# Spider Pharm on Discovery Channel



## yen_saw (Feb 5, 2009)

Believe some of us order house fly or fruit fly pupa from Chuck (Spider Pahrm) before. He will be on Discovery Channel - Dirty Job on Tuesday Feb 10. (re-run on 11th, 13th, and 14th). They wil show Chuck's fruit flies room too at certain part of the show, where Mike Rowe and his crew "inhale" quite a bit of the ff :lol: Don't miss out.

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-schedules/seri....x&amp;start=10

By the way, Chuck's "rival" the Oregon Feeder Insects will also be on the show as well.


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## ismart (Feb 5, 2009)

I cant wait to whatch! Thanks for the heads up yen!!!


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## Katnapper (Feb 5, 2009)

ismart said:


> I cant wait to whatch! Thanks for the heads up yen!!!


+1!!! Thanks for the info, Yen!


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## cloud jaguar (Feb 5, 2009)

Thanks Yen Saw - my kids and i love that show - what better way to spend an hour than watch Mike Rowe inhale melanogasters!!!

~Arkanis


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## yen_saw (Feb 5, 2009)

I was informed of this program from Oregon Feeder Insects group which was a surprise as i haven't bought pupa from them for a long time ever since i knew Chuck and Anita 3 years ago. and a call to Chuck confirmed that the crew actually visited them right before Christmas.

Dirty job also visited another of my favorite blue bottle order place - Forked Tree Ranch. Pam is the one usually entertain my order, very prompt shipment i have to say.

Here are couple of short clips

Mike visiting the maggot farm crews

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/dirty-jobs...ot-farmers.html

Pam showing Mike how to prepare fly recipe - proprierietary... phttt i can't spell  

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/dirty-jobs...ood-recipe.html


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## Katnapper (Feb 6, 2009)

Thanks for the additional info and the video links.  Interesting...


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## Dinora (Feb 6, 2009)

OMG I LOVE DIRTY JOBS!!! :wub: 

Mike Rowe is my future ex-husband!  

(cuz I love my husband, so once the novelty of being Mrs. Mike Rowe wears off I'd like to go back to my current hubby. I did discuss this with him and he said he'd take me back. Me and my new alimony check!  )

Thank you Yen!


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## nasty bugger (Feb 7, 2009)

Chucks fly chow was in a bucket that looked like it was filled with mastic, for tile, but it was his fly food.

A big drill with a corkscrew looking bit for mixing the stuff.

He said to use High Protein dog food, and rabbit food, and wood chips, and the special ingredient that is necessary for flies to breed is the protein.

If you've bought the larva I'm sure you smelled the food it came in. It does have it's own 'aroma'  

He said if the protein isn't present the flies won't lay.

He didn't tell me not to disclose his special ingredient, so I guess he's not so worried as they are, but the stuff they had was about the same color as his special ingredient.

He told me that the home fly raiser doesn't need to invest in the special ingredient, just as long as they use high protein chow. I imagine, didn't ask, that the supplement is expensive, since he said the home flier needn't buy it.


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## nasty bugger (Feb 7, 2009)

Incidently, the video has the guy, mike, commenting on the smell, and when I went to the Tucson insectory it had a different aroma.

The insectory owner had a big pile of what he said was insect body parts mixed with wood chips/saw dust, and that it makes excellent compost pile starter/catalyst.

He said the compost will break down much faster with the insect parts and sawdust than it would normally. I do know it had an odd odor, but I can't place it :huh: Musta been the insect guts that threw me...  :lol: 

Told me the next time I get there, in a car, that he'd give me a bag of the compost to try out. I was on the harley, so he didn't want me carrying it on that, though I have a 'queens' seat B) , and carrying rack for stuff, if I'd wanted to haul it, but I didn't.


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## PhilinYuma (Feb 7, 2009)

nasty bugger said:


> Chucks fly chow was in a bucket that looked like it was filled with mastic, for tile, but it was his fly food. A big drill with a corkscrew looking bit for mixing the stuff.
> 
> He said to use High Protein dog food, and rabbit food, and wood chips, and the special ingredient that is necessary for flies to breed is the protein.


I made up some of the breeding mix that he recommends on his site (without the "special ingredient",  this afternoon:

Mix 1/3 cup of ground up dog food with 2/3 cup of boiling water and allow to cool, stirring occasionally until lukewarm. Then stir in a teaspoonful of sugar with a pinch of yeast added; put the mixture into a deli pot, and cover with wood chips. Put that into the sleeve.

I just went and checked, and they're all over it, like flies on... well, egg-laying media, I guess! :lol:


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## yen_saw (Feb 7, 2009)

nasty bugger said:


> Incidently, the video has the guy, mike, commenting on the smell, and when I went to the Tucson insectory it had a different aroma.


Pam (Forked Tree Ranch) uses Salmon guts and waste to raise the larvae/grubs and that is probably the smell Mike and his crew experiencing. The crew does look like a surgery group though


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## Frack (Feb 8, 2009)

Awsome, thx for letting us know Yen! As soon is it warms up outside Im gonna be breeding flys so maybe I can get some good tips from the show. I would think a culture made of dead bug parts would be pretty gross, I wonder how they keep mites and stuff like that out of it.


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