Features of entrepreneurial activity for the production and sale of maggot for fishing on various scales
Currently, on the Internet you can find a fairly large amount of materials on such a topic as growing maggots at home or breeding these larvae for sale to anglers in order to earn additional income.
When reading such articles, the conclusion involuntarily arises that their authors simply torn information from each other and, with minor author's changes, posted it on their resources. Moreover, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the advice and recommendations of these authors have nothing to do with reality, and only mislead readers interested in this issue.
Judging by the number of search queries that netizens ask on the topic of maggot production, there are a great many who want to start their production in the vastness of Russia. Moreover, even Internet fraud began to gain momentum for the sale of miraculous technologies for growing maggots without investments with space superprofits.
Having followed the same path, which is offered by numerous authors of similar opuses and online courses, most of the start-up producers will simply abandon this type of entrepreneurial activity, and only a few who will spend a certain number of years of their lives on developing their own growing technology can achieve success.
I must say right away that the profitability of such production really exceeds all decent limits, but there are many pitfalls, each of which is able to completely discourage doing such a thing - despite all of it and.
To begin with, I would like to talk about common misconceptions about this type of agricultural production (and it is exactly the same as raising pigs or raising rabbits).
So, common myths about the production of maggots:
1. "Maggot: business from nothing"
* Electricity;
* Thermal energy;
* Consumables: sawdust, bags, jars, bran, starch, sugar, growing medium, dyes, some chemicals, etc.
* Premises properly prepared and planned;
* Special equipment: refrigerators, freezers and more.
* Time for production, packaging, marketing;
* Labor.
No matter how!
Fly larvae, like any other living creature, require special conditions for existence and development.
Creating such conditions for its comfortable development, and even with minimal labor costs - this is the secret of technology.
If these guys don’t like something, then they are able to leave any growing containers in a matter of minutes and you most likely won’t be able to put them back together again.
They will crawl into every conceivable crack and in a week you will get a swarm of flies in your nursery. These flies, in turn, will lay their eggs on the substrate in which the development of other larvae takes place, maggots, as a result, will turn out to be of various sizes and not at all marketable.
Also, if the growing conditions for maggots are unfavorable (high or low humidity, overcrowding, temperature mismatch, etc.), then the maggot will either be too small, or different in size, or die altogether. Meat or fish, if certain conditions are not met, may rot, and maggots, contrary to popular belief, do not like rotten raw materials.
And this is not all the problems associated with the "simplicity" of growing fly larvae.
It is forbidden.
Considering this case as a source of income.
I think that now there are few people who want to do this at home on the balcony, for the sake of a handful of larvae of dubious quality, moreover, obtained from flies that it is not clear which garbage they climbed.
If we talk about a business of any acceptable scale for making money, then the main problem immediately arises here:
A specific smell emanating from the ventilation system. You may not smell inside the rooms, but outside-and-and...
If it is carried out according to all the rules, then there is no smell of rotten meat. But there is a strong smell of ammonia and the neighbors in the garden will obviously not be happy. Especially if your production volumes are significant.
At most, they will suffer for a month and then they will go to the authorities with complaints in a friendly crowd.
There are only two ways out in such a situation: do not place such production within settlements or install an expensive biofilter in the ventilation system. All.
But processing manure into fertilizer with the help of fly larvae on a personal plot is easy.
The fact is that the larvae that feed on various plant debris and maggots that eat meat or fish are completely different. And they emit incomparably different amounts of substances unpleasantly smelling to humans into the atmosphere.
But the commercial value of larvae grown on manure or droppings for fishing shops is doubtful. As a rule, they pupate very quickly.
But they can be fed to chickens. They can be dried and fed with flour from them whatever you like. By the way, even cats and dogs are happy to gobble up a similar product on both cheeks!
"As for the type of fly that will lay the larvae, then from the point of view of logic it does not matter what they will be"
Logic, of course, iron, but having nothing to do with reality.
And the reality is that the type of fly that is used to produce the larvae is critical.
It determines such basic characteristics of commercial products as size and longevity, as well as ease of cultivation.
If your maggot pupates the day after it arrives in stores, you will be told "Goodbye" very quickly.
" This type of business seems very simple, but still this niche is almost empty. Many fishing shops work with suppliers from Poland"
Business, in fact, is not as simple as it seems.
The niche in Russia has not been empty for a long time, and from Poland to Russia for five or six years, maggot has practically not been imported. They still import it to Ukraine and, last year, they imported it to Belarus - in 2014 it was banned for sanitary and epidemiological reasons.
The market in Russia is mainly divided between several large manufacturers located in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Lipetsk-Belgorod, Volgograd.
The greatest competition is observed in the Central Federal District of the Russian Federation and in the regions of the Volga region.
But the regions of Siberia, the Urals, the northern territories of our country are experiencing a very acute shortage of this type of bait. Fishing maggot gets there only by planes from Moscow and St. Petersburg and it costs several times more there than in other regions of the Russian Federation.
It is in these areas that I would advise to locate enterprises for the production of maggots for anglers. Due to the lack of major competitors and with a competent approach to business, success is guaranteed.
Before making a decision to start creating an enterprise (no matter what scale) for growing maggots for sale to anglers, you need to answer the most important question for yourself - TO WHOM TO SELL?
Sales market
It is on the availability of a sales market that the success of your undertaking and the return on investment will depend.
On average, a small shop sells 100-200 cans of white maggots per week and half that of colored maggots. The turnover of large stores can reach up to 2000 cans per week or more.
After spending a certain amount of time, you will approximately know what scale production needs to be organized in order to achieve your goals.
Below, I will give prices for fishing maggots for the Central Federal District of the Russian Federation:
|
Name |
Wholesale price, rub. |
Retail price. rub. |
|
Maggot white packed in jars 30 ml |
12-14 |
30-35 |
|
Maggot dyed packed in jars 30 ml |
14-16 |
30-50 |
|
Maggot white, liter |
350-400 |
600-700 |
|
Painted maggot, liter |
450-500 |
700-800 |
|
Maggot white, kg |
500-550 |
|
|
Maggot dyed, kg |
600-700 |
The scheme for the implementation of fishing maggot by all manufacturers, as a rule, is as follows:
An intermediary wholesaler buys bulk products from the manufacturer in liters or kilograms, which then packs the larvae as he pleases in containers at his discretion. It often happens - in jars with a third-party manufacturer's logo and then distributes it to retail outlets in the region. Usually in the regions there are 2-3 such intermediary wholesalers.
As a rule, manufacturers tend to have their own dealers in the region in order to operate under their brand name. But, since during the peak summer months, producers are not able to withstand the requirements of the market for product quality (usually in summer everyone wants bigger maggots) due to capacity overload, dealers seek to find a supplier who can provide them with a product that meets their requirements. . There is a constant migration of customers from one manufacturer to another and vice versa, when conditions or product quality change over time.
Some owners of large and medium-sized stores and chains prefer to buy already packaged branded products directly from the manufacturer, and do not use the services of intermediaries. But packaged goods take up a larger volume and, accordingly, their delivery is more expensive - due to an increase in the number of boxes. Delivery men - bus drivers, train conductors charge a certain price for one box. Actually, this is why such products are not popular with intermediaries who seek to reduce their costs, including transport costs. Also, they tend to put less maggot in the container than the manufacturer. Getting from one liter or kilogram of maggots more, compared to the direct manufacturer, the number of jars or containers for retail sale.
But their share in the whole country is insignificant. The culture of feeding with maggots in Russia, unfortunately, unlike in Europe and America, is still in its infancy.
The cost of production of one liter (or kilogram) of maggots is calculated by the formula:
(Cost of 1 kg of raw materials *2.5) + payroll + energy costs
Thus, if it is not planned to attract third-party labor, and the raw materials will be conditionally free (for example, the death of chickens from the nearest poultry farm), then the cost of a liter of biomass will only be equal to the amount that you pay for electricity and heating, and this is a ridiculous amount.
The cost of a jar with a label (30 ml) with maggot for retail sale will be no more than 3 rubles.
For reference: from one liter of maggots, about 60-70 jars of maggots are obtained for sale in stores.
At first glance - everything is perfect! In the eyes - DOLLARS!!!
But it is in this place that it is worth talking about the pitfalls that you will definitely encounter if you start doing this business.
Maggots are living creatures that require increased attention to their person and special conditions for growing, storing, pre-sale preparation, and transportation.
The owners of fishing shops and their clients, anglers, have become very fastidious now, and they won’t buy anything anyhow. Therefore, the most important thing that is required from you and your production is the quality of the goods.
Quality is ensured by compliance with all necessary conditions, starting with the process of obtaining eggs from flies and ending with the trip of the goods from the warehouse to the fishing store.
Let's start with flies.
Suppose you have chosen to keep a species of flies, the maggot of which is large in size and, if properly grown and stored, is able to not pupate for a long time and not die during storage.
But flies are susceptible to various diseases and can be destroyed by various small insect pests. In case of violation of the necessary sanitary standards - guaranteed, sooner or later, you will get situations like these:
Situation #1
Tonight there are a lot of flies in the cage, and in the morning there are only a few left - the rest are lying on the floor with no signs of life.
What to do?
You take a new batch of maggots, leave them for pupation in a warm place to breed a new population of flies, wait a week until the flies hatch from pupae, wait five to seven days until they start laying eggs (and time is running out, stores require goods - because they refused services other suppliers..!The owners are nervous - the customer is leaving for other stores..!You are nervous - you have let people down, the store owners are looking for new stable suppliers..!Hell).
And then the fly begins to lay eggs. You are looking forward to a good harvest of larvae and ... tonight there are a lot of flies in the cage, and in the morning there are only a few - the rest are lying on the floor with no signs of life.
All sailed. What to do? ...Unclear.
Situation #2
Tonight there are a lot of flies in the cage, and in the morning there are only a few left - the rest are lying on the floor with no signs of life. The fly room is full of little black bugs that crawl into your mouth, stuff themselves into your hair...
What to do?
You take a new batch of maggots, leave them for pupation in a warm place to breed a new population of flies, wait a week until the flies hatch from pupae ... Wait a week ... Wait another .. But the fly still does not hatch.
Finally, your patience breaks - you peel off the edge of the chrysalis with your fingernail and see inside it little white maggots that gobbled up your future fly from the inside (and time goes by, stores demand goods - because they refused the services of other suppliers ..! Store owners are nervous - the client leaves to other stores..!You are nervous - you let people down, store owners are looking for new stable suppliers... Hell).
Sailed again. And money is invested in equipment. Yes, and you feel that you can make good money... and there is demand... But...
Situation #3
Tonight there are a lot of flies in the cage, and in the morning there are a few flies in the cage - the rest are running around the shop.
How so? You remember very well that having completed all the manipulations in the cells yesterday, you securely tied your sleeves!
Inspect the cells from all sides and find them in gauze / mesh, etc. torn holes of a decent size. Where are they from?
Yes, it's just that the mice decided to eat sugar, which you carefully put the sweet tooth-flies in the home. Mice have a sweet tooth too.
What to do?
You patch holes, take a new batch of maggots, leave them to pupate in a warm place to breed a new population of flies, wait a week until they hatch ... Well, and further according to the scheme ...
Situation #4
Today you shot a chic crop of thick maggots (from the series I would have eaten). Having processed them according to all the rules of science and technology, you lay them out in refrigerators, joyfully call your customers, informing them that tomorrow they will have a chic batch of goods. Go home...
The next day, entering the room, you pay attention to a suspiciously large number of larvae crawling, perhaps not on the ceiling. Feverishly open the doors of refrigerators and ... from there you are covered with heat like from an oven! There are at least maggots in refrigerators, and even those, almost all are dead.
What to do? Have you already bragged about a good product?!
Cursing everything in the world, you begin to take revenge with a broom in all corners in the hope of saving at least something. You conjure over the collected larvae - winnow-sift.
Finally, what you managed to catch is sent to the store.
A couple of days later there was a sad message: - "Maggot has pupated"
What is the reason?
The reason is in the ancient refrigerators, produced when your parents did not even think to draw your draft design and, perhaps, did not know each other yet.
Having stuffed this venerable unit to the eyeballs with wriggling larvae, you could not even think that it would turn from a refrigerator into a thermos.
Maggot - it releases an unmeasured amount of heat due to friction!
What to do?
Refrigeration equipment is a must buy! Based on your volume.
And why did he snuggle up?
Yes, because if the larva overheats (at least not for a long time) at any of the stages (cultivation, storage, transportation) - it starts the mechanism of turning into a fly. It is practically impossible to stop him.
Situation #5
Today you took a gorgeous crop of thick maggots and put them in containers for cleaning the intestines of the larvae from food debris to give them a marketable appearance. Joyfully call your customers, informing them that tomorrow they will have a batch of incomparable goods.
The next day, looking into the containers, where, by definition, there should be maggots, you find bugs swarming there: black, striped, healthy and small, but there are no maggots ...
They ate your maggots.
There can be many situations like these.
But I will no longer scare you with horror stories. The main thing is that a person who decides to do such a thing as growing maggots for sale to fishermen understands that this is not an easy business and money will not fall from the sky by itself.
Do not believe the promises on the Internet that having bought a disk on the Internet for three to twenty thousand rubles with a miracle technology, you are guaranteed to take the first lines of the Forbes list in a couple of months, absolutely without investment!
Why do you think nothing new has appeared on the web over the past ten years?
Yes, because people who learned how to do this spent a lot of money and time in order to master all the intricacies of this very profitable craft, went abroad to study (the Author spent several tens of millions of Russian rubles on this science).
Having received knowledge at such a high price - no one wants to share it with others on a voluntary basis!
Therefore, if you nevertheless firmly decided to organize a business for breeding commercial maggots for sale to anglers, you will need to invest not twenty or thirty thousand rubles, but at least several million.
The amount of costs varies greatly (in one direction or another) depending on many factors. A significant impact on your costs will be the presence / absence of a heated suitable premises in your property, a land plot for construction with (or without) communications, etc.
The cost structure looks something like this:
* Drawing up a business project;
* in Russia or abroad;
* Construction / reconstruction of the premises;
* Installation of communications (electricity, water supply, heating, sanitation);
* The cost of purchasing equipment;
* Acquisition of consumables;
* Production costs;
* Staff training costs.
At all stages - you just need expert advice on these issues.
Believe me, in such a business as growing maggots, there are no trifles! Ignorance of this or that nuance can result in the collapse of the entire business project, and lost money.
Such production is easily scalable and by mastering the technique of obtaining relatively small volumes - you can then significantly increase your enterprise without large expenses.
So, what do you think, consider ... And good luck to you!
Serebryansky D.N.
www.site
2015
Often, in search of business ideas, we go through many options, looking for “our own” among the mass of useful and not very information, but very rarely look around, often finding ourselves in a situation that can be characterized by the proverb “You can see a speck in someone else’s eye, but you can’t see a log in your own” ". I'll start a little from afar, to get a complete picture both from the consumer side (read potential buyer) and from the business itself.
This summer turned out to be quite difficult on a personal level, on the one hand, the roughness at work associated with factors that I personally cannot influence, on the other hand, the same friction in other aspects of life, all this cannot affect the general condition. As a result, to put it mildly, they began to “feel bad” and urgently needed psychological relief, after going through a lot of options, I came to the conclusion that fishing could become such an outlet. Of course, it sounds trite, but the option turned out to be not bad, although I myself am not an experienced fisherman, it is very suitable for unloading. The result was, if not regular, then quite frequent trips to both paid rates and “public” reservoirs. As the fisherman said, I do not have much experience and “inclinations”, so fishing is quite primitive using the simplest fishing rods and baits. Anyone who has experienced fishing will not lie that a huge variety of baits and baits in fishing stores is very good, but for most types of fish (the so-called "carp fish" are the exception), the best option is a banal worm and maggot. That is, we use bait for the very "luring" of the fish, but the bait is still the same traditional worm and maggot. Of course, professional fishermen can smile and start a heated debate, but I repeat from the point of view of the vast majority of the same amateurs, there is no better option.
Going to go fishing every weekend, I, like a huge number of the same "amateurs", began my trip with a trip to the store for maggots and a sortie to "dig" worms. Everything seems to be clear and quite banal, until a real emergency happened (just kidding, of course), once again I went to the store and heard the news - “There are no maggots and there won’t be 10 days.” The news, of course, is not comforting, but I was personally interested, in the end it turned out the following:
- - maggots for shops are imported from Poland (personally, I could never even think of such a thing);
- - due to difficulties at the border, the next batch was simply stalled and a vacuum formed;
- - in our region, no one is engaged in independent breeding of maggots.
Of course, the situation is funny if it weren’t so sad, by the way, by the next weekend, even artificial maggot, which was positioned as a replacement, disappeared from store shelves. In addition, it was also impossible to “dig up” the worms on our own, the heat did its job and the worms disappeared rather abruptly (in any case, in order to gain the required number, I had to search for half a day). They quickly sorted out the worms, started buying from a friend who was breeding them, but this did not work out with maggot.
Actually, at this stage, I asked myself one simple and banal question: why is it profitable to breed maggots in Poland, taking into account transportation and “mandatory” payments at the border, but we don’t?
Having studied the situation and read a little specialized literature describing the life cycle of flies, maggot itself is a fly larva, I decided to check how it works. The set goal can be characterized whether it is possible to create a business for breeding maggots at home. I’ll make a reservation right away, the experiment was not set at home (I live in an apartment), but in the private sector using a closed room. Roughly speaking, a barn or other unused room with the ability to control temperature is suitable for such purposes.
Maggot business - home business with minimal investment (about other ideas with minimal investment)
Stage one of creating a home business with minimal investment, preparing a room for growing maggots
To begin with, I thought about a room for growing maggots and keeping the flies themselves. The main reason for most failures in the home breeding of maggots for sale is called the wrong content. The thing is that despite the unpretentiousness of the fly, changes in the temperature regime greatly affect both the number of clutches and their size, the same thing happens with the larva itself. And to be honest, the smaller and slower they grow, the less money you earn.
Of course, I didn’t spend money on full-fledged ventilation equipment, I managed with a number of household appliances and a temperature sensor with the function of automatically turning on and off the “built” system. By the way, it is ventilation that is one of the most costly items of expenditure, as it turned out, the release of ammonia during the growth and development of fly larvae (maggot) is very impressive. Of course, as an experiment, no one bred larvae in kilograms, but even the amount that was gave a noticeable smell.
For the flies, they built two small boxes covered with fine mesh, measuring a meter by a meter with a hard bottom, for the larvae they stocked up with several bags of sawdust and bought five plastic containers (I still don’t know why five).
Actually, this is the end of the list of initial equipment for business and training.
Stage two of creating a home business without investment, food for flies and maggots.
To be honest, after a long study of the "addictions" of flies, they went the simplest way, went to the nearest poultry farm and bought a dozen "crushed" chickens for a nominal fee. I immediately agreed with the foreman on the "systemic" supply of feed.
Stage three of a business without investment at home, the formation of a broodstock for growing maggots.
In this matter, they approached purely from a scientific point of view and formed two herds at once:
- First, with the help of the simplest flycatchers in the area of the same poultry farm, they caught blowflies, while trying to select only certain types of flies from the total number. Of course, I am not an expert, but large green flies were selected for their appearance.
- The second was withdrawn from purchased maggots.
Interestingly, both the first and second turned out to be very similar.
Stage four of creating a home business without investment, the process of breeding and growing maggots.
Without cunning for a long time, a chicken cut into several parts was placed in cages with flies, on which the flies quickly laid their eggs.
Then, together with pieces of meat, fly eggs were transferred to separate containers with sawdust. In which, in fact, there is a further development of maggot at home from the moment of hatching to the acquisition of a presentation.
At this stage, they faced a number of difficulties, ranging from the fact that the larvae stopped growing to the fact that they simply died, of course, not all but most of them. The fact is that in order to obtain the maximum result, it is necessary to provide the most comfortable conditions, and here you also need a certain humidity and prevent active decay of the feed. To be honest, from the tenth attempt, certain patterns began to emerge. Of course, the ideal results are still far away, but clear successes are also evident.
In the end, after two months of active work on "selection" and the development of the correct methodology, we received the first "harvest" in the amount of one hundred grams of maggots grown at home.
Stage five business ideas for breeding maggots at home.
Organization of sales of products. With the sale, everything turned out quite simply in the nearest store they gave the grown maggots for sale. They buy the Polish product for real money, but here, as it were, on credit.
By the way, the maggots from the "green" flies turned out to be not very large, but they did not differ much from their Polish counterparts.
In addition, I can say that when the maggot was brought to marketable condition, it was placed in the refrigerator, where it was stored for a fairly long period of time.
Actually, as a result of the experiment, we managed to start growing maggots at home and even make money from it, although we are not talking about profit yet. Of course, this business has a number of both pluses and minuses:
Advantages of home business on maggots.
– To create a business on growing maggots, you need a minimum start-up capital.
– High turnover and profitability of the maggot breeding process at home. De facto, from the moment of start (laying of eggs) to the receipt of commercial maggot, 7-8 days are needed.
– The possibility of creating such a business at home.
Cons of the business idea for growing maggots.
- The need to create your own technology, in fact, you will not find a ready-made “recipe” for breeding on the net, most of the processes need to be tried on your own.
- Certain aesthetic issues, not everyone can and wants to breed maggots in large quantities. Plus the smell itself from the "nutrition" and the vital processes of flies and maggots (at least the smell of ammonia).
As an epilogue
After evaluating all the pros and cons, we clearly decided on the huge prospects of this market and the very business idea of breeding maggots, now we began to experiment with other types of flies to ensure year-round cultivation (we grow the so-called housefly). Of course, it is very far from industrial scale, but I am quite seriously considering the possibility of creating a small farm, if you have breeding experience, I will be glad to hear advice or share your experience, I will be very grateful.
Maggot is an indispensable fishing tackle for most lovers of sitting with a fishing rod .... Scientifically, a maggot is called a fly larva. In fishing shops selling baits and baits for fish, you can find larvae of three types: the blue blowfly, the green fly, and the common housefly. The larvae of the latter are very small and not very convenient for the nozzle. The method of growing all species is absolutely the same.
Growing technology
The industrial production of maggot is very specific and does not look as simple as it seems at first glance.
To obtain maggots, securely closed rooms are used to prevent foreign flies and other unnecessary living creatures from entering them. The temperature in the room should be warm (+24-27 degrees) and constant. Flies are fed sugar and other sweet food. Then pieces of meat are placed in the room, in which the flies lay their eggs in heaps. Within a day, a decent number of larvae is obtained from each pile: from 200 to 500 pieces.
The larvae are then placed in large containers up to 5 meters wide. From one such container, up to 50 liters of maggots are obtained. The larvae are fed with the meat of animals, birds or fish. In just 7 days, a commercial maggot grows from a small larva. From 100 kg of meat you can grow 50 liters of maggot. In order for the maggot to be red (and by default, it is white), a special dye is added to the meat - rhodamine B.
The final stage is the collection and sorting of maggots. As soon as the larvae have gained the desired weight, the pieces of meat rise above the assembly containers, into which the maggot falls. The larvae are then sifted through a sieve to remove impurities. Ready-to-sell maggots are placed in small boxes of sawdust and sent to the shelves of fishing stores.
How much can you earn?
If you find a wholesale buyer of maggots in large volumes, the business will bring good income. In what other agricultural business can you grow 300-500 kg of finished, and far from cheap, products from nothing in 7 days?
The cost of one liter of maggot at the wholesale price is at least 900 rubles. For 7 days from 1 ton of meat we can get 500 liters of maggot. In a week, the revenue will amount to 450 thousand rubles.
In England, some farmers give out simply unrealistic volumes - up to 20,000 liters of maggot per week. If translated into our rubles, it turns out simply cosmic profits: up to 18 million rubles. On an ordinary fly larva. And you say the most profitable business is oil and coffee ...
Pitfalls of business
Despite all the profitability of the business, the complexity of its organization can be the very stumbling block that will stop most start-up entrepreneurs.
Here are just a few of the reasons why industrial maggot cultivation is not an easy task:
1. Strong smell. Fly larvae emit incredible amounts of sulfur dioxide and ammonia. This smell is not only very unpleasant, but also harmful to humans. It is for this reason that European countries closed most of the farms that used the simplest maggot production technologies.
2. Labor force. Not everyone will agree to work in such a specific production. Therefore, either you have to pay high wages, or be prepared for high staff turnover.
3. Where can I get raw materials for cultivation? Also a relevant question. It will require a weekly supply of tons of meat. Buying fresh meat is expensive, you need to look for a not quite fresh product. Perhaps, butcher shops, livestock complexes and other enterprises whose activities are related to the turnover of meat and poultry products will help to resolve this issue.
4. Search for marketing channels for maggots. It is not easy to sell 1000 liters of maggot. Here you have two ways to sell maggot: sell it to wholesale dealers at reduced prices, or arrange supplies to retail chains on your own. The second option is more profitable, but will require huge labor and time costs. Good managers are indispensable. You will need to drive around hundreds of fishing shops, and possibly in more than one major city. And not everywhere you will be received with open arms. Most stores have been working with reliable maggot suppliers for a long time, and they are satisfied with everything.
Maggots are called larvae of the round-seam fly. They are widely used in various fields of human activity: as bait when catching peaceful fish species, as well as for food in aquariums, poultry farming and fish farming.
The habitat of maggot in nature is the accumulation of meat or fish waste. The fly lays eggs on the remnants of decaying flesh, from which larvae appear after a few days. It is not difficult to create suitable conditions for this, so maggot breeding can be described as a profitable business idea, especially when you consider that it will take a minimum of funds to implement it.
Substantiation of a commercial idea
The agro-industrial complex is one of the main environmental pollutants. Organic waste from livestock farms causes enormous damage to soil and water. Artificial breeding of maggot not only solves the problem of waste disposal, but also allows you to get a lot of useful products:
- live biomass of larvae, which can serve as food for farm animals;
- indispensable fishing bait of animal origin;
- zoohumus is a very valuable fertilizer that stimulates the growth and development of plants, increases productivity, promotes soil reclamation and its release from heavy metals;
- flour (a product of dried maggot processing), which is several times superior to meat and bone meal in its properties, is used as an additive for combined feeds (see).
Note: larval biomass is especially effective when breeding fish species such as carp and trout (see). As practice shows, if maggot is introduced into the diet of fish, the survival rate of fry increases, the risk of disease decreases, and individuals gain weight twice as fast as usual.
In addition, flour obtained from dried fly larvae is a raw material for the production of oncological drugs, and is widely used in cosmetology.
There are only a few enterprises engaged in the cultivation of maggot on an industrial scale in Russia. That is, this niche is practically unoccupied. The low level of competition, the absence of the need for large start-up and ongoing investments, as well as the wide opportunities for selling finished products make this business idea relevant and promising.
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The breeding process of maggot
Blow flies are commonly used to produce marketable maggots. One individual is able to lay up to 300 larvae per day. With a good food base, they can grow to a size of 1.2-1.5 cm in length in just 5 days.
Breeding conditions
If the cultivation of maggot is planned as, it must be borne in mind that during the growth of fly larvae they emit an unpleasant smell of ammonia. Therefore, the premises intended for these purposes should be located at a considerable distance from residential areas.
Basic conditions for breeding larvae:
- the air temperature should be at the level of 22-25 ° C, otherwise the maggots may plunge into suspended animation or die;
- air humidity is recommended to be maintained at the level of 50-70%;
- the room should be ventilated periodically;
- foreign insects should not be allowed to enter the room;
- the lighting should not be too intense (the larvae "do not like" bright light).
The production room should be divided into two main areas: the insectarium and the incubator. In the first one you can keep flies, in the second one - to hatch larvae. Equipment for these purposes can be made independently. You will need metal frames, trays, facades (can be made from plywood) and a fine mesh.
Technology
Cages for flies need to be covered with a net and containers (trays, boxes, containers) with a substrate should be installed under them. As a substrate, you can use sawdust or bran mixed with bird droppings, meat offal, rotten vegetables. Some entrepreneurs use the case of poultry from poultry farms. To grow 1 kg of larvae, approximately 4-5 kg of substrate will be required.
Feeders and drinkers for flies should be installed in cages. You can also feed insects with leftover food, organic waste. It is important to monitor the availability of water. One cage measuring 50 cm × 50 cm × 50 cm can contain about 1000 flies. A natural question arises: where to get such a number of insects? A fishing shop will help with the formation of the breeding stock.
A trial batch of larvae of the green blowfly (pinkie) is usually purchased. They are placed in containers with tightly closed lids, or directly into cages. Subject to the temperature regime (25-28°C) and the presence of a food base, the first flies will appear in 10 days. Already on the second or third day, the flies reach sexual maturity. After mating, the males die, while the females remain fertilized and look for a place to lay their eggs.
Thus, already three days after the insect turns from a chrysalis into a fly, the first assembly of eggs can be carried out. I must say that the eggs quite quickly (in 8-10) hours pass to the next stage of development and become larvae that are able to move and feed on their own.
Containers with laid eggs must be moved to the incubator. As the latter, you can use lockable cabinets with shelves arranged in several tiers. Now you need to periodically feed the larvae and monitor their growth and development in order to prevent the transition to the pupal stage. If the larvae are raised for sale in fishing stores, Sudan III dye and anise oil can be mixed into the substrate.
When the maggots reach the desired size, they should be separated from the substrate and placed in storage. The optimum temperature is -2°C. In such conditions, the larvae are immersed in suspended animation and can be stored for 3-4 weeks.
Realization of a maggot
It is not difficult to grow maggots, and usually there are no problems with their implementation either. You can offer your products to owners of fishing and pet stores. Larval biomass is most often sold in 1 liter containers. The wholesale price averages 350 rubles. for 1 liter
Zoohumus is readily purchased by the owners of greenhouses, dried larvae and products of their processing - farmers who breed poultry or fish, as well as beekeepers. The cost of 1 liter of zoohumus is about 15 rubles, the price of flour can reach 30 rubles per 1 kg.
The resulting products can be sold not only on the local market, but also on the regional one - it all depends on the volume of production. Gradually expanding your business, you can start selling on the Internet by creating your own website (see,).
Conclusion
The production of fly larvae is an interesting business, not too troublesome and very profitable. And if for this purpose the waste of the livestock complex is used, which under normal conditions are subject to burial, then it is also noble.
Read more about the maggot breeding business in the following video:
According to statistics, every third fisherman is ready to spend any money on his hobby: these are fishing accessories, baits, and various equipment. At the same time, for the majority there is not much difference what kind of fish will fall on the hook. The process itself is important, but everything else, as they say, will follow.
By the way, this feature of the "local mentality" can be used to earn good money. That is, we are talking about the development of small businesses in the production and sale of fishing accessories. But there are some pitfalls here: a huge mass of fishing goods is sold through the relevant stores.
Therefore, it is necessary to look for a niche that does not have much competition. And in this case, we will consider the business of breeding maggots. What is needed for this and what you will have to face in the production process, read in this article.
Maggots - what is it?
Experienced fishermen are well aware of what maggots are for and how they are used in fishing. But their breeding is carried out by those who decided to do their own business without initial capital.
This type of activity is not recommended for those who have a too developed sense of disgust. The fact is that, in fact, maggots are called fly larvae, which are used by fishermen as bait. Therefore, if you or one of your family members cannot stand the sight of a large mass of insects, then it is better to find another activity.
But not all maggots are suitable for fishing. As a rule, larvae of the following insects are used for this:
- blue blowflies;
- green flies;
- house flies;
As for the latter, this category is used less frequently in fisheries. The reason for this is the small size of the larvae, which are difficult to hook.
Interestingly, there are no special differences between industrial and home breeding of maggot. Both of these methods are based on the decay of food waste.
And here, for many people who are not familiar with fishing, the question may naturally arise: what is the popularity of maggot among fishing enthusiasts? It turns out that this bait is considered a kind of delicacy among fish. Therefore, even on the most fishless day, a decent bite will be guaranteed.
Some fishermen have learned how to harvest maggots on their own. To do this, a couple of pieces of meat are placed in a room with flies (usually a barn). And after a week, you can collect a full-fledged "harvest".
Benefits of this business
As you know, the agro-industrial complex is considered one of the first sources of environmental pollution: various organic wastes cause irreparable damage to both soil and water. Accordingly, the cultivation of maggot allows us to solve the urgent problem of waste-free disposal of dead animal carcasses.
In addition, thanks to the maggot, breeding of such rare fish in our country as trout and carp has become available. Moreover, according to the studies, the inclusion of maggot larvae in the diet of fish fry increased their survival rate, and the risk of diseases was sharply reduced.
Here we can add the fact that the flour obtained from the larvae is used for the production of drugs for cancer patients and the development of new types of cosmetics. In general, large companies that are engaged in this type of business can be counted on the fingers. So you don't have to worry about competition. This is another striking advantage of this business.
Arrangement of the premises
In the process of growing, the larvae emit a persistent smell of ammonia into the surrounding space. Now imagine that there are not 10, but as many as 100 or even 1000 maggots. Neighbors are unlikely to be delighted with your new hobby. Therefore, it is not recommended to engage in such an activity in an apartment. The best place for this is a house in the village or cottage. Additionally, worm breeding can also be arranged here.
Important: the production room should be located as far as possible from the location of residential buildings.
In order for maggots to grow quickly and have excellent quality, it is necessary to create favorable conditions for this. Immodest results can be achieved under the following conditions:
- The most optimal temperature for comfortable living of larvae is in the range from +23 to +25 degrees. At the same time, temperature jumps adversely affect their growth;
- The level of humidity in the room should correspond to 50-70%. This will largely contribute to the rapid reproduction of maggots;
- Don't forget to ventilate the room. The ammonia secreted by the larvae is considered a harmful and toxic substance. However, do not overdo it: maggots do not like drafts;
- Windows and doors in the larvae rearing area should be equipped with mosquito nets. This is done so that other insects who want to feast on rotten meat do not penetrate there;
- The interior lighting of a room with maggots should not be very bright, but softer and more pleasant;
Breeding maggots
There is one of the most common methods of breeding and storing maggots. Its essence lies in the fact that the larvae are bred in special containers that are made from plastic bottles. But before that, be sure to stock up on sawdust. They are needed to create a comfortable environment.
By the way, in industrial production (there is such a thing), maggots are grown in containers whose width reaches 5 meters. But at home, much smaller containers are used. At the same time, more than 60 larvae can be grown from one container per week.
Having prepared everything you need, they proceed to the main stage: for this, pieces of meat are laid out in a specially prepared place. Then you should wait. At this time, the flies will begin to be attracted by the smell of rotten meat. Moreover, they are attracted not only by the smell, but also by the environment for laying the larvae.
Maggots should be collected in this way: pieces of meat are shaken over the container. As a result, the larvae fall to the bottom. After this procedure, it is recommended to sift and clean them. And to remove excess moisture, sawdust is poured into the bottles.
It is known that summer is the season for the sale of fishing equipment. Therefore, craftsmen developed another method for breeding maggots. To do this, the upper part of the plastic bottle is cut off and inserted into the lower part with the thread down. In this case, the cork must be twisted. Further, bait is applied to the upper part, and sawdust is added to the lower part. The maggot will feed on the bait and fall into the bottom of the bottle. True, the quality of the bred maggot is much worse than the first option.
Fly food
Those who are interested in this type of business and want to succeed in it should remember one main condition for breeding high-quality maggots: in order for the larvae to be large and have an excellent appearance, they must eat well.
Boiled eggs, various scraps, dairy and flour products are used to feed flies. But the best means of nutrition, which has repeatedly proven its effectiveness, is meat.
Moreover, not only the sirloin part can be used as meat bait. Animal offal proved to be no worse. Crushed offal is also great for feeding larvae.
But if you think that in order to breed maggots, you need to specially buy meat and wait until it dries out, then you are mistaken. Instead of the expected profit, you will simply go bankrupt.
As meat bait, you can use the remains of animal carcasses, fish, dead chickens or chickens. To do this, you can negotiate with a farm or poultry farm so that they stock up on animal waste. They are still required by law to dispose of animal remains. At the same time, with your diligence, you will save them from unnecessary troubles and they will give their substandard goods with pleasure.
Storage of maggots
Important: you can sell maggots already after a week from the moment it was collected in a container. But here it is important to remember one rule: after a week it must be closed for storage. Otherwise, the larvae will dig into the sawdust and begin to pupate. After that, flies will grow out of them.
Don't forget to wear gloves to collect the larvae. You can also use a sieve for this to weed them out of sawdust. Then the finished product is packaged in jars filled with fresh sawdust. Sawdust must be wet. Next, the jars are placed in a refrigerator with a set temperature of -2 to -4 degrees. Under such conditions, maggots will be stored for a month. During this time, they must be sold, since then they will lose their marketable appearance and cease to be attractive to fish.
The appearance of a maggot largely depends on what you feed it. This will be indicated by its color. For example, if you feed the larvae with protein, they will turn white. If yolk, then yellow. And if you add food coloring rhodamine B, they will turn red.
Thanks to this unique feature, you can significantly increase the demand for your products. And you can change not only the color. If you add anise oil to the sawdust, then the maggot will acquire a smell that will appeal not only to the fish, but also to the fishermen themselves.
How to organize sales
Important: the success of your business will largely depend on the sale of your products.
To calculate the average monthly need of your area for this product, you need to calculate how many stores are located in the served area.
For example, a small shop usually sells about 200 cans of white maggots and another 100 of colored maggots a week. As for large fishing shops, this number reaches 2000 cans per week. But in any case, the matter is as they say in practice. And already after some time you will know exactly how much capacity to organize production in order to fully cover the needs of the market.
To better understand the features of such a business, you need to find out the average prices for this product. Below we consider the average cost of maggot in fishing stores in the Russian Federation:
- White maggot (capacity 30 ml): 12-14 wholesale and 30-35 retail;
- Colored maggot (capacity 30 ml): 14-16 wholesale and 30-50 retail;
- White maggot (capacity 1 liter): 350-400 wholesale and 600-700 retail;
- Colored maggot (capacity 1 liter): 450-500 wholesale and 700-800 retail;
As a rule, most manufacturers sell their products according to the following scheme. Bulk maggot is purchased in liters. Then its intermediary lays out the containers at its discretion. At the same time, the jars may have labels with the logo of another manufacturer. Further, the goods are sold to all existing outlets. In a small region, there may be up to three such intermediaries.
Given the above circumstances, manufacturers want such dealers to be under their leadership and work under their brand. But as you know, the peculiarity of this business lies in its seasonality: during the peak months, the requirements for the goods increase significantly, so the client wants a bigger maggot. But overloading production capacities is simply not able to produce the desired result. Therefore, dealers are looking for a manufacturer whose products would meet demand. And in this case, there is a kind of migration of employees from one company to another. In the end, market conditions change and everything returns to normal.
As for the owners of large and medium-sized stores, naturally the majority tends to do without the services of intermediaries. In this case, they begin to cooperate with those manufacturers who supply packaged goods. But products of this type have a large volume, and their delivery is correspondingly more expensive. The same conductors or, say, bus drivers usually charge a certain price for transporting one box. Thus, the cost of the entire batch increases, which is accordingly unprofitable for intermediaries. After all, their main profit comes from reducing transport costs. Additionally, they try to increase profits by reducing the number of maggots in the banks themselves. As a result, from one liter they get many times more profit than the manufacturer.
(Price per 1 kg of raw materials * 2.5) + payroll + electricity costs
Based on this formula, we can conclude that if you do not plan to attract third-party workers, and the raw materials themselves cost almost nothing (the death of chickens at a poultry farm), then the cost of your product will consist only of heating and electricity costs. The cost of a container (a jar with a label of 30 ml) for the retail sale of maggot is three rubles. Accordingly, this type of business is quite profitable.
Important: one liter of maggots allows you to get about 60 jars of finished products for delivery to retail stores.
Conclusion
Summing up, we should mention what an enterprising person will have to face in this type of business.
In fact, maggots are living organisms that are very demanding of their person. This applies not only to storage conditions, but also to subsequent preparation for marketing and transportation.
In addition, recently the client has become quite picky about the quality of the goods and, accordingly, will not buy nondescript goods. Therefore, quality is the main characteristic of your products. In order for it to be at its best, it is necessary to comply with all the necessary production conditions. This applies to obtaining larvae from flies and transporting products to points of sale.
Many, probably, have already encountered on the Internet with intrusive advertising for the sale of a video course, which guaranteed mountains of gold when familiarized with this technology. Moreover, the cost of this guide varies from a few to twenty thousand rubles. However, you should not believe these promises, since nothing new has appeared in this area. If we are talking about home production, then this is a practically break-even production that does not require start-up capital. Whereas the establishment of large-scale production involves the cost of special equipment, rental of premises, wages to staff, and so on. In this case, funds in the amount of a couple of million domestic rubles are needed.
Financial costs for large-scale production:
- Development of a business plan;
- Purchase of production equipment;
- Rent, construction or reconstruction of premises;
- Wiring communications (water, light, electricity, heating);
- Technology costs for growing maggots;
- Purchase of components and consumables;
- Production costs;
- Training;
At the same time, when starting production, professional consultations of specialists are necessary.
When developing any business, it is necessary to take into account any nuances. Even a seemingly insignificant trifle can significantly affect the future prospects of your business. Therefore, in order to move on to large-scale production, you must first master a small volume and properly understand all the intricacies of growing maggots. By doing so, you will gain valuable experience and develop a client base that will give you the necessary impetus to implement larger ideas.
