How to get rid of black soldier flies' babies in my bokashi compost bins?
Gina asked 3 years ago
I live in the city and have a small balcony. I have filled 8 bokashi bins now, some bins are the standard commercial version (with faucet on bottom for liquid), some are modified from 5 gallon buckets. All of them have been doing fine, but yesterday when I check the bins, two of them have black soldier fly’s babies in them! Yes, I say babies, because I am a loser and can’t even bear the sight of the name of the thing. It’s moving, and I literally trembled in hot summer.
I know they can be beneficial, but I can’t get over my fear/disgust of them. I checked the bins carefully and it seems that the two bins having problems are ones with a small crack on top, which I hope is the only reason that the flies got in and breeds the babies. I immediately taped the cracks to avoid more flies from coming in. but I don’t know what to do with what’s already inside. Will they populate? What will happen the next time I open the lid? Will they affect my other nicely sealed compost bins? I can’t imagine it.
How can I politely invite them out? I apologize for being such a loser, but I really have bad dreams about this…
Sorry about the vent…
Nicki Casley Staff answered 3 years ago
This is almost certainly the result of your bins not sealing well. They really do need to be airtight. If you want to save the contents of the bins, then we suggest you make the bins airtight and mix in some more bokashi. Also, be sure that your bokashi is still fresh (less than one year old, ideally) and that it has been stored properly (room temperature, in a sealed container or bag, out of the direct sunlight). With viable bokashi, and an airtight bin, the fly’s should never be a problem.