resplore | research + exploration

Opening your compost bin and finding these critters can be quite a surprise. The BSFL are in my DIY compost can. I also had these black soldier fly larvae in my outdoor worm bins. I spent hours trying to get these guys out of the worm bins. I ended up searching google for “white worm maggots”, “compost maggots”, “white bugs in compost pile”. It turns out that the black soldier fly larvae are great composters and the red wigglers like to eat what the black soldier flies leave behind. The black soldier fly larvae are beneficial to the composting process. They help to compost kitchen scraps in very small amounts of time. As an additional bonus, the adult flies don’t carry pathogens and are not interested in entering your home like normal house flies. For more info on soldier flies and the beneficial larvae, check out the links below.

Links: Black Soldier Fly – Wikipedia | The BioPod | Black Soldier Fly Blog 1 | Black Soldier Fly Blog 2

When I make a cup of coffee I always put the used coffee grounds in the compost pile. Coffee grounds add nitrogen to the pile. I read online somewhere that Starbucks has a program called grounds for gardens. I went to Starbucks to grab a latte and asked them if I could have some coffee grounds. They said sure… and gave me a 30 pound bag of coffee grounds. I added it to my presto hoop bin. The coffee grounds made the compost pile really heat up. I put some of the coffee in my worm bin and it made the worm bin too hot. I think moderation is the key in a worm bin. Coffee grounds could be used to keep the worm bin warm in the winter.