BioPod Plus Advanced Residential Grub Composting System

This product is really well designed for its purpose. Could I have made one myself for cheaper? Sure, if I'd wanted to spend the time and frustration. But these critters have a specific set of needs for a healthy population, and I needed housing for them quickly, so I didn't want to mess around with the DIY trial-and-error. I had a colony of BSFL invade my red wiggler worm bin, and once I saw them eat I knew I wanted to keep them - but not at the expense of my beloved vermies. So I ordered this and got everyone into their proper housing situations before the grubbies completely took over the whole neighborhood. Pros: * It is lightweight, very thin plastic but very sturdy and durable * It was (mostly) very easy to assemble - with one minor exception as noted below * It's made in the USA * Within an hour after moving my grubbies and a new food supply into the BioPod Plus, I already had pre-pupae dropping themselves into the harvest bucket * Now, a day later, they are eating voraciously and I've seen at least two gravid females enter, presumably lay eggs, and leave * My local songbird population has already had a taste of grubs, and they are excited for more! Con: * The holes intended to accommodate the "hinge" screws for the lid were not properly aligned. I could force the screws through with the lid closed, but there was no way that the lid would open with them in that position. Minor inconvenience, took me about three minutes with a drill and 9/64" bit to "waller" out the holes and make it all work just fine.

I began getting Black Soldier Fly Grubs in my biopod about 10 days after receiving it and filling it with food waste. My initial area was not always shady and I could tell they were not thriving there but this quickly changed to them absolutely thriving! I cannot say how rewarding it is to so directly recycle our family food waste. Occasionally we have the harvest container 1/3-1/2 way full and when I dump it to the chickens they don't stop gobbling them up till they are gone. I always spill some in the woods so they can have a chance to reproduce too. All in all an amazing product

$200 is a lot for a flimsy plastic bin. But I was willing to pay it to assure early success as I start getting into BSFs. Well, my BSFs are doing well; they have fully populated the bin and they're eating the food scraps nicely. But they're hardly self-harvesting at all. I've read that BSFs can convert food to body mass at a .2-.25 ratio, but I'm getting nowhere close to that: a small handful of grubs every few days. Since that's pretty much all the Biopod provides that a $5 bucket doesn't (drainage would be easy enough to sort out), this product is utterly failing. I have contacted their support department three times, with no response. I wanted to love this product and recommend it to friends. But I'm thoroughly disappointed. I urge you to reconsider purchasing it. There are several online tutorials to make your own. I'd recommend trying that before you shell out $200 for a bucket.

I really thing this is a great idea, but I have learned it is common for geek male or female do great ideas but does not have the best communications to the public. The public are very easy to be confused. I hope this business get a better marketing support. The price is not worth of it, but still I support the investment is why I purchased it - hoping this will become more common, which will bring the price down to make it affordable for the common people.

Product arrived as described. Minimal time and effort in setup. Started culture near my BSF-rich compost pile. I had a problem with ant infiltration this summer....moved the Biopod to a different location.... placed it on a stand in a tray of standing water. The tray of standing water keeps the Biopod free of ants and the latest BSF population looks promising. I am happy with my purchase.

The quality of the product is so-so. It's fine for the purpose it's designed for. However, for the price it's not exactly what I expected. It's a molded plastic product and it's very thin-walled. For $200 I was expecting something like fiberglass or thick plastic like a Pelican case or something. But it's not. It's just thin plastic that bends in your hands. If I saw this in a store I would expect to pay somewhere between $39 and $59 for it. That's how cheaply it's made. But I don't think the build quality will ever affect the operation. I was just expecting something a little more robust for the price.

It works great, collects the fully formed larvae very well, drains well, and keeps out rain and pests. I used duct tape to attach some cardboard pieces to the inside of the lid. I would highly recommend.

Great product, well built. I expect to get many years of Soldier Fly larva for my chickens, Thank you.