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The first step if you really want to start an insect farm, specifically a soldier fly farm, is to be sure that you don't want to start something else.
If you've thought about it for more than five minutes and still want to go ahead, prepare yourself because problems are coming. From pests that threaten your entire farm, to strong odors, and the occasional Armageddon.
You might wonder what an Armageddon is... Well, you arrive one day at the warehouse, excited to see how your larvae are growing, you open the door, and you see that the floor is not the color it was yesterday, but rather a light brown. For a moment you wonder if someone has painted in your absence, until you realize that no, all those are your larvae that have escaped from the trays.
But well, we'll get to that in due time.
First of all, let's review the market. Before embarking on this madness, you should know the prices. Some people, for example, see websites selling soldier flies at €12/kg and imagine the market price must be €6 or maybe €4. But no, far from reality. Dehydrated costs €3/kg. And to get 1 kg of dehydrated larvae, you will need 4 kg of live larvae.
You might decide to sell live BSF, but the market is small and logistics are horrible. More than once, the DHL transporter has come to tell us that everything has escaped throughout the van. You can use grids, bags, whatever. They will find a way out or die from the heat during the months of May to October.
So, what do you sell? The goal of raising BSF should be to produce flours (and oil) and frass. Frass is the organic fertilizer from the soldier fly, it has an NPK of approximately 3-3-3 (depending on the diet). During the process of producing flours, you will need to take 4 kg of live larvae, you will have to sacrifice them (usually by temperature), dehydrate them, and then pass them through a screw press, which will extract the oil (fat) on one side and the protein on the other.
You can sell this flour to feed developers, and the oil can also be sold for pet food or animal agriculture. You will have to sell the frass to farmers, but this will be a challenge because you will need the appropriate licenses to sell fertilizers.
Now that you know the product, let's get started. You will need an industrial warehouse that complies with all regulations. In this warehouse, you will have to obtain the necessary licenses for the activity. This process can take more than six months.
Once you have the warehouse with all the licenses, you will need to start by buying trays. You can order them from Insectius, Beekenkamp, or other suppliers. The best trays are stackable.
You can start with as many trays as you want, I recommend 70 trays (one pallet). Because you will have a learning curve with these insects.
Now you will have to buy neonates. I do not recommend doing the reproduction and fattening. They are really two business models that require two infrastructures. Approximately 1 g of neonates will allow you to obtain 5 kg of live larvae.
Ideally, I recommend starting to raise them in March or September. This way, for a few months, you won't need to invest in air conditioning or temperature control. Ideally, you should keep the warehouse between 26 and 29 degrees. But they can live perfectly at lower temperatures, the downside will be that they won't grow as fast.
Above all, do not make sudden changes in diet or temperature. If the larvae are not comfortable, they will leave. It's something that will happen to you a few times before you master it; it has happened to all of us.
If you want to save yourself trouble setting up your farm, talk to Insectius and they will advise you during the process, giving you the necessary training so that you can better face all these setbacks.