816 gram harvest from Blue Protein Laboratory. Lighting up with smart control system.  Misting system in action. Stocking Pupae ​All equipment available through EVO Shop ..read more

Wisdom from The Wizard of Oz–an American classic movie (adapted from a series of books by L. Frank Baum): If you did not recognize the play on words in the title, they come from the phrase, "lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my!". Briefly, this was an expression chanted by characters in the aforementioned movie who feared that they may come in contact with these animals as they journeyed through a forest to visit the "great and powerful Wizard of Oz" who allegedly could solve all of their problems. So how does this relate to rearing edible insects? Well, if you have not already, there is a go ..read more

How many times have you seen, “By 2050 the human population is expected to grow to… and feed/food production will need to increase by…”?   The fear of food insecurity is real. But we have seen its ugly face before­ during the first and second world wars. This leads me to wonder: can food conservation efforts in the past help us address the issue of food insecurity now and in the future?   Maybe.   Today, we suggest using insects to mitigate protein deficits; during the world wars, at least in the US, the solution was to eat animal organ meats (e.g., kidneys, liver, heart). Simil ..read more

I am excited to contribute to this blog and talk about all things black soldier fly. But first, a little about me... It is fair to say that I am not your typical "bug loving" entomologist. In fact, as a child I was terrified of insects- and to be honest- I still am to some extent. So how does someone who fears insects go on to study and then work for a company that mass rears them? This seems odd. I know. The simple answer is that I have a greater love for domestic animals (and I am not afraid of the insects that plague them). There hasn't been a time in my life that I did not have a pet. I ..read more

Diet is one of the most widely studied topics in BSF literature. So many articles—so many different diets. The information can be overwhelming, but the bottom line is that diet impacts growth and development. You may be thinking, well, that’s a no-brainer.   We have seen countless times that if we feed BSF a low-quality diet, we can expect prolonged development, reduced larval weights, and reduced survivorship, etc.  But, do you know why this occurs?   Metabolism is key—the feed we give BSF is either assimilated into new biomass or is utilized to generate energy. I recently foun ..read more

Figuring out how Nature operates, replicating the process, and industrializing has been a 'holy grail' of humanity since the beginning of time for a multitude of topics. For example, and the first thing I thought of, 'lightening strikes the ground' and fire is produced- so take a piece of flint, strike a rock, get sparks and fire can be produced. Better yet- if it can be recreated- can we then use it as a model to better understand the process and enhance it (thinking lightening creating fire evolving to harnessing atoms to produce heat). The same is being done with the black soldier fly. Som ..read more

I really like when the title truly captures the message being conveyed in a publication. This paper is an example of such an accomplishment. Given that several authors are from Colombia- I tend to believe the message is personal and sincere.   The authors provide an overview of the black soldier fly as a means to create stable agricultural production in nations experiencing instability. While, I personally, appreciate the black soldier fly being used as the example, I believe it is only the beginning. As you all know, there are a number of other species that offer such opportunities. Re ..read more

Egg production is the original point of the whole process--the magic starts right there. Egg collection is one of the most important steps that have a fundamental impact on the following successful black soldier fly culturing. In a commercial black soldier fly farm, egg processing could be expensive due to the special handling protocols needed. ORI_1130 is a product from extensive research and trials on industrial scale reproduction of black soldier fly. It dramatically reduces the cost associated with egg trap preparing and egg handling. Product patent pending. PCT Application No. PCT/CN202 ..read more