I'm using a pair of 55 gallon drums as composters. I use mostly oak leaves and the produce manager at the local Piggly Wiggly has been kind enough to set aside any scraps or unsaleable fruits and veggies for me. Lately I've noticed a lot of grubs? in my compost, thousands actually. The whole drum is crawling with them. They are about an inch long, sectioned, not smooth, white with a brown pointed snout and no legs. I imagine they are some type of beetle larvae, but are they a problem? Will they leave/die when the compost is finished? Should I wait until then to use my compost? I'm new to this, so any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Jack.

Definitely wait for them to mature before using compost. Let's hope it is not those pesky JB's. Anyway, I would have begged for them if you are nearby, they make fantastic trout baits!

Jack, You sure you don't have maggots? If so, they will eventually become flies.

Ned

I'm starting to think they are fruit fly larvae because they began to show up after I loaded the drums with 100+ soft cantaloupes the produce manager gave me. I sent a couple of them to Jane Tennant and she and her husband said they were some type of beetle grubs. As long as they don't hatch and attack my garden like a plague of locusts, I'll be OK. But I agree with Joe, time to take some of them fishing.