Q&A: Do I need climate control if I have the ideal outside weather?

An engineer would answer this question with a solid yes. Because the outside weather never is 100% consistent with the requirements of the larvae and flies at the different growing stages. At the same time, you can grow black soldier flies when you have year-round a warm humid climate matching the natural conditions of a black soldier fly.

In all cases you can only speak of a controlled environment when you have a climate unit with cooling and heating capacities and a controller to regulate it.

It is known that when farming BSF you need proper air flow in your rooms. So even when there is no cooling and heating capacity installed be aware that sufficient air changes per hour are needed. Because during your production cycle there will be a significant volume of heat being produced. This is in combination with co2 and/or ammonia. So fresh air is always needed in certain volumes.

On a side note, to avoid misinterpretation. Yes, it is possible based on the feed of the larvae that ammonia is produced. This can be cleaned from the air with, for example, an ammonia scrubber or a bio bed. So, there is no smell for the surroundings of the BSF farm. Most likely we will devote a separate article to the subject of possible smells and the related solutions.