Blowfly aka Bluebottle

[MikhailsDinos]

Well.... I had them. I no longer raise these just because of the time requirement. Though raising and harvesting airborne houseflies can be a bit of a pain (transferring them in and out of the fridge), the time I spent on my curly-winged is what partially drove me out of the hobby the first time. Perhaps if I had everything automated, it would have not been so bad, but when it came down to flies vs. my wife and 4 children the choice was pretty obvious. Getting back into the hobby I had to ensure that the essential chores relating raising feeders required minimal attention and, more importantly, time.

If you have a really efficient system for starting up your curly-winged you should try supplying these to researchers. I had a lady doing research on frogs contact me a couple of years ago asking me if I still cultured the curly-winged variety. She needed a non-flying variant to get exact weight measurements for the flies in the study she was doing.

That is interesting. I bet a lot of people could use them. They are nice to have, you just knock them back down the container and don't have to worry about them flying away.

 

[MikhailsDinos]

Mikhailsdinos, thank you thank you!! Ive been looking for something to raise bluebottles that dont stink. I live in an apartment complex and anything smelly is a big no no.

You welcome! The maggots will always smell of ammonia and that is them killing Bacteria. I only can smell this if I get really close to the container.

 

[PlayingMantis]

Last summer my folks were complaining about a maggot problem in their outdoor trash container. I took a look and yep, there were dozens upon dozens of maggots wiggling about, in the bottom of the container, feeding off the liquid that leaked from trash bags. Add in the summer heat, plus the humidity and rain, and it smelled to high heaven.

I live in an apartment so I can't really do any fly culturing. Though it's interesting to hear there are less smelly alternatives that work. But then again I won't have time...going to work, coming home late...so tired that I barely have energy to make dinner. Then I muster up whatever energy I have left to take care of my mantises If I had lots of time, and a nice big yard (yeah, right, like that's going to ever happen), I wouldn't mind giving a shot at culturing flies. Especially curly winged ones.

 

[Jay]

Last summer my folks were complaining about a maggot problem in their outdoor trash container. I took a look and yep, there were dozens upon dozens of maggots wiggling about, in the bottom of the container, feeding off the liquid that leaked from trash bags. Add in the summer heat, plus the humidity and rain, and it smelled to high heaven.

I live in an apartment so I can't really do any fly culturing. Though it's interesting to hear there are less smelly alternatives that work. But then again I won't have time...going to work, coming home late...so tired that I barely have energy to make dinner. Then I muster up whatever energy I have left to take care of my mantises If I had lots of time, and a nice big yard (yeah, right, like that's going to ever happen), I wouldn't mind giving a shot at culturing flies. Especially curly winged ones.

My outdoor housefly project takes up about a 12"x48" space. If your area gets warm during the day and cool at night you can sometimes come out in the morning and collect flies that came in the day before and stayed through the night - but are too cool to fly away. (=