What's up gc its ya boy haggard with a question. I turned my compost bin this morning and noticed a large collection of fly maggots in my middle layer. Now I don't think this is bad as long as I thermo my pile with some more grass clippings. So am I right? Or should I start over and toss this into the larger long term pile?
Does it look like there are literally thousands and thousands to the point that when you scrape away the top material the entire mass looks like it's moving around? Most importantly do they look like this image? If so then you're looking at Black Soldier Fly larva (Hermetia illucens) which you can find information about on a number of web sites. You have little to worry about as long as you factor in their rate of consumption on your Nitrogen material. I would post the numbers but they sound so far-fetched it seems unbelievable so you can look around and figure it out for yourself. HTH LD
You ought to see them in action! [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-zAbzRx29I"]Black Soldier Flies vs Fish - YouTube[/ame]
That looks like my old "fish heap" pile at the edge of the property in summer LOL!! After the maggots are done, the wigglers come next. Lordy, anyone who has never left a gut bucket in the Florida heat for a week and then had to dump it is a lucky person indeed. If the smell don't getcha, the visuals surely will.
a little off topic, but i used to work in produce at a grocery store, and they threw all the meat scraps from the butcher & deli in this big barrel. they would keep it for weeks in an open cooler next to the produce prep room until it was full. man it stunk up the whole employee area of the store. fucking sick. anyways, once it was full, some guy driving a huge flatbed with another 20 barrels of scrap would load the barrel up, and they would take all of them to the dog food factory. isnt that great? that video is crazy, though. what are the larvae doing at the end of the video (making it look like a wave)? are they searching for more food?
LD Negative it looks like house fly larva. New England is having 65 degree days in Nov. So flies are everywhere.
Abit it has been raining heavily but the bins on two 2x4s and rains freely. I figured turning it and adding some half rotted leaves would fix it. Yet larvae remain.
And as far as the infestation level, id say only in the first 3 inches. Also my bin is 6 layers of greens brown's including leafs and peat moss from my last grow.