[AndyArch]

Hi,

I have a large wooden compost bin split into two, in one I have compost that is almost ready and in the other I am adding all the veg waste/rabbit bedding etc to replenish.

In the side with the nearly ready compost I noticed last night that it is crawling with ants  and what looks like maggots (tiny white/cream bugs that are about the size of a small pea).

Is this normal or do I need to treat it with something, my plans are to dig it into the soil in the autumn to further improve the plot.

Any opinions or advice is greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Andy

[Gardener and Rabbit]

It's normal at this time of year.  I emptied a dalek compost bin a couple of weeks ago and it was just the same; lots of ants, and several large slugs too.

I tipped as much of the wildlife as I could back into the bottom of the composter, to get the next lot off to a flying start, and the compost got dug in to help feed the squashes. 

[Auntiemogs]

Not sure about the maggots, but if you give it a good water,  the ants should move out (they don't like being disturbed). 

[JayG]

The larvae will probably be ant larvae - there are certainly dozens if not hundreds of different types of bugs which make compost heaps their home during different stages of the composting process, and similar numbers of moulds and fungi too! 

All perfectly normal, and mostly they disappear from 'finished' compost, although ants do like dry, undisturbed places. Seems to shame to disturb them and spoil all their hard work if you don't need the compost until autumn! 

[devonbarmygardener]

I have ants in the greenhouse this year, and I left to part full bags of MPC in there and they're both riddled in ants and larvae

I'm grateful however that for the first year in about 8 theyre not invading my kitchen!!