Do I need to get rid of them?
My compost is kind of slow, probably kind of cold, mostly consists of kitchen scraps and the odd bit of yard waste. I am not interested in complicated composting. My leaves and grass clippings need to be used for garden mulch. I just want to toss my scraps in the bin (a black plastic bin with a lid) and let them shrink and transform.
The blowfly maggots are doing a great job with helping to shrink the compost. It started late last summer when we lost some chickens and a friend said "put them in the compost!" so I did. We don't have much meat-based kitchen waste, but I do put things like fried rice and bits of leftover scrambled egg in the compost.
I was all excited about the maggots and then bummed to discover that they were not black soldier flies, they were blowflies (aka bluebottle flies).
What should I do? What can I do? They are annoying, but at the same time they do appear to be significantly helping the compost. But they can also carry disease, like houseflies, and they do sometimes get in the house (summer, door left open by kids, etc).
Anyone know how to get rid of them (easily and organically) and/or can convince me they should be okay where they are? The compost bin is about 30 or so feet from the door of the house; not too close. Moving the contents of the compost bin is not an option. I'm also not interested in getting TOO close to the maggots (eeeewwwwww). What would you do?
And maybe I should get myself some black soldier flies!
My compost is kind of slow, probably kind of cold, mostly consists of kitchen scraps and the odd bit of yard waste. I am not interested in complicated composting. My leaves and grass clippings need to be used for garden mulch. I just want to toss my scraps in the bin (a black plastic bin with a lid) and let them shrink and transform.
The blowfly maggots are doing a great job with helping to shrink the compost. It started late last summer when we lost some chickens and a friend said "put them in the compost!" so I did. We don't have much meat-based kitchen waste, but I do put things like fried rice and bits of leftover scrambled egg in the compost.
I was all excited about the maggots and then bummed to discover that they were not black soldier flies, they were blowflies (aka bluebottle flies).
What should I do? What can I do? They are annoying, but at the same time they do appear to be significantly helping the compost. But they can also carry disease, like houseflies, and they do sometimes get in the house (summer, door left open by kids, etc).
Anyone know how to get rid of them (easily and organically) and/or can convince me they should be okay where they are? The compost bin is about 30 or so feet from the door of the house; not too close. Moving the contents of the compost bin is not an option. I'm also not interested in getting TOO close to the maggots (eeeewwwwww). What would you do?
And maybe I should get myself some black soldier flies!
