waste is the main focus of black soldier fly husbandry, there is an increasing interest in high value-added products. Understandably, a lot of research effort focused on chitin and chitosan, which are important biopolymers with multiple industrial applications. However, there are …Read More
Black Soldier Flies Fight Alien Invaders
Black Soldier Flies Fight Alien Invaders Invasions by non-native species that become economically and environmentally damaging pests is a very important problem facing people around the world. Water hyacinth is one such species. While it definitely has pretty flowers, this plant forms dense mats floating on the surface of lakes and rivers. It clogs waterways, …Read More
Brave as a Chicken
Brave as a Chicken In American folklore, a chicken is synonymous with cowardice. This is not necessarily a fair assessment, but it is very common. Therefore, calling somebody a chicken equals questioning this person’s bravery. It would have been really cool if feeding on black soldier fly larvae made chickens as brave as lions (except …Read More
Antibiotics in Their Guts
Antibiotics in Their Guts Similar to other species, black soldier flies have a complicated relationship with a wide variety of microorganisms living both inside and outside of their bodies. These relationships may affect many different parameters, including both their ability to thrive in a particular environment, as well as their performance as waste decomposers. A …Read More
Squaring a Circle
Squaring a Circle Black soldier flies can be a great component in a circular economy, in more than one way. However, they cannot always perform miracles. For example, they cannot feed on biogas digestate (which is a fancy term to describe leftovers of processing waste into biogas). While this is sad, it is also not …Read More
Under (Fly) Armor
Under (Fly) Armor Recent publication discusses microscopic structure of black soldier fly cuticle. Notably, it contains a lot of information on calcium deposits, which make this insect an excellent food source for pet reptiles. Rebora, M., Salerno, G., Piersanti, S., Saitta, V., Morelli Venturi, D., Li, C. and Gorb, S., 2023. The armoured cuticle of …Read More
Not Fish Alone
Not Fish Alone Even though, ironically, the article introduced in this post was published in a scientific journal called Fishes. However, that study tested the suitability of black soldier fly larvae as feed for different seafood, whitelegged shrimp. Fly meal proved to be generally superior to fish meal and provided favorable return on investment. Its …Read More
It’s in the Genes
It’s in Their Genes Nutrient composition of black soldier fly larvae is strongly influenced by what they eat. There are more and more studies documenting this relationship. However, it is also important to understand physiological and genetic mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. Article below moves in that direction. Sukmak, R., Suttinun, C., Kovitvadhi, U., Kovitvadhi, A. …Read More
You Are What You Eat Part III
You Are What You Eat Part III Another paper came out reporting that nutrient content of black soldier fly larvae are affected by their diets. This is important when incorporating them into formulated animal feeds. Raju, M.V.L.N., Rao, S.R., Paul, S.S., Prakash, B., Reddy, M.R., Kannan, A., Shanmugam, M. and Kumar, P.S.P., 2023. Source variation …Read More
Black Soldier Fly News
New information on black soldier flies becomes available pretty much daily. Business deals are being struck, facilities are being built, original research publications appear in a wide variety of scientific journals, and news articles appear in popular mass media.
General Information on Black Soldier Flies
There's a reason that black soldier flies have created such a buzz recently. Everyone from big ag to backyard chicken farmers are realizing that black soldier flies are an innovative, inexpensive, green, and humane way to produce healthy, high-protein feed for livestock and even people. If your interest has been piqued, please explore.
Black Soldier Fly Myths and Misconceptions
As the idea of farming of black soldier flies gains track with agriculturalists, researchers, and general public, the amount of available information explodes. Much of it is valuable and contributes to further development of this technology. Some of it needs further verification. Some of it, however, is not entirely correct (or is entirely incorrect). We compiled a list of common misconceptions about this rather remarkable creature and its place in modern agriculture.
Feed Black Soldier Flies to Your Chickens
A chicken is not a penguin. Neither is it a pelican, nor a cormorant. It is not even a puffin. This does not seem like a particularly astute observation. Yet, fishmeal constitutes a considerable proportion of many commercially available chicken feeds. This creates a rather unnatural situation.
How About Green, Cruelty-Free, High Protein Food for Your Dogs and Cats?
Pets are family. There is little doubt about that. However, they belong to different biological species. Therefore, their physiology and, hence, nutritional requirements are different. They cannot have the same diet as humans do. At the same time, they should not eat garbage just because it is not fit for human consumption. Black soldier flies may help addressing this issue.
Black Soldier Flies are Reptilian Superfood
Not all pets are warm and fuzzy. Quite a few of them are on a cooler side and covered with scales. Among the insect species commonly used to feed pet reptiles, black soldier flies stand out because of their unique nutritional value. Making them a regular part of your scaly pets' diet will be highly beneficial for their health and well-being.
Black Soldier Fly Farming
So, you've decided to become a bug farmer. Friends and relatives are seriously concerned about your mental health, while the person you had been dating for a while left you for a financial industry executive. Still, this enterprise will be totally worth it in the end, as long as the right approach is taken.