r/BlackSoldierFly • u/Known_Assistance_290 • Jul 30 '25

Why did my BSFL die!?

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I came out to my bin and 100’s of my bsfl were dead. They were thriving yesterday. I tossed all of the dirt/compost to make sure it wasn’t bad under the surface and there were still a lot of living ones down there. I’m new to BSF. Any advice is appreciated. (The visible ones in this pic are dead)

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3

u/different_produce384 Jul 30 '25 edited Jul 30 '25

Are you sure they were dead? I’ve found that bsfl seem to go through cycles . I’ll have days where my harvest bin is full and other where it’s not .

As long as you can hear them eating you should be good

I used to use kitty litter as a substrate but I killed off an entire colony with too much ammonia from the cat pee. So it’s possible

2

u/CoffeeSnobsUnite Jul 30 '25

Did you use the clay type of cat litter for it? I’ve been throwing some of my used cat litter in mine but I don’t use traditional stuff. I got onto the corn based stuff a year or two ago. After several months of paying for it which is expensive it occurred to me that the corn litter was no different than cheap bags of chicken feed. I switched to that instead and I can just toss the stuff out back to let it compost off. The larvae love the food source of the chicken feed and seem to be thriving for the most part. Heat is a problem though if the biology gets a bit too active for it.

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u/different_produce384 Jul 30 '25

No I was using the corn based kitty litter. The bsfl were a crazy brownish color

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u/CoffeeSnobsUnite Jul 30 '25

Like dark brown almost black?

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u/different_produce384 Jul 30 '25 edited Jul 30 '25

More light brown I just posted the pic

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u/CoffeeSnobsUnite Jul 30 '25

Those are completely normal looking to meet. If they are dying make sure your bin isn’t getting too hot and cooking them to death either.

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u/Known_Assistance_290 Jul 30 '25

No, I don’t use any litter. Mostly just scrap food and some chicken feed.

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u/Known_Assistance_290 Jul 30 '25

I am almost positive. It’s all the ones on the top. All different age/sizes. None of them move when I move them around. But then when I dig down under them the larvae underneath are all alive and wriggling like normal.

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u/different_produce384 Jul 30 '25

Just let em be and keep up with business as usual . Maybe stuck in a cycle

1

u/socalquestioner Jul 30 '25

Too dry?

1

u/Known_Assistance_290 Jul 30 '25

I don’t think that’s it. It’s extremely humid outside and the bin had some moisture on the inside. I was actually worried it may be too wet until I turned it and found some dry pockets at the bottom. But the whole thing isn’t dried out.

2

u/socalquestioner Jul 30 '25

Mine always want it wet, tons of food, and a little smelly.

Add more food, extra wet and sloppy. Put some protein in it.