We are capable of delivering our Flybox® tech all over the world but the majority of our support system and partners are in the UK, EU, Kenya and South Africa.
The unit price is constantly under revision as we improve our manufacturing supply chain. We also offer unit discounts on larger farms. We are confident our pricing reflects the best value for money in the market at any time. Contact us for a quote customised to your needs. There is also an option to rent or lease the boxes on a monthly fee basis depending on your location.
Under ideal circumstances, run by experienced insect farmers you can expect a fast payback in a matter of years on capital expenditures. That being said, Insect Farming is a sector in its infancy and there are no quick wins, you should not rely on media portrayals of any emerging industry and that goes for insect farming too. Flybox® has worked hard to simplify the hardware and software needed for high quality insect farming operations and worked to reduce the upfront costs to enter the industry, allowing smaller players to leverage the power of insects directly. Flybox® cannot give you advice on whether or not to enter the industry nor make claims as to your businesses profitability given the involvement of factors outside our control. Contact us if you want help reviewing or developing a business plan and we highly recommend you not to purchase technology from us (or anyone else for that matter) without one.
Technically you could choose to grow a variety of insect species in a Flybox® farm, (subject to changing internal configuration) however Flybox® initially focused our processes and technology around the Black Soldier Fly (BSF) and BSF larvae. The commercial use of BSF and their byproducts is by far the most prolific of all insect species representing about 80% of the insect market, hence our decision to focus on maximising production space for that species.
Insect farming legislation varies from country to country and covers: The legality of insect farming, what species are permitted for human, livestock and pet consumption, what waste sources are permitted to be fed to the insect species, what biological, odour and hazard controls are required to handle, process and rules around selling insect based products. Flybox® has a team of business analysts and researchers that have investigated this over a number of years. Contact us if you would like to receive a comprehensive legislation and regulation guide for your region.
There are a range of products that can be derived from Black Soldier Fly larvae. The main ones are: Live larvae, puree, whole dried larvae, insect protein meal, defatted insect protein meal, oil, chitin and frass fertiliser. From these ingredients many companies then go on to use these as components of: Animal feed, pet food, biodiesel, feed additives, biomass briquettes, palatants, fertiliser pellets, cosmetic and healthcare products. There exist ample opportunities to further commercialise insects and their byproducts and businesses entering the space should focus on the market they seek to serve with insect products prior to thinking of production technologies. Contact us if you would like to discuss insect products or productization strategies.
Frass is a combination of undigested organic material, insect droppings and insect skins that remain after the larvae have finished eating their waste / feed. It is a dry and soil-like substance that stores well and is increasingly seen as an important component of the transition to organic and natural fertilisers as it is high in NPK and has natural insect repellent qualities.
From an animal science point of view, insects can be fed to any animal. In practice, monogastric animals (I.e. not ruminants or grazing animals) make the most sense as animals not requiring animal proteins should not be fed them for health and economical reasons. Livestock such as pigs, chicken and fish as well as pets, reptiles and wild birds can be fed insects. Legislation in a particular country might prohibit the feeding of insects to a specific animal so you should always check in your region.
Waste sources selection and blending is often the most important and difficult part of the insect farming process. Insects like the black solider fly larvae have optimal nutrition requirements and need waste sources that are easy to navigate, have ideal thermal properties and are free from contaminants. Additionally, legislation in your region may prohibit you from using certain types of waste (even if available and effective) for insect farming. Often insect farmers require a blend of one, two or three waste streams to achieve the optimal feedstock profile. Contact us for advice on waste and BSF nutrition, our team has years of experience feeding BSF and feeding BSF to other animals. It is our recommendation not to invest in technology or venture into insect farming without a comprehensive BSF diet available in the quantities you require as well as confirming the efficacy of a diet with a live feeding trial. Speak to us if you would like to run feeding or commercial scale trials.
Finding a good source (or sources) of waste near you can be challenging. While organic waste is in abundant supply in society, finding a reliable source can be tremendously challenging. It requires an understanding of the permitted waste stocks in your region, the ideal BSF diet formulation, availability, logistics, price and other environmental factors. Flybox® and our partners have spent considerable effort solving this problem for customers so contact us and we can help connect you to a source of waste suitable for your needs and close by.
Flybox® modules come with basic ammonia scrubbing and an air exhaust system that exhausts air efficiently and with minimal smell. When building very large insect factories with concentrated waste and feeding, such as a 360 farm we have additional steps to deal with odour at that scale, contact us for more details.
Biosecurity protocols with BSF farming are well advised and understood in the industry and Flybox® technology has been built to standardise with them. Insects are treated as livestock in most countries and require the usual basic control measures as traditional livestock enterprises. We have many Farm Types that can also be configured to increase biosecurity measures as your needs direct.
Flybox® partners with other insect specialist companies from breeding, genetics, additives, waste logistics ,processing technology and industry consultants. We don’t just sell you the tech and part ways, we can also support you across your insect business by making key introductions to our partners.
You do not need specialist knowledge to operate your insect farm per se but you must do considerable research before entering the industry. As with many industries, there are many layers to unravel and as one’s knowledge of BSF processes, entomology and technologies increases, one realises just how much there is still to learn. Operating our units can be done by competent technicians with some farm types being easier to operate than others. All our tech comes with standard operating procedures, manuals and maintenance information along with remote and in-person support as required. Contact us if you have any questions about operating any particular module or farm type.
The standard building block of all our individual Flybox® Modules is a high-cube 40ft shipping container. The dimensions are approx. L12 m X W2.4 m X H2.7 m. When arranged together we also recommend certain clearance around each module for airflow and accessibility, contact us if you have a site in mind and want to receive site drawings or assessments.
The running costs will vary depending on several factors. Typical costs associated with insect farming are power, labour, waste logistics, breeding costs / BSF seedling supply rental and financing costs. Our Flybox® containers have a max power draw of 5-8 kW depending on the module but average power usage will depend on the outside climate, the feedstock / diet utilised, the number of cycles you run and your other commercial objectives. Contact us if you’d like to estimate these costs with our commercial team.
Each Flybox module requires access to power (single or three phase). A 25mm potable water supply may also be required depending on the module you are considering. Lastly, you may want to build your farm outside in which case you need to ensure it has access and suitable groundworks / corner posts around the container for loading. Site engineering costs can therefore be minimal depending on your site. Contact us if you have a site in mind and want to know what else exactly may be required to prepare the site for a Flybox® Farm.
Our equipment is heavy duty and made for industrial usage with very few moving parts. We have designed our equipment to be robust and able to last many years without any replacement costs. We also provide warranties for different parts of the modules. Yearly maintenance varies depending on the module you are considering but there is a maintenance schedule we supply each owner with. We can also offer a maintenance contract depending on your location and we always provide remote monitoring and send alerts if we believe you should check something.
We take quality standards extremely seriously at Flybox®. Our tech is meant to last many years, with minimal maintenance but it needs to be assembled correctly, regardless of your location. We take full responsibility for manufacture, logistics, assembly, debugging and training your operational team. Essentially you point us to the exact location you want your Flybox® farm and we make it appear there fully functioning. The only parts left to you are any site preparation works along with electric and plumbing labour to connect the utilities to the modules. We do not offer a DIY option.
The Flybox® suite of technologies does not currently cover post-processing. That being said we have established relationships with many partners who may be able to offer you a solution that removes the need for post processing or make introductions to vetted post-processing technology providers. Our technology is suitable for waste volumes between 1 and 50 tonnes per day and the processing requirements will be different depending on your scale. Contact us if you would like to understand the best options for post-processing your insect products.
Technology, design, airflow simulation, hotspot handling, entomology and substrate thermal / gas understanding has gone into perfecting our Flybox® technology. While anyone can put an AC in a box and hatch a few black soldier fly eggs over some kitchen waste, to do things safely, economically and reliably is an entirely different matter. Getting an industry leading rate of production from each cubic metre of container space requires maximising the space with trays of insects and waste. This creates exponentially more obstructions, heat and gas which require industrial systems to achieve a stable climate at the level of each individual tray. The more you load a box, the more difficult it becomes to get airflow working properly and at Flybox® we spent years perfecting and patenting a unique airflow system and control logic to become the most efficient container on the market. While we indeed started from the basic concept of 'stick an AC in a box' things have progressed far beyond that due to our team making changes in order to deliver the best pound for pound economics in the industry. Visit our insect farm technology page to find out more.
Our innovation and patent areas center around the ability to achieve uniform airflow in cramped conditions, factoring in the changing needs of insect larvae as they mature through their development cycle. The climate is kept stable by various devices and processes which factor in the outside climate, internal climate and tray level micro-climate all while trying to use the lowest energy settings by leveraging the natural conditions within the thresholds set by our Entomology experts. What results is a set and forget system where users of Flybox® tech simply load it with waste and insects then return in 10 days or less finding the process complete and predictable, regardless of external climate conditions. We have been able to achieve factory level economics and productivity in a much smaller form factor and much more space efficiently. This was not an easy task to achieve but we are proud of our team and their hard work to date. Contact us if you'd like to find out more and speak with our engineers.
A shipping container essentially is a climate controlled room. Even if using a Flybox® within a warehouse, the container form factor has several key advantages. In the early days of your insect farming journey, mobility may be valuable, being able to move your assets from the pilot site to a larger site is made a lot easier thanks to the container model. Modularity is also a big advantage. Each container has its own HVAC system which means your production won't grind to a halt if one fails. Factories with single HVAC systems don't have the redundancy that many modules afford. Our tech works at the 1-50 tonnes a day of waste, larger volumes may be better suited to other technology. Contact us if you are unsure, we are always happy to entertain any project.
We do not offer a DIY option. We take quality very seriously and insect farming technology needs to be robust and well assembled to stand the test of time. When we don't control the build we are unable to make guarantees and it's not worth it for either party. Every Flybox® project benefits from an on-site quality engineer from Flybox® ensuring the build is built to our exacting standards.
We have proprietary software developed and tweaked over several years with our IoT, entomology and nutrition team working hand in hand. The software ensures that come rain or shine, hail or snow and no matter what feedstock you use, the container will keep conditions perfectly stable for optimal insect rearing. There is a software fee charged monthly which gives operators access to their data, the ability to set climate thresholds and alerts users to any issues. The Flybox® team also provides a remote monitoring service to make sure you're getting optimal performance.
