# Housefly maggot harvesting



## mantidian (Jun 17, 2009)

hi  

Well I'll be breeding flies sooon and I've got afew questions:

1) Is it nessesary to sift them through flour sifters and put them in flour?

2) Will the going-to-pupate maggots come out of the media by itself to pupate or must something be done to help them pupate?

3) If the answer for question 2 is that they will come out automatically, must there be like a barrier to prevent the maggots from wandering away?

got the info from spiderpharm.

cheers

jonjoe


----------



## Katnapper (Jun 17, 2009)

I really don't know how it works as I've never done it myself. But I do believe you use cornmeal, not flour, to store the pupae in.


----------



## lectricblueyes (Jun 17, 2009)

A boy named Jonjoe said:


> hi  Well I'll be breeding flies sooon and I've got afew questions:
> 
> 1) Is it necessary to sift them through flour sifters and put them in flour?
> 
> ...


I think breeding flies is fun, and can be a good way to save money. Oh, and you have flies available whenever you need them.

Personally, I spent $20 on a house fly breeding kit. You could make your own kit if you have the time. I also found a DIY article on making a pretty crazy fly breeding.. tank... bucket... gizmo. It looks very serious though... seemed like too much for me. Since I do feed a combo of fruit flies, crickets of various sizes, I wanted to add flies but not have some massive (smelly) breeding contraption.. I went with the "House-Fly Breeding Kit" which is small.. and easier to manage.  

Anyway... it took me 2 weeks (and still counting) to get the House Fly Breeding Kit from SpiderPharm though, it includes 500 house fly pupae and all you need to start breeding... along with a printed guide.

For me, the kit saves time... since.. for the next week or two I'll be working 12-14 hour days... it was worth it for me to not have to buy all the materials needed..etc and by the time I'm done with this temp job... I'll have tons of time to mess with the flies and my mantids  

I know this doesn't exactly answer your questions but I might have answers when the kit arrives in the mail tomorrow.


----------



## PhilinYuma (Jun 18, 2009)

LectricBlueyes said:


> I think breeding flies is fun, and can be a good way to save money. Oh, and you have flies available whenever you need them. Personally, I spent $20 on a house fly breeding kit. You could make your own kit if you have the time. I also found a DIY article on making a pretty crazy fly breeding.. tank... bucket... gizmo. It looks very serious though... seemed like too much for me. Since I do feed a combo of fruit flies, crickets of various sizes, I wanted to add flies but not have some massive (smelly) breeding contraption.. I went with the "House-Fly Breeding Kit" which is small.. and easier to manage.
> 
> Anyway... it took me 2 weeks (and still counting) to get the House Fly Breeding Kit from SpiderPharm though, it includes 500 house fly pupae and all you need to start breeding... along with a printed guide.
> 
> ...


I 've used both the kits you mention Dave. The spiderPharm kit has good materials and good directins, though my tubing was slip-on and I replaced it with threaded tubes and street ells. About the only thing not provided was the piece of 2x4 and that is essential for keeping the flies in, I discovered.  

The bucket kit is not nearly as dufficult to make as it sounds, and once I had the materials, I built it in about 15 minutes, If you should make it and report on it though, *do not mention what you are supposed to use to cover the bucket!* I did, and Rick laughed so hard that he went into convulsions and had to be taken to the hospital.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!


----------



## Katnapper (Jun 18, 2009)

LectricBlueyes said:


> I think breeding flies is fun


Hmmm.... I want to know if you still feel this way about a month or 2 from now! :lol: I'm sorry Dave... but "fun" just isn't quite the word I'd use to describe it. I tried it (well, started a try at it anyways) with one of those styrofoam trays with the moisture absorbing pack glued onto it, from a family pack of raw chicken pieces. I aborted the experiment after less than a week. I couldn't stand the horrid smell! I'd witnessed lots of flys on it, crawling around and likely laying eggs. It was outside on the back deck even... but I just couldn't stomach it. I had to throw it out (gagging) before I even witnessed maggot production!


----------



## mantidian (Jun 18, 2009)

and what exactly is the "bucket method"?

and why panty-hose?


----------



## lectricblueyes (Jun 18, 2009)

PhilinYuma said:


> I 've used both the kits you mention Dave. The spiderPharm kit has good materials and good directins, though my tubing was slip-on and I replaced it with threaded tubes and street ells. About the only thing not provided was the piece of 2x4 and that is essential for keeping the flies in, I discovered.  The bucket kit is not nearly as dufficult to make as it sounds, and once I had the materials, I built it in about 15 minutes, If you should make it and report on it though, *do not mention what you are supposed to use to cover the bucket!* I did, and Rick laughed so hard that he went into convulsions and had to be taken to the hospital.
> 
> Good luck and let us know how it goes!


Haha.. Phil you always have the right words to make me laugh/smile. I hope that kit arrives today  I'd like to get started on it. My fruit fly cultures are loaded with maggots but not fruit flies. Too new and my mantids are pretty darn hungry.

The bucket/kit... how does one extract the fruit flies out of it? How aweful does that smell? (I 'm back in an apartment again lol). Regarding what you had to buy in the store in order to make the kit.... the key is to NOT put it on your head BEFORE you pay for it.... that's the big tip... the other thing is.... while it might be strange/embarrassing for you to purchase that *item*.... it's not as odd as buying doggy treats and personal lube at the same time!


----------



## hibiscusmile (Jun 18, 2009)

Good thing I pretend I dont understand


----------



## Katnapper (Jun 18, 2009)

What's the big deal about buying panty hose?  It's not like it's a feminine protection product.  Hmmm... you know how people are always asking about the foam stoppers for cups? Maybe I ought to suggest... well, nevermind! :lol: 

Edit: Oh... forgot to add...



hibiscusmile said:


> Good thing I pretend I dont understand


Hehehe!!  :lol:


----------



## PhilinYuma (Jun 18, 2009)

LOL Katt! I taught all my sons that so long as they were sure of their own manhood, they need never worry about what anyone else felt. Generally a man's embarassment in such situations is entirely subjective. No one else, including the clerk, really cares. I did have one incident a few months ago, though, when I bought a pair of panty hose and the clerk, a middle aged woman, was overly coy. She asked me, _sotto voce_, if I would like them wrapped in tissue (I was going to toss them in my bag) and looked Apropriately Discrete. When she had duly wrapped them and taken my money, I gave her my best Elderly Gentleman smile amd said, "If these don't fit me, can I return them? She was still spluttering about store policy on "intimate apparel" when I left.  

Dave: A real answer to yr question later.


----------



## mantidian (Jun 19, 2009)

okay...anything related to the questions?


----------



## Katnapper (Jun 19, 2009)

Sorry about that...  

2) Will the going-to-pupate maggots come out of the media by itself to pupate or must something be done to help them pupate?

They will come out by themselves... no help needed.

3) If the answer for question 2 is that they will come out automatically, must there be like a barrier to prevent the maggots from wandering away?

You will need to have them in some type of an enclosure, yes, to keep them 1) from wandering away; and 2) to keep them from flying away when they pupate.

That is what the bucket and pantyhose is for.


----------



## mantidian (Jun 19, 2009)

Katnapper said:


> Sorry about that...  2) Will the going-to-pupate maggots come out of the media by itself to pupate or must something be done to help them pupate?
> 
> They will come out by themselves... no help needed.
> 
> ...


Thanks! I bet phillinYuma wears panty hoses!


----------



## Katnapper (Jun 19, 2009)

A boy named Jonjoe said:


> Thanks! I bet phillinYuma wears panty hoses!


 :lol: :lol: :lol:


----------



## lectricblueyes (Jun 19, 2009)

A boy named Jonjoe said:


> Thanks! I bet phillinYuma wears panty hoses!


You should see Phil's bra collection! He even has tassels!!!


----------



## mantidian (Jun 19, 2009)

LectricBlueyes said:


> You should see Phil's bra collection! He even has tassels!!!


And under his wig is actually long silky pink hair!! and how would we know if he wears glass slippers?!


----------



## PhilinYuma (Jun 19, 2009)

Well, Dave, Jonjoe, you guys certainly seem to have a lot of cross dressing fantasies!  

If you use the dogfood/woodchips mix, you are less likely to have problems with anaerobic bacteria and nasty smells, but the woodchips absorb moisture, and if you don't keep the mixture wet enough, it will return to the same consistency as dog pellets, hard as a rock!

You don't want the maggots to pupate in the food, because it makes harvesting harder. They will climb out on their own, usually, as Katt says, but some folks help that process along by removing the bowl with the maggots and putting them in a second tray --a shoebox with coarse mesh over a large hole in the lid works well -- with paper towels to mop up the excess liquid. Then flood the maggot container to just below the top of the food layer woth water, cover it with a towel, and the maggots will all crawl out and pupate on the towel or sides of the container.

That's the theory, anyway. A few will drown and some will be more adventurous. It is important that the shoebox is well ventillated, through the mesh. If it is inadequately ventillated, you will get anaerobic bacteria, rotting smells and ammonia, which can kill the pupae and possibly some of your significant others.

An accidental advantage of the flooding method is that by flooding the maggots before they are full grown, you can produce flies that are intermediate in size between a hydei and a regular housefly. (Thanks, Chuck). Is that cool, or what?

I dump the pupae into a large sieve, rinse out the nasties, let them dry on paper towels and put them in a bowl with some flour in it to dry them out, and in a cupla days, dinner is served!


----------



## mantidian (Jun 20, 2009)

PhilinYuma said:


> Then flood the maggot container to just below the top of the food layer with water, cover it with a towel, and the maggots will all crawl out and pupate on the towel or sides of the container.


Do you mean place the towel over the food? and those cloth towels or kitchen towels? Btw thanks!


----------



## PhilinYuma (Jun 20, 2009)

A boy named Jonjoe said:


> Do you mean place the towel over the food? and those cloth towels or kitchen towels? Btw thanks!


Any kind of absorbent cloth will do, like a dish towel or a hand towel that you thought your mum was about to throw out!


----------



## Katnapper (Jun 20, 2009)

PhilinYuma said:


> Any kind of absorbent cloth will do, like a dish towel or a hand towel that you thought your mum was about to throw out!


Make sure to ASK her first which towel she doesn't mind you using!  My guys always pick my good/favorite ones to ruin! :angry:


----------



## mantidian (Jun 20, 2009)

Okay this may be a stupid question...but what do the adults eat? and the maggot media?


----------



## PhilinYuma (Jun 20, 2009)

A boy named Jonjoe said:


> Okay this may be a stupid question...but what do the adults eat? and the maggot media?


It's not. The larval food is 2 parts warm water to one part crushed dog food. I now use Superfreak's method of simmering it in the water to soften the pellets and then run it through a food processor (though as Katt says, ask your mum!), which is easier than crushing to pulverize the dry pellets. Mix in some untreated wood chips if you can find them and sprinkle a few grains of yeast on top.

I use a mixture of powdered buttermilk and sugar, though almost anything would do so long as it is dry, so as not to catch or drown the flies (they aren't very smart). It is important to spread a thin loyer over as wide an area (e.g. 8oz [250cc] pot,) as possible because the flies' saliva quiickly reduces it to a solid chunk. It is also important to have a source of moisture in the enclosure that the flies can't drown in. a sponge, or a small pot with sphagnum moss in it.

When I use the 32 oz pot method, I harvest the flies shortly after eclosure, so I don't have to feed them.

Dave, do you have the elusive URL for the bucket method?


----------



## Katnapper (Jun 20, 2009)

Housefly Bucket Breeding Method


----------



## PhilinYuma (Jun 20, 2009)

Katnapper said:


> Housefly Bucket Breeding Method


Thanks, Katt! Had you noticed that you can't print more than the first page with the Print command? You would have to use a photo capture applet and copy that.


----------



## Katnapper (Jun 20, 2009)

PhilinYuma said:


> Thanks, Katt! Had you noticed that you can't print more than the first page with the Print command? You would have to use a photo capture applet and copy that.


Nope... didn't try to print it. I've got it saved to my Google notebook.... just in case I ever lose my sense of smell and want to really get down and dirty.


----------



## mantidian (Jun 21, 2009)

PhilinYuma said:


> It's not. The larval food is 2 parts warm water to one part crushed dog food. I now use Superfreak's method of simmering it in the water to soften the pellets and then run it through a food processor (though as Katt says, ask your mum!), which is easier than crushing to pulverize the dry pellets. Mix in some untreated wood chips if you can find them and sprinkle a few grains of yeast on top. I use a mixture of powdered buttermilk and sugar, though almost anything would do so long as it is dry, so as not to catch or drown the flies (they aren't very smart). It is important to spread a thin loyer over as wide an area (e.g. 8oz [250cc] pot,) as possible because the flies' saliva quiickly reduces it to a solid chunk. It is also important to have a source of moisture in the enclosure that the flies can't drown in. a sponge, or a small pot with sphagnum moss in it.
> 
> When I use the 32 oz pot method, I harvest the flies shortly after eclosure, so I don't have to feed them.
> 
> Dave, do you have the elusive URL for the bucket method?


 Thanks!


Katnapper said:


> Housefly Bucket Breeding Method


Saw the method and I think its great! only thing I don't understand...the sleeve part. How to you place it?


----------



## PhilinYuma (Jun 21, 2009)

A boy named Jonjoe said:


> Thanks!Saw the method and I think its great! only thing I don't understand...the sleeve part. How to you place it?


I used a sleeve cut off a heavy old sweater. I used epoxy cement to secure the 4" pipe in the hole in the bucket because it is space filling and glued the cut end of the sleeve onto the pipe. You put your arm though the sleeve to put in or take out water and food pots or to capture flies, and tie off the sleeve when it is not being used.


----------



## mantidian (Jun 21, 2009)

Okay thanks!


----------



## jacksun (Jun 21, 2009)

Katnapper said:


> What's the big deal about buying panty hose?  It's not like it's a feminine protection product.  Hmmm... you know how people are always asking about the foam stoppers for cups? Maybe I ought to suggest... well, nevermind! :lol: Edit: Oh... forgot to add...
> 
> Hehehe!!  :lol:


What's the problem with buying feminine protection products? They are great for sport inflicted nose bleeds too. And what does the "protection" thing mean anyway?


----------



## jacksun (Jun 21, 2009)

Bucket, breeding kit, raw meat......I go to my local bait shop, buy maggots. Throw a weeks supply of the maggots (weeks supply equals number of flies you need for feeding for a week) in a pot with a vented lid, and the sawdust they come in. Place the pot in a warm area (80 - 90 degrees) and in about 3 days all maggots are pupated (no food needed). Remove as much sawdust as possible, dump a weeks supply of pupa into ziplock baggies, date them, throw them in the fridge. Repeat weekly to maintain supply.

You can buy a months worth of maggots at a time, separate them into ziplock bags with about a 1 weeks supply, and the ones you don't need right now throw in the fridge, where they will keep for 3-4 weeks. When ready pull out a bag, and see above for pupating process.

Pupated flies hatch in about 5 days once out of the fridge, take out needed amount of pupae from ziplock in fridge, throw one or two pupae into mantis habitat every day or second day, flies hatch about 5 days later, mantis eats. No need to mess with feeding flies, trying to catch them to feed your mantis, the stink of raw, rotting meat, and minimal mess (sawdust).

My 2 cents worth on flies.


----------



## Katnapper (Jun 21, 2009)

Jacksun said:


> What's the problem with buying feminine protection products? They are great for sport inflicted nose bleeds too. And what does the "protection" thing mean anyway?


Protection _for_ clothes, upholstery, etc., and _from _a big mess, odor, and embarrassment!

I suppose you could use them as nose plugs to help filter and negate the nasty smells of breeding and harvesting houseflies too. B) However this application would likely not protect you from embarrassment should anyone see you.


----------

