This is a planning sheet, not a promise. Feed kg/day and bank counts come from published hardware sizing (modular unit, municipal). Larval yield uses a literature-backed conversion band until you weigh your own modules. Dollar figures for products are scenario prices—transparent placeholders so you can swap in local Chiriquí quotes.
Units of account
- Input — wet organics fed (kg/day). Hardware is sized on this, not on wishful harvest.
- Larvae — fresh biomass harvested (kg/day). Planning: wet bioconversion × feed.
- Frass — solid residual after separation (kg/day). Rough planning residual ~0.3–0.45× wet feed after moisture loss and harvest (diet-dependent).
- Avoided disposal — tip / haul / odor cost you no longer pay (often near $0 on rural farms; material in town).
Homestead value is mostly on-farm feed and fertility displacement (pigs, ducks, beds). Municipal value mixes cash or barter sales, disposal avoidance for partners, and soil products. Same biology; different clearing prices.
Conversion assumptions
Wet-mass bioconversion (fresh larvae ÷ wet substrate) commonly lands in about a 10–20% band on mixed kitchen-like diets, with a planning mid of ~15% (claim). Dry-matter efficiency varies more by substrate. Coffee-heavy or fibrous loads can underperform—SCG stays a blend ingredient.
| Wet feed | Larvae @ 10% | Larvae @ 15% (mid) | Larvae @ 20% | Frass sketch @ 0.35× |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 kg/day | 0.10 | 0.15 | 0.20 | ~0.35 |
| 15 kg/day (homestead mid) | 1.5 | 2.3 | 3.0 | ~5 |
| 100 kg/day (Phase 1 cafés) | 10 | 15 | 20 | ~35 |
| 2,000 kg/day (Phase 3 restaurants) | 200 | 300 | 400 | ~700 |
| 3,900 kg/day (Boquete HH ceiling) | 390 | 585 | 780 | ~1,400 |
Formula: larvae_kg_day ≈ feed_kg_day × BCR. Replace BCR with weighed harvest ÷ feed after a stable cycle.
Chicken flock scale
Live larvae as a protein supplement for laying hens (on top of a balanced ration—not a sole diet). Trials commonly use about 15–30% of expected daily feed intake as fresh larvae (~15–38 g/hen/day) without impairing egg quality (claim). Planning mid: ~20 g live larvae / hen / day. Light treat ~10 g; heavy supplement ~30 g. Ad libitum (~160 g/hen/day) is not a planning default. Evidence for immune markers and a Salmonella Gallinarum challenge study: BSFL as chicken feed.
Formula: hens ≈ (larvae_kg_day × 1000) ÷ g_per_hen.
Mid larval yields below use 15% BCR from the table above.
| Scenario | Larvae mid (kg/day) | Hens @ 10 g | Hens @ 20 g (mid) | Hens @ 30 g |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homestead (~15 kg feed) | ~2.3 | ~230 | ~115 | ~75 |
| Phase 1 cafés (~100 kg) | ~15 | ~1,500 | ~750 | ~500 |
| Phase 3 restaurants (~2,000 kg) | ~300 | ~30,000 | ~15,000 | ~10,000 |
| Boquete HH ceiling (~3,900 kg) | ~585 | ~58,500 | ~29,000 | ~19,500 |
Homestead read: one BANK-5G-8 at mid yield is on the order of a ~100-hen protein supplement—plenty for a family yard and neighbors, not a commercial layer house.
Phase 1 already outgrows most backyard flocks (~750 hens mid); Phase 3+ needs regional poultry offtake or other livestock (pigs, fish, ducks), not chickens alone.
See also chicken-yard cascade.
Scenario prices (placeholders)
Swap these for local quotes. Mid column is the default used in the sketches below. All USD.
| Item | Low | Mid | High | Proxy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live larvae ($/kg) | 0.50 | 1.00 | 2.00 | Imputed vs commercial protein / fishmeal substitute; on-farm value can exceed cash market |
| Cured frass ($/kg) | 0.05 | 0.10 | 0.25 | Vs bagged compost / manure; agronomic rates on frass |
| Avoided disposal ($/kg wet) | 0 | 0.02 | 0.05 | Tip or private haul; often ~0 on homestead; can matter for cafés/town |
| Used 5-gal bucket | 2 | 3 | 4 | Chiriquí restaurant empties (2026 field)—tank materials |
Hardware CapEx sketch
One BANK-5G-8 = 24 rack modules · mid feed capacity ~19 kg/day · pad ~4.4 m²
(capacity).
| Line | Homestead 1× bank | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 24 adapted buckets @ ~$3 | ~$70 | Food-grade used pails; drill/lid/harvest port per 5-gallon BUILD |
| Welded steel frame + PVC/sump | ~$200–400 | Local fabricator quote (Chiriquí sketch) |
| Open-sided roof share / tools / totes | ~$150–300 | Can share posts with an existing shed; Phase-1 drums fit a smaller tools budget |
| Bank hardware total | ~$400–800 | Mid ~$600 used below for scale-up math |
Scale rule of thumb: CapEx_banks ≈ N × $600 for processing hardware only.
Municipal phases add roof rows, fans, wash bay, route vehicle, and labor—often larger than the banks themselves once restaurant count hits dozens.
Open-air modular vs climate-controlled trays
Commercial BSF plants often look like vertical farming: stacked plastic trays (or drawers) inside an insulated building with HVAC, humidification, lighting schedules, conveyors, and tight biosecurity. This site’s default hardware is the opposite archetype—open-air (or open-sided) modular banks of tilted 5-gal process modules under a shade roof (modular unit). Same insect; very different unit economics. For the design rationale (native climate, tropical moisture, ubiquitous buckets), see buckets vs climate trays.
Two archetypes
| Open-air modular (this site) | Climate-controlled tray plant | |
|---|---|---|
| Vessel | Upcycled 5-gal process modules in welded racks; shared leachate sump | Purpose-built trays / drawers / belts in dense stacks |
| Climate | Ambient tropics + shade roof; optional fans; no room HVAC | Insulated hall; heating/cooling/humidity setpoints year-round |
| Density | Pad-limited (~4.4 m² per BANK-5G-8 at mid ~19 kg/day feed) |
Floor area reused vertically—high kg feed / m² building footprint |
| CapEx shape | Cheap biology core; spend on roof, wash, and (at town scale) routes | Building + HVAC + automation often dwarf the trays themselves |
| Opex shape | Labor + water + modest power; weather and pests are process risks | Energy (HVAC) + skilled maintenance + stricter QA staffing |
| Feedstock fit | Variable café/restaurant/homestead streams; blend diets OK | Often optimized for uniform, contracted feedstock recipes |
| Product story | Live larvae / local feed / frass; chapter and municipal co-products | Meal, oil, and certified feed ingredients for regional/export buyers |
| Failure mode | One bank or module fails; rest keep running | HVAC or batch contamination can idle a whole hall |
CapEx per capacity (order of magnitude)
Compare processing capacity (wet kg/day the biology can accept), not marketing tonnes of meal. Figures below are planning bands—quote fabricators and builders before committing.
| Metric | Open-air modular | Climate tray plant |
|---|---|---|
| Biology hardware only | ~$30–45 per kg/day feed capacity (~$600 ÷ ~19 kg/day per bank) |
Trays alone can look cheap; installed lines often land far higher once rails, drains, and wash are included |
| Shelter / climate | Open-sided roof share—often ~$10–30 per kg/day when amortized across banks | Insulated building + HVAC commonly $100–400+ per kg/day of design feed (site- and country-dependent) |
| Homestead / first bank | ~$400–800 biology + shared shade | Rarely pencil: climate hall CapEx usually starts in the tens–hundreds of thousands before first tonne |
| ~100 kg/day (Phase 1 cafés) | Banks ~$3–4k + small roof bay / wash | Small climate room still often $50k–250k+ all-in if built to commercial tray norms |
| ~2,000 kg/day (Phase 3) | Banks ~$60–75k; routes/wash/carbon yard dominate total | Multi-hall plants frequently land in the low–mid seven figures CapEx class for similar wet throughput |
| Simple payback lens | At ~$1/kg imputed larvae, bank hardware can clear in ~1 year of mid homestead yield | Needs meal/oil margins, utilization, and offtake contracts—payback measured in years even when biology works |
Rule of thumb: in a warm climate with cheap shade, modular CapEx stays on the biology and the logistics. In a climate-tray plant, CapEx stays on the building envelope and energy system—the insect trays are only one line item.
Opex and utilization
- Energy — open-air banks: pumps/lights/optional fans. Tray halls: continuous HVAC to hold temperature and humidity; electricity (or gas) becomes a first-class cost per kg larvae.
- Labor skill — modular: welders, bucket adapters, route drivers, operators who read moisture by eye. Tray plants: technicians for climate, automation, and batch QA; downtime is expensive.
-
Utilization risk — a half-empty climate hall still pays for the building. A half-built modular yard only buys the banks it needs (
N × $600). - Density trade — trays win on kg/day per m² of expensive urban floor. Modular wins when land under a shade roof is cheap relative to insulated cubic metres—typical for Chiriquí hubs and farm compounds.
- Biosecurity / brand — indoor trays can support stricter contamination control and export-facing certifications. Open-air modular optimizes for local live larvae, chapter feed, and municipal organics diversion—not sterile meal lines.
When each wins
| Choose open-air modular when… | Choose climate trays when… |
|---|---|
| Ambient temperatures already suit BSF most of the year | Winters, deserts, or urban sites force climate control anyway |
| You need to start at 1 bank and grow by adding racks | Offtake contracts demand continuous, uniform meal/oil volume |
| CapEx must stay under local fabricator / municipal budgets | Investors underwrite a full indoor plant and energy bill |
| Feedstock is mixed and local (cafés, restaurants, farms) | Feedstock is contracted, recipe-controlled, and trucked in |
| Products clear on-farm or regionally as live/fresh biomass | Products must meet industrial feed-mill specs at scale |
For Boquete-shaped rollouts, the modular path keeps early CapEx in the same order of magnitude as a pickup truck and a roof bay—not a refrigerated factory. Climate-tray economics can still make sense later as a specialized offtake node (e.g. drying/milling under roof) sitting downstream of open-air conversion, rather than replacing the banks.
Homestead (livestock support)
Family farm converting offal, spoiled fruit, and slaughter trim into larvae for pigs/ducks/chickens.
Planning band 10–20 kg/day wet (peaks higher on slaughter weeks) → 1× BANK-5G-8
(hub deployment).
Mid sketch uses 15 kg/day feed.
| Metric | Low BCR 10% | Mid 15% | High 20% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Larvae kg/day | 1.5 | 2.3 | 3.0 |
| Larvae value @ $1/kg ($/day) | 1.50 | 2.25 | 3.00 |
| Frass ~0.35× @ $0.10/kg ($/day) | ~0.50 | ~0.50 | ~0.50 |
| Imputed yield value ($/mo) | ~60 | ~80–85 | ~105 |
| Imputed yield value ($/yr) | ~700 | ~1,000 | ~1,250 |
- Build: Early tilted drums validate moisture and harvest; expand to a full bank once a steady animal-trim (or similar) supply is proven. CapEx mid ~$600 for the bank (plus early drums).
- Operate: family labor minutes/day—feed, check moisture, empty harvest cups, cure frass. No route payroll.
- Value story: ~2 kg larvae/day at mid is meaningful finishing protein for a small pig/duck loop—or about ~100 hens at a 20 g/hen supplement (see chicken flock scale); cash sale is optional. At mid imputed ~$1k/yr vs ~$600 CapEx, simple payback is on the order of ~1 year at an imputed $1/kg larvae value—faster if commercial feed prices are higher locally.
- Animal-tailings headroom: at 1.2–1.8 kg/module/day the same bank can process ~29–43 kg/day; yields scale with feed if the colony keeps up.
Boquete municipal ladder
Same module math as the municipal design: business-first cafés → coffee industry → restaurants → population. Yield values below use mid BCR 15%, mid prices ($1 larvae, $0.10 frass, $0.02 avoided disposal on wet feed), and bank CapEx ≈ N × $600 (hardware only).
| Scenario | Wet kg/day | Banks (+spare) | Larvae kg/day | Yield value mid ($/mo) | Bank CapEx sketch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homestead | ~15 | 1× | ~2.3 | ~$80–85 | ~$0.6k |
| Phase 1 — 10 cafés × ~10 kg SCG | ~100 | ~5–6× | ~15 | ~$550–620* | ~$3–4k |
| Phase 3 — ~100 restaurants × ~20 kg | ~2,000 | ~105–126× | ~300 | ~$11–12k* | ~$60–75k |
| Boquete HH ceiling (~7,800 HH) | ~3,900 | ~205–250× | ~585 | ~$20–23k* | ~$120–150k |
*Monthly mid = larvae×$1 + frass×$0.10 + feed×$0.02, ×30. Phase 1 example: 15×1 + 35×0.10 + 100×0.02 ≈ $20.5/day ≈ $615/mo if disposal avoidance counts; without disposal ≈ $555/mo. Phase 3: 300 + 70 + 40 ≈ $410/day ≈ $12k/mo gross imputed—before labor, fuel, and roof.
Phase 1 cafés (entry)
- ~100 kg/day wet grounds as a blend stream—not sole diet (café claim).
- Hardware: a few banks under a small roof bay (~22 m² processing). CapEx banks ~$3–4k; add tote fleet, rinse, and a pickup rhythm.
- ~15 kg larvae/day mid is already a serious local feed outlet (poultry/fish farms, or chapter barter)—larger than one homestead can absorb alone.
Phase 3 restaurants (town core)
- ~2,000 kg/day at ~100 sites × ~20 kg (restaurant claim) → on the order of ~100+ banks and a dump-adjacent pad.
- ~300 kg larvae/day mid ≈ ~9 tonnes/month. That is a regional feed ingredient volume—needs contracts, QA, and cold or live logistics, not a backyard cup harvest.
- Bank hardware ~$60–75k is only the biological core. Route labor, vehicle, wash bay, and carbon yard dominate opex and often CapEx.
Full district households (ceiling)
- ~3,900 kg/day at full participation (~0.5 kg/HH/day)—municipal ceiling.
- ~585 kg larvae/day mid ≈ ~17.5 tonnes/month; frass on the order of tens of tonnes/month into soil programs.
- Imputed mid yield value ~$20k/mo sounds large until you subtract collection payroll and compare to landfill / tipping alternatives. Treat Phase 4 as public infrastructure with co-products—not a hobby ROI spreadsheet.
Homestead vs Boquete — side by side
Scale and offtake differ; the hardware archetype stays modular/open-air unless a separate climate-tray node is justified (open-air vs trays).
| Homestead 1× bank | Boquete Phase 1 | Boquete Phase 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feed | Own + neighbor offal/fruit | Café SCG blend route | Restaurant organics route |
| Labor | Family minutes/day | Part-time route + operator | Crew + supervisors |
| Clearing price | On-farm feed / fertility | Local feed buyers + disposal avoided for cafés | Regional feed + soil + municipal service |
| Risk | Diet surge / colony crash | Diet QA + partner reliability | Logistics, odor, offtake contracts |
| Why build | Fat/protein multiplier for livestock | Prove route + brand partners | Town waste node + protein plant |
What to measure before trusting the sheet
- Weigh wet feed in and larvae out per module for 2–4 stable cycles → your BCR.
- Weigh cured frass per kg feed → replace the 0.35× sketch.
- Quote local fishmeal / concentrate / compost → replace scenario prices.
- Log labor minutes and fuel per pickup → real opex (municipal phases especially).
- Confirm offtake: who eats 15 kg vs 300 kg larvae/day?
Field notes welcome via contribute or the Boquete community page.
Research trail: Wet bioconversion planning band · Live larvae for layers · Café SCG generation · Restaurant waste · Household food waste.