I've found that the BSF maggots create the moisture via their effluent and that BSF maggots themselves appearing aren't a sign of too much moisture. My compost is in a vented rotating barrel and pretty much always has BSF maggots, no matter what I do. I've just accepted them. I have noticed a few things--they're great at breaking stuff down and my compost rots much faster than before. They make effluent so make sure you're either filling the compost with dry stuff constantly or have a place for the fluid to drain. I keep a bucket under mine and dump the liquid on my fruit trees, they love it. The buggers can survive sitting in the tub in the sun in the summer in Arizona. As long as you turn the compost a few times a week it doesn't go anaerobic. I use the compost with the maggots in it just fine, it has never damaged my plants. The maggots have a distinct smell they create that kinda makes me gag but if the compost smells like vinegar or crazy putrid rot from a distance, you need to start draining the liquid and aerating. So, weird smell when in touching distance, yes. Terrible smell everyone notices, no. And, I've never noticed swarms of flies in my area. Pretty sure I'm helping support the local bird and lizard population with all the maggots.

Worm leachate = initial breakdown fluids of organic matter mixed with oversaturated (with water) bedding (like coco coir or peat moss) and a little bit of worm urine. There are both beneficial bacteria and harmful bacteria in this liquid. However, there is also waste fluid, which does contain some good nutrients. Using leachate... DILUTE!!! DO not pour directly on leaves which you intend to eat (like lettuce, spinach, arugula) however if you pour onto the soil surrounding your plants at a dilution ratio of 10:1 water to leachate, this should not harm your plants nor make it too concentrated in the soil. Storing your leachate...if you put in a jug or bottle, do not close the lid!! The leachate generally already smells a little funky, so adding insult to injury, you will promote anaerobic bacteria growth if you cut off what little oxygen the leachate is receiving. I no longer get Leachate in my bins... the secret you ask?? Follow these simple steps... 1. put food (including veggie scraps and egg shells) into a ninja or similar blender. I add a small amount of water to this as it helps break things up nice and small. Blend. 2. Take blended material and put into a strainer/sifter large enough to hold said food scraps. 3. Place strainer above a bowl to catch liquid, as there will definitely will be from (1) initial breakdown of food and (2) the water you added to help pulverize your scraps 4. Let bowl/strainer sit for at least a day, If you have bad fruit flies, cover strainer with screen or put an old shirt over the whole thing (bowl/strainer) At this point, you may see some mold growing on top of your blended food, this is fine and actually a good sign, it means that the food is already breaking down...better for your worms to eat!! 5. After a day or two, mix this drained and partially decomposed food mass into your worm bin (while adding the bedding material throughout) 6. Voila!! This works really well for me and my worms are happy as clams...well probably more happy because they don't get eaten :)

Forgot to mention in my post that there has been absolutely no meat or dairy product in my bin. I only fed potato skins, banana peels, and green tea leaves. There are newspapers, a couple handfuls of soil, and some dried leaves from my yard from last fall. The bedding is rather dense, because that website said to use 4 lbs. of shredded newspaper. That was a lot, and it filled my bin almost 3/4 full. Next time I won't use so much, but I doubt that has anything to do with maggots. Thanks!

Black soldier fly (BSF) larvae have powerful mouth parts and digestive enzymes that enable them to "chew up", eat and derive nutrient from raw organic materials rather than requiring that the feedstock is already somewhat rotted, as is the case with earthworms. Their digestive process does produce a manure that has a higher moisture content than does that of the earthworm, but it would be an overstatement to say they liquify the OM. BSF larvae in a worm bin are able to process raw OM, and their rather moist manure then becomes a feedstock for the worms, which stabilize the BSF poop into castings. Because BSF larvae tend to increase the moisture level of the environments in which they mass, many have come to believe they prefer very wet conditions. This is actually not the case, though the larvae can tolerate very wet, anaerobic systems very well. The preference of BSF is for OM systems that we would consider ideal; damp, not wet, and well aerated. Kelly S