Worm Bin: Soldier Fly Larvae

How on earth did I get so lucky?

I've been noticing these big black things that look like a little wasp or yellowjacket -- except all black -- flying around my worm bin when I go to add their ice and scraps. I'm allergic to all manner of biting and stinging bugs, so it's been freaking me out.

A few days ago after I added some old strawberry tops, I noticed an bunch of grubs in the bin. And I was thinking, how on earth do I have grubs in here because I started with a completely clean bin and have added no yard waste to the mix. At any rate, these grubs were going insane on the strawberries. I started to think that maybe this was the end of my worm bin...

But alas, what I've got are soldier fly larvae. And they are used to do their own bio-composting and some say they are even more effective than the red wigglers.

Some bonuses:

• Soldier flies don't bite or sting
  
• They aren't carriers of pathogens
  
• They only live a few days in order to breed and lay eggs
  
• They generate heat (so my worries of having a freezing ass bin in the winter, thus killing the wigglers, are over)
  
• They take months to hatch in winter (thus ensuring a heat source all winter long) instead of the normal weeks
  
• They won't kill the red wigglers
  
• They will eat all the excess food the wigglers can't handle so I can continue to load the bin
  
• They eat the things that the wigglers don't like as much (citrus rinds, avocado peels, jalapeno seeds, garlic and onion peels) and they do it very quickly
  
  

This is just the jam.