g'day alice,

can't see why not?

the maggot's are only helping in the break down of the product and once the product is spread on the garden they may not survive as such. and if you cover it with a good layer of some sort of mulch hay that will help to stop them developing any further into flies of whatever sort they may be.

knew a gardener who encouraged maggots in his tumbler as they produced lots of juice which he used to water his plants. also sounds like the bin need a finer mesh to stop bugs like that getting in if you want to stop the process.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page

If you put it on the surface the birds will have a heyday. If you dig it in a lot of them will die from being buried. Either way it should be OK as long as the compost is not anaerobic, terribly stinky etc.

I wouldn't use it for indoor potted plants- but outdoor stuff would be fine.

My first thought was, you can use it on everything but a sandwich. But, joepye makes a good point, probably need to keep it outside as well!

Yeah, you wouldn't want to use it on a sandwich. It might make the bread soggy.

While the maggots will not harm your garden, they are in your compost because it is too wet. Compost should not have these critters in it, contrary to what some people think. Maggots contribute nothing worthwhile to your compost, they just consume it. The bottom line is that you can still use maggot infested compost in your garden even though sometimes those maggots pupate into pests.

Contrary to what some people think, you can get larvae in dry compost or even compost that is moist as a wrung out sponge, the optimum moisture for compost.

Maggots consume raw organic material and then they poop it out in digested form that is more readily consumed by microbes, earthworms and other compost critters. There is an complex community of invertebrates that work in the compost process.

From Cornell University composting site:
"Flies: During the early stages of the composting process, flies provide ideal airborne transportation for bacteria on their way to the pile. Flies spend their larval phase in compost as maggots, which do not survive thermophilic temperatures. Adults feed upon organic vegetation.

Here is a link that might be useful: Invertebrates of the compost pile.

See? Randy gets it.

Most all flies can also carry disease pathogens and in most places the primary objective of people is to eliminate as many of these flies as possible. Most people consider flies to be pests and since they really do not do much for compost why would anyone want to grow them in their compost?

No one really wants flies in their compost, but its not any indication of moisture or anything else wrong with the compost. Maggots in compost is fairly common and probably a result of a cool, unmixed pile, more than any other factor.

A cool unmixed pile is one way of generating compost. If you don't want flies, then make a hot mixed pile.

No one really wants flies in their compost, but its not any indication of moisture or anything else wrong with the compost. Maggots in compost is fairly common in a cool, unmixed pile.

A cool unmixed pile is one way of generating compost. If you don't want flies, then make a hot mixed pile.

I can't believe I'm thinking this, far less posting it, but...

Not all flies spread disease, and there's at least one sort of non-pestiferous fly some folks do want in their compost, under certain conditions. (Not relevant to the OP, which referenced _tiny_ flies, but still.) Despite my personal squeamishness about the things, BSFL are welcome in any batch of new compost I've set aside for feeding to my composting worm colony; their leavings make the worms happy. And that is mixed hot compost, though I clock average temperatures more in the warm zone, 100+ but rarely as high as 140.

I assume the BSFL would leave a pile that hot, but if it sustained those temperatures, I'd likely opt not to feed that batch to the worms anyway. Stirring doesn't bother BSFL all that much once they're larger than hatchlings, and I'm told their presence helps deter pest flies, though I can't say I've done any testing to verify that!

DSF
http://bokashislope.blogspot.com
making compost one bucket at a time

Black Soldier Fly emit some type of odor that repels other flies away. They are typically considered a beneficial compost organism. Just don't look at the oozing mass of larvae or hear them munching...

The adult Black Soldier Fly does not contribute much of anything worthwhile during their short (about 30 days) life other than mate and lay the eggs that become the maggots no one should want in their compost. Many people have mistaken the Black Soldier Fly for the Black Soldier Beetle which is a predator of many insect pests.
The misconception that the maggots are beneficial in the compost bin comes from the fact that they will consume animal manures, not convert that manure to something else but just consume it. Maggots are not a good addition to any compost pile.

BSF larvae consume raw organic material that worms won't eat. BSF larvae poop material that worms love. BSF larvae poop makes good compost.

Maggots are what chickens are for.

Chickens CAN, and should, go on a sandwich.

Oh BOY! Another BSFL debate! I hate those things! For once in my life I'm with Kim so tight you couldn't slip a playing card between us!