1. Black
Soldier
Fly
Larvae
Compos5ng
Diver5ng
food
waste
away
from
landfills
by
u5lizing
natural
processes
Hunter
Bradshaw
bradshawrh@email.wofford.edu
Figure
3-­‐
External
and
internal
view
of
the
of
BioPod™
Plus3
All
compost
piles
were
located
in
the
Wofford
College
greenhouse.
Temperatures
inside
the
greenhouse
were
recorded
several
5mes
throughout
the
span
of
the
experiment.
The
first
aNempt
at
seOng
up
a
BSFL
compost
was
unsuccessful
in
reducing
the
food
waste.
The
compost
bin
was
home-­‐made
and
did
not
sustain
a
suitable
moisture
content
for
the
larvae.
The
second
aNempt
implemented
the
used
of
BioPod™
Plus,
a
compost
bin
manufactured
specifically
for
BSFL.
However,
the
larvae
in
the
compost
had
matured
past
the
point
of
ea5ng
and
were
preparing
for
pupa5on.
On
the
third
aNempt,
the
compost
was
inoculated
with
young
BSFL
bought
from
a
third-­‐party
vendor.
Wofford
College
Environmental
Studies
Program:
Senior
Capstone
Project
While
BSFL
are
very
hardy
insects,
several
condi5ons
must
be
met
to
ensure
a
successful
compost.
1. Moisture
content-­‐
The
larvae
have
a
difficult
5me
consuming
dried
food
and
can
drown
in
the
presence
of
too
much
liquid
so
be
considerate
of
what
goes
into
the
compost.
The
BioPod™
Plus
has
a
drainage
basin
to
prevent
drowning
and
occasional
sprays
of
water
will
keep
the
food
moist.
Be
sure
to
keep
the
compost
out
of
direct
sunlight,
as
this
will
speed
up
the
dehydra5on
process.
2. Temperature-­‐
Black
soldier
flies
are
na5ve
the
southern
United
States
and
thrive
best
in
temperatures
ranging
from
60-­‐100°
F7.
There
typically
three
genera5ons
per
warm
season
in
Georgia,
with
larvae
becoming
dormant
during
the
colder
months13.
This
project
spanned
from
late
January
un5l
late
March,
with
atmospheric
temperatures
reaching
as
low
as
9°
F27.
The
greenhouse
sustained
temperatures
high
enough
to
support
an
ac5ve
BSFL
colony
during
this
5me.
Acknowledgements
I
would
like
to
thank
Dr.
Savage,
Dr.
Ferguson,
Professor
Lane,
Dr.
Rayner,
Junk
MaNers,
LLC,
Wallace
Campbell,
David
Thornton,
and
Bruce
Adams
for
their
support
guidance,
thoughrout
this
project.
References
and
addi7onal
resources
Abstract
Consolida5ng
trash
in
landfills
is
now
a
widespread
sanitary
prac5ce.
Landfills
are
essen5ally
a
non-­‐
renewable
resource
because
of
a
limited
holding
capacity
and
restric5ons
on
building
new
ones.
Therefore,
landfills
must
be
used
as
efficiently
as
possible
through
only
receiving
material
that
cannot
be
diverted
elsewhere.
Two
landfill-­‐diversion
methods
are
recycling
and
compos5ng,
with
recovering
recyclables
being
much
more
common.
There
is
a
substan5ally
smaller
percent
of
organic,
compostable
materials
that
is
diverted
away
from
the
landfill,
leaving
much
room
for
improvement.
One
method
of
compos5ng
involves
using
black
soldier
fly
larvae
(BSFL),
a
non-­‐pest
insect,
to
consume
and
minimize
food
waste.
A
colony
of
BSFL
successfully
composted
food
waste
from
Wofford
College's
cafeteria,
located
in
Spartanburg,
South
Carolina.
Experimental
Methods
Discussion
and
Recommenda7ons
Results
The
young
larvae
successfully
reduced
the
food
waste
in
the
compost
and
matured
into
adult
flies.
The
5meline
of
the
third
compost
trial
is
denoted
listed
on
Table
1
(above
right).
Figure
1-­‐
(On
left)
Appearance
of
black
soldier
5ly
in
different
life
stages
1
1.
Black
Soldier
Fly.
Integrated
Pest
Management.
NC
Coopera5ve
Extension.
hNp://ipm.ncsu.edu/AG369/pics/black_soldier_fly.gif
2.
Direct
Compost
Solu5ons.
Life
Cycle
of
a
Black
Soldier
Fly.
hNp://
directcompostsolu5ons.com/wp-­‐content/uploads/2014/08/BSF-­‐care-­‐
card-­‐2-­‐inches.jpg
3.
External-­‐
BioPod.
BioPod
Plus.
hNp://www.thebiopod.com/pages/
biopod-­‐plus_files/bp002b2010-­‐masked002btextx560.png
Internal-­‐
Aquabarrel.
BioPod
Plus,
Soldier
Grub
Composter.
hNp://
www.aquabarrel.com/media/images/products/
abpCbiopod_internalview_500w.png
4.
Prota™Culture.
BioPod™-­‐User’s
Guide.
hNp://www.thebiopod.com/pdf/BioPod-­‐Plus-­‐Manual.pdf
5.
Tomberlin
JK,
Sheppard
DC,
Joyce
JA.
2002.
Selected
life
history
traits
of
black
soldier
flies
(Diptera:
Stra5omyidae)
reared
on
three
ar5ficial
diets.
Annals
of
the
Entomological
Society
of
America
95:
379-­‐386.
6.
Weather
Underground.
Weather
History
for
KGSP-­‐
February
hNp://
www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KGSP/2015/2/23/
MonthlyHistory.html?&reqdb.zip=&reqdb.magic=&reqdb.wmo=
!
Table&1:&Compost!timeline&
2/2/15& Inoculate!compost!with!600!small!larvae!and!743!g!of!food&
2/4/15& Add!223!g!of!food&
2/8/15& Add!851!g!of!food.&
2/11/15& Add!537!g!of!food&
2/15/15& Add!267!g!of!food&
2/16/15& Add!188!g!of!food&
2/18/15& First!6D!instar!larvae!sighted!climbing!migration!ramp&
2/23/15& Add!416!g!of!food.!Eight!mature!larvae!in!collection!bin&
2/24/15& About!30D40!larvae!in!collection!bin&
3/2/15! Majority!of!food!gone.!Around!50D70!larvae!in!collection!bin.!Bugs!active!
because!of!warm!weather!(27.4°!C!at!2:30!pm)!
3/9/15! 100+!larvae!in!collection!bin!
3/11/15! 150+!larvae!in!collection!bin!
3/12/15! Add!299!g!of!food!for!remaining!larvae.!200+!larvae!in!collection!bin!
3/20/15! Add!367!g!of!food!
3/25/15! First!appearance!of!adult!black!soldier!fly!
Figure
2-­‐
(On
right)
Life
cycle,
in
days,
of
the
black
soldier
5ly2
Conclusion
This
experiment
was
at
a
scale
comparable
to
a
home
sized
compost.
With
enough
par5cipa5on,
geographically
suitable
loca5ons
could
substan5ally
reduce
food
waste
coming
from
residen5al
areas.
Furthermore,
this
method
of
compos5ng
can
be
scaled
up
to
provide
cafeterias
and
restaurants
a
free
and
easy
to
maintain
food
disposal
service
that
requires
liNle,
to
no,
transporta5on
of
waste.
Currently,
there
are
only
a
few
formal
scien5sts
exploring
the
black
soldier
flies’
compos5ng
capabili5es.
As
informa5on
increases,
so
will
the
ability
to
u5lize
this
insect
for
a
beneficial
and
sustainable
prac5ce.