In April of 2001, a friend of mine offered to give away some extra silkworms she had. This interested me greatly, and I began to research silk cultivation so I could properly care for the silkworms she gave me. After growing that batch, I ordered a batch of my own from Mulberry Farms, a company on the internet that sells silkworms for projects like this and other uses. I also bought a supply of food for the silkworms, since I do not have a mulberry tree from which to feed the silkworms. The silkworm eggs arrived on the 7th of May. This is the story of my first beginning-to-end experience in sericulture.
Mon 7 May: Received eggs. They came in a 6" (actually 5 3/4") petri dish. They're tiny (~1 mm across) and a purplish gray. It doesn't look like there could possibly be two thousand of them in there, but I'm not about to go count them!
Thurs 10 May:
Fri 11 May: The worms seem to be a little wider and lighter already, and about a millimeter longer than yesterday. It may just be just my imagination. They're climbing everywhere and eating voraciously. They're also leaving tiny black spots everywhere (poop). I'm afraid to open the dish. If those things get out, I'll NEVER manage to get them back in. They're just too tiny! [I dumped out the four from the last batch that never cocooned (fertilizer) and cooked the bunch from the 4th and 5th. Tomorrow I'll be able to cook the last ones. Yum! I still can't believe those kids dunked those cocoons in chocolate pudding!]
Sat 12 May: I had to move the worms into one of the trays, as the humidity had gotten too high in the petri dish. At least that made it easier to make room for another batch of food!
The worms are now large enough that I can make out their colouration, which is like the adults', if a little darker. Everywhere I look, there are worms, chomping away at their food.
Sun 13 May: I removed the few casualties I could find today, in case they could make the rest sick. Didn't find as many as I was expecting, considering insects seem to have such a high mortality rate. Must say I'm glad -- for each dead worm, I saw a cocoon I'll never harvest (cold!). Anyway, the rest are busy munching away. No size difference noticeable from yesterday, unless they really are a little fatter. Their colour is lightening.
Thurs 17 May: I skipped writing for a few days because there wasn't very much to say, but today I fed them (thin slices instead of shavings, as they're big enough now). Next time I feed them, I'll put half of them in a different tray -- its time. And as for growing, they're a centimeter or more long now and well-rounded. They really look like silkworms now!
Fri 18 May:
Oh, my, are they ever growing! Most of them are a little more than a centimeter long, but at least two of them are closer to two. Yet some of them are only about a half a centimeter long. I wonder if these little runts are the ones that'll have problems later on, when it's time to make cocoons? Well, with this many worms all over the place I doubt I'll be able to keep track of them long enough to find out!
Some of the worms have been exploring up the sides of the tray, though they haven't gotten so far up that I'm afraid to take the lid off. And there's quite a cobweb of silk all over the food. Too bad it's not something I can use!
Noticed some have been leaving skin casings about (on the sides, at least). With the last batch, I thought they were casualties, at least until I read that they do this several (4?) times before cocooning. This is the first, then.
Moved the worms to new lodgings. I knew there'd been some casualties, but I'm estimating about three hundred worms at this point, down from two thousand eggs. I really hope this trend doesn't continue like this!
Tue 22 May: 2nd (?) molting
I moved and fed the worms today. Below is an old skin I found (from the molting) and a frass that came along for the ride. They're eating almost constantly, are rather plump (~ three millimeters across), and are almost all an inch (2 ½ centimeters) or more long.
Wed 23 May: Ohmygod! They grow by the minute! Now most appear about three centimeters long, and are SO FAT!
Thurs 24 May: Moved and fed the silkworms this evening, and split the colonies again (now four). The worms have gotten quite large, most at least one and a half inches long, and plump. Had to make up a new batch of food to get them all fed, and managed to use up about a fifth of the food. The scary thing is, I know it'll be almost gone in just a couple days!
The roses are really responding well to their regular fertilizings of uneaten food and silkworm frass. I wonder what they were missing before?
Mon 28 May: 3rd molting
Moved and fed the silkworms again. They're growing so quickly, it's amazing. They molted again, most in the past forty-eight hours. Now most area at least two inches long, and two look to be almost three inches long. I used up the last of the second batch of food in this feeding.
Tue 29 May: I realized today just how big of a size difference there is among the worms when I looked at them and saw one of the FAT almost three-inch ones right next to a tiny one inch worm. It's hard to believe that they're all almost the same age. I wonder how the slow growers are going to do when its cocooning time?
Wed 30 May: Fed and moved the silkworms again today. I should have split the colonies, but need to get more trays first, so I'll have to do that next time (tomorrow, at this rate!).
I found a dead one, the first since I cleaned out the petri dish. It was about one and a quarter inches long, so it was one of the smaller ones. Sometime after I looked at the tray yesterday, it died. It turned a mushy mid-tone gray. Lovely (NOT!). The others all appear healthy.
Thurs 31 May: 4th molting
Fed and moved the silkworms again, and split the colonies. I now have eight. There was absolutely NO food left, less than twenty-four hours after their last feeding, and most of the worms are up around three inches long and FAT!
Feeding them tonight took up the rest (about one quarter) of the batch I made yesterday and all but a sliver of the batch I made today. At this rate, they'd better start cocooning soon, or I won't get the new bags of food in time! Many of them look ready, but either I've missed a molting (not difficult early on) or they're not as ready as they look. [note: 2nd (?), 3rd, and 4th moltings were originally labeled 1st, 2nd, and 3rd moltings.] In any case, I need to start cleaning and gathering egg cartons so they have something to cocoon in.
Sat 2 June: Feeding the worms today took up an entire batch of food, which was not surprising but did give me added cause for worry. I haven't been able to get in touch with Mulberry Farms lately, and now have only one packet of food left. If I don't get another soon, I'll have to get my hands on a mulberry tree so the worms have something to eat in the last however-many days before they start cocooning.
Luckily, it looks like they may get started any day now. Most of them are at least 3" long and FAT. Of these, perhaps half are looking shiny (Sericulum calls that "waxy") and aren't doing much. One tray even has two patches of silk on it, done since I moved them at 1 pm, but I couldn't move the worms that did it because they'd gone back to acting like their companions. I noticed last time that they tend to waver a bit at first, even after they seem to have gotten serious about it. At least THAT silk is usually usable, unlike the early stuff that's so well-coated in food and frass that cleaning it's FAR more trouble than it's worth!
Sun 3 June: Got to place one worm in the cocooning tray this morning, and another EIGHT (!) there this evening. The others aren't eating so much anymore, so maybe this last batch of food will last long enough, although tomorrow I'm CALLING Mulberry Farms before hunting down a mulberry tree / bush I can buy or take leaves from.
One of the worms isn't looking too well, translucent instead of waxy. It's a big one, too, the same size as the ones now building cocoons. I separated him from the others and gave him his own food, but am doubtful as to whether anything I can do will do him any good. We'll see.
Mon 4 June: Two more silkworms got moved before bed last night. By this evening, there are EIGHT (!!!) trays of cocooning silkworms, each containing three to thirteen worms, depending on how many were ready at any one time. I've run out of egg cartons, which is what "they" suggest putting in the trays for the worms to cocoon in. I even took the eggs out of our current carton so I could use that (tops, too!). I think I may need to make deviled eggs tomorrow!
I still couldn't get through to Mulberry Farms on the web today, so I called and ordered more food that way. If there are many worms that need feeding tomorrow, I'll be in trouble, but by Wednesday I should be able to feed them, and I'll have a good supply for the next generation.
The guy at Mulberry Farms seemed unusually impressed that I'd been able to get the worms through to this stage, saying that most of his customers couldn't. He asked me quite a few questions about how I was growing the worms, that I could get them so far along. Should I be concerned??
He also asked me if I would be interested in any of the tomato cutworms he would soon be getting in. I immediately thought of my daughter's rather extensive tomato patch and fought back a shudder. Then I told him how I'm growing the silkworms as a medieval re-creation project, not for lizard food. Somehow, I don't think I was the first customer to tell him something of the sort!
I had another casualty today, one of the few remaining one and a half inch silkworms. Most of the small ones are quickly catching up with their fellows. As for the sick-looking one I separated out yesterday, its still alive but isn't doing anything and doesn't look any better. I will be very surprised if it starts to cocoon or anything!
I've noticed that the last time they fecate before cocooning, the colour is almost a gray-white instead of the usual dark green. And if they still have regular feces in them, you can see it through the translucent skin between their last pair of legs. Useful, but... EWWW!!!
Tue 5 June:
Okay, so every time I look, more of the silkworms are getting into the cocoon business! I didn't even bother to count them all, but there were SIXTEEN that had to be moved the last time I looked, at 11 pm! Thankfully, this meant that few of them were still eating, so the remaining silkworm food went much farther than I had expected. Since some of the experts had suggested using lettuce leaves as an alternate food source, I stretched their food farther by giving them some of the lettuce from the garden. And to think I almost pulled them out when they bolted!
I ran out of egg cartons today, but it occurred to me to fan-pleat the cardboard the baking trays had come in and use that to separate the cocooning silkworms. It's a little more work and I doubt the cardboard will be reusable (silkworm urine), but I think the cardboard works better. The silkworms like to explore when placed in the cocooning trays, so you end up with two silkworms in the same bowl, or they leave the carton altogether, building huge, interconnected cocoons. On the cardboard, they have a good support structure wherever they go, and they don't seem (quite) so inclined to go exploring out of their little valley. At two per valley, I can get ten of them in a tray without them getting overcrowded. And if some of them find their way underhill (ha, ha!), there's even more room for them all.
Wed 6 June: Consolidated the few remaining silkworms into three trays. Fed them the remaining lettuce, also offered a little basil and sage to see how those took. I wish I'd thought to go pick up a salad at the grocery store. Tomorrow, I'll have to do that!
I ran out of the cardboard packaging today, so I started using manila folders. Folded, they fit very well, so I'll have to remember them for next time. I find them preferable to the egg cartons.
Thurs 7 June: Got the food in the mail today. The few silkworms that hadn't yet started cocooning then got consolidated into two trays and were fed.
Also, I decided to clean out the old stores. I took the piles of loose silk from this batch and the less-than-perfect cocoons (gotta keep some to show off!) from my first batch and soaked them in hot water till the seracin released and I could unravel them. It was easier than I expected, though more than a bit gross.
When they looked like they had softened up, I fished each one out with a chopstick (period implement!), pinched the loose filaments at one end between my thumb and forefinger, and gave a gentle tug. If they came loose, I kept it up, moving along in the same way as when I'm teasing out a bunch of wool to spin. The result was a nearly endless bunch of threads that moved as one and were just about the right dimension for spinning. Now, if I'd been able to buy or make a silk-reeler, I'd need to do it one strand at a time, to make the resulting thread as fine as possible, but I've already discovered that there's such a thing as a too-fine thread, even when spinning silk.
Anyway, I'd pull the filaments off until things got to the point that I needed to ease the chrysalis out. I knew the silkworms shrink while making their cocoons, but I hadn't realized quite how much. The ones I pulled out today were only about an inch long, but about as wide as they'd been before, though they were now deflated. Now it's REALLY gross to think that they were once considered a delicacy! What WERE they thinking?!!
Unreeling the cocoons is a long and tedious process, so I didn't get them all finished tonight. I'll have to do that tomorrow night, before the water they absorbed soaks into the chrysalis and gets them to rotting. That would be so completely gross, non?
As for the experimental diets some of the silkworms went on yesterday, I'm pretty sure that none of them ate any of the sage leaves. The basil leaves appear to have been munched on, and to no visible ill effects (I'll determine that more fully later, when they cocoon). There was one death, but that was in the tray that got only lettuce, so diet was not a factor.
I have decided that I'm letting all the silkworms from this batch live, assuming they are capable of building their cocoons properly. Since I currently have to spin the silk anyway, it won't be a problem to have to spin the silk from their cocoons. Besides, that way I can be relatively certain to get a decent next generation out of them. It's not like I have to take all their eggs out of refrigeration at the same time!
I noticed today that some of the silkworms are doubling up in their cocoons (usually loose, outside an egg carton). Despite the fact that I make sure they have plenty of room to spread out, sometimes two silkworms decide to cocoon in the same place. Together they build a larger-than-usual cocoon around the two of them. So far, none of the shared cocoons have failed inspection, in fact they usually firm up before the singles, but I'll have to keep an eye on them when its time to molt. If moths from the shared cocoons come out misshapen, I might as well cook them.
Fri 8 June: Well, we're down to one tray of silkworms, and I'm beginning to wonder if some of them aren't a bit "slow". Tomorrow will be the seventh day of cocooning -- that seems like quite a spread. Oh! Sericulum has the larva stage lasting from 28 - 40 days. Now THAT's a real spread! Forty days would be 19 June. If any of them take that long, I should probably bake them, since the other moths will have mated and died before those get out.
Continued unreeling the cocoons, although I didn't finish. Will probably be able to do that tomorrow. That's a rather time-consuming job, and is rather tedious to start and stop (the threads don't want to quit!).
I noticed that the silk I unreeled yesterday is not as pure a white as the silk I did today. Since it's all the same, my only thought is that the cooking process (not to mention successive water dumps) cooked off bits of frass and whatever that were clinging to the strands. I'm tempted to re-cook yesterday's batch, but it would make much more sense to wait until it's been spun out, so it doesn't turn into one great big blob of silk strands. I've noticed how difficult it tends to become if cooked on the loose. The only way I'd be able to get it all straightened out would be to separate it out strand by strand, while it's still wet. Once it's spun, I can cook it some more to clean and set the fibres before dyeing it (unless I'd rather leave it that glistening white...).
Sat 9 June:
There are now eleven silkworms in the last feeding tray, down from twice that this morning. I fed those last few today and consolidated all the hardened cocoons out of their separate trays, grouping them by when they began to look like cocoons.
I was so busy with finishing this paper and moving silkworms and cocoons that I didn't get the rest of the old cocoons unreeled. In fact, once I'd removed the loose silk from the new cocoons and washed it, I'd almost doubled the amount of silk that's waiting to go into the pot. Isn't that life?
When I finished consolidating the cocoons, I had to dump out five or six silkworms that died in the cocooning trays. They'd started making cocoons but ran out of energy and just lay on the bottom to die. By the time I could open the trays and get to them, they were dark, soft, and disgusting. I dumped them out under some of the lesser (not roses, orchids, or food plants) plants and tried not to think about them. I'm sure I'll get a better handle on that eventually.
Another odd thing is the inevitable silkworm that starts to zone out without a cocoon around it for protection. There were four of them in the batches I consolidated today, and I noticed that their bodies had begun to take on the shape of the chrysalis I was taking out the other day. While I suppose it's possible that they might manage to undergo the transformation in the safety of my trays, I suspect that others like these were the same ones I had to toss out today. Next time I need to put them back in a separate tray, so I can find out if they really are the same ones who die.
Sun 10 June:
Well, it's early afternoon, and we're down to seven non-cocooning silkworms. I fed them and consolidated the trays of older cocoons into groupings by age.
I also finally looked closely enough at a silkworm to find out exactly how many legs they have. Up front, there are three pair. Then there's a space, and the remaining five pair march all the way down the tail. Sometimes there's a space between the last pair and the previous four.
I think the "dead" silkworms I've been disposing of from the cocooning trays aren't all dead. While I was checking out the number of legs it had, one of them moved. ON ITS OWN!!! Sluggishly, but definitely. I think maybe what actually happens is that they go into chrysalis before they've had a chance to finish (or start!) their cocoons. That would explain a lot. But since I don't consider that to be desirable, I'm still taking them out of the gene pool. The birds can have them. Besides, once they get older they tend to leak nasty fluids -- one reason I consolidate the cocooning trays as soon as the youngest cocoon there is two days old (any younger and it's probably too soft to move).
Finished unreeling the last batch's cocooned silk, although I collected at least as much loose stuff from the cocoons I consolidated today. Didn't get that or even yesterday's batch unreeled.
I noticed that a seemingly-high number of the last cocoons being made have thin walls and remain soft. I haven't the experience to tell if this is because the later ones are "slow" of if the change of food is the cause. If it is, the lettuce is as much at fault as the basil and sage that were offered as experiments.
Mon 11 June:
The final three silkworms had begun to spin by this evening, so I placed them in the cocooning tray. Earlier, I consolidated more cocoons and separated the hard ones from the loose silk around them. The children both wanted to see cocoons, and didn't want to return them. My daughter shook hers, saying that she could hear the silkworm inside. Poor thing!
Tue 12 June:
One of the silkworms didn't spin overnight, so I moved it back to the feeding tray, along with some silkworms from cocooning trays that also hadn't. Consolidated the cocooning trays, leaving only those that contain cocoons too young to be moved. Now you can actually see the books on my shelves.
Wed 13 June:
Three of the silkworms (including the one that hadn't started at all yet) in the feeding tray started spinning silk and got moved to a cocooning tray. The others appear to be either dying or metamorphosing without cocoons (two, maybe three at this point). I got rid of the truly dead ones, but am watching the metamorphosing ones out of curiosity. It's hard to describe how their bodies are changing, but they don't resemble silkworms anymore. Their bodies are about one inch long, about one third of an inch wide, and completely lack "faces" or legs. We'll see what happens.
Fri 15 June:
A moth emerged from one of the cocoons today, in the batch due to emerge between 17 and 28 June. It pooped once (tan) and squirted out some brown spots of liquid, but has stopped that now.
The moth is just under an inch long, about one third inch wide (not counting wingspan, which is about one and a half inches), and ecru coloured. It has small black eyes, antennae that are brown and resemble big bushy eyebrows, and six legs up front. It's furry-feathery all over and looks somehow perfect. Can't tell if it's male or female, but suspect that the genitalia are the odd formation at the tail. I hope some others emerge before it gets too old.
I moved the three oldest trays out to the family room so I can keep a better eye on them and move any moths (on cocoon) that come out in the other trays.
Well, it's evening and I now know the first moth is female. She has laid several white (empty) eggs. She's also the only one out so far, but Sericulum says they tend to emerge at night or in the early morning hours. I'll have to check tomorrow morning before we go to see the family, so I can move anybody who needs to move.
Sat 16 June:
There was another silkworm moth this morning, so I moved them to the same tray and left them alone for a while. As yet, there has been nothing beyond what might be courtship, but at least the one of unknown gender hasn't started laying empty eggs. Hopefully, that means this really IS courtship!
At midnight, there are no other emergent moths. Hopefully, that'll change by morning.
Sun 17 June:
Well, the orgy has started! It took the addition of the five that emerged today for it to happen (#2 must be female), but once I added them, it was rears together everywhere. I must have two of one gender and five of the other, because three of them are climbing all over each other to try butting in on one of the two mating pairs. It's truly X-rated, what they do to get in. I wonder whether the extras are male or female -- I can't help thinking of them as male.
One of the extras is more tan than ecru and has short stubby wings. None of them can fly, but this one doesn't even appear to be able to.
Now the extras have decided to leave the mating pairs alone and search the tray for others to mate with. They walk the tray, buzzing their wings and sticking their tails out to the side. Every so often, two meet and try to pair up before apparently realizing that the pieces don't match up. I hope they don't wear themselves out before the next group arrives!
I've just realized that I know the extras are male and can prove it. The first two are female because at least one and apparently both laid empty eggs. They did not mate. Three moths were in the next tray, including the one with stubby wings (moved last). They did not try to mate either, so they were all the same gender.
Argh! Logic lapse! I can prove that each tray contained only one gender of moths, and math then proves that the tray of two moths contained males. But the three moths in the other tray could go either way, yielding a ratio of 2:5. I already knew that, just by watching them mate! Now if I'd thought about it in ti...
Wait! I do have proof! I added the tray of three to the two known females before the tray of two, and mating activities started immediately. That proves those three are male. In order to achieve the known ratio, the ones in the second tray must also be male, although the ratio meant they were male, whether or not the others were. There! Solved it!
The females are plumper than the males.
10 pm: Got another one. If I'm correct in that the females are plumper, it is one (I hope!). It and one of the extras are currently trying to mate, going around in circles chasing each other's out thrust tail. Another is trying to get into the act. The mating pairs are still attached, just sitting there and flapping their wings gently every so often.
Also found a mating pair in one of the trays due to emerge on or after the 21st. Tried not to bother them, but they came apart when I took the lid off to get the cocoons out of there. I then moved them in with the others, starting up a whole new cycle of chase and dance.
And four mating pairs by 11 pm! Eleven moths by bedtime!
Mon 18 June:
Nineteen moths by 11 pm! Currently four mating pairs and a group of males fighting (pushing, climbing over, batting with wings) over a stubby-winged female. She tends to lose her balance a lot, because her wings aren't there for balance.
There's a big fat female sitting over a pile of empties [note: these were probably not unfertilized eggs, but rather fertilized eggs that hadn't ripened and darkened yet]. I wonder if she's finished. The stubby-winged female has now managed to crawl away from the males and is laying empties in one corner. I think either she's done too or there's something wrong with her, because none of the females crawled away from a male before, at least not that I've seen.
Counting the two egg-layers, there are six females (four are in mating pairs). That leaves thirteen males. Some odds! I'm glad I'm letting so many emerge, or I might not appreciate the results (or lack thereof)!
Twenty-six moths by bedtime, can't tell how many mating pairs. The air is thick with tiny feathers from their wings.
Tue 19 June:
In the morning, I added ten moths, counted eleven mating pairs. Added eight more by midnight. Found the first fertile eggs [note: it takes several days for fertilized eggs to mature and darken, until then they appear unfertilized]. Five more moths before bedtime, twenty-three total today. There's coupling going on everywhere in there!
Wed 20 June:
Moved seven moths from one tray this morning, fifteen total (down to four trays). The kids came in and watched --I hope they don't get any "bright" ideas!
The females tend to get rather swollen as time goes on. Also, so many of the moths have lost feathers that the two mating trays are deep in tan feather dust. I try to leave the lids off as much as possible (they can't fly) so they get some air. Unfortunately, I can't do that during the day, in case the munchkins break in (ages 4 and nearly-2).
They don't seem to emerge between about 9 am and 10 or 11 pm. The first one out tonight emerged at about 10:45. That figures, since moths are nocturnal.
Finally got to watch one emerge. That was neat!!! I look over and see the upper part of one sticking out of a cocoon, feet in the air. I moved it to a mating tray while it was still only half out (so I wouldn't have to touch it and dust off some feathers) and watched it slowly slide out and roll over. It's a long, stubby-winged male, unless the wings need time to dry and unfurl.
Seven moths emerged this evening, for a total of twenty-two today.
Thurs 21 June:
In the morning, twelve new moths emerged. Now there are three trays of moths, although all the singles are in one container to improve their chances. Found three dead males while cleaning out the trays. Hopefully, they've all served their purpose! Now that they're still, they look very fragile.
The tray of loose silk and empty cocoons is practically stuffed. Time for another!
Fri 22 June:
No moths emerged last night, and only four emerged by this morning. We seem to be slowing down. I wonder how many of the remaining sixty-five cocoons are viable? None of the doubles have emerged -- will I find masses of eggs in there, along with two moth carcasses? I'd rather not find the eggs as I'm boiling the cocoon they're in. It might harm their viability!
Wax paper is really important when it comes to lining the mating trays. The eggs come out coated in some substance (seracin, like what sticks silk together?) that makes them adhere to whatever they land on. I'm not looking forward to trying to remove the ones that managed to get stuck to the sides of the tray, and really hope that the one (dead?) moth I noticed under a mating pair actually is covered only with empties. The wax paper, on the other hand, can be removed from the tray, carefully dusted off (the moths' featherlets have come off to a great extent, lying in a thick layer on the bottom of the trays), cut into reasonable size pieces, and easily stored away. Next time, I think I'll cut the paper wide enough to rise up the two long sides and be held in place by the lid. That'll only leave the two short sides for eggs to get stuck to.
No moths emerged tonight, either. If this is the end, I sure am glad I let so many live!
Sat 23 June:
One moth emerged today (mid-afternoon!), and I found the remains of fifteen moths, two or three of which appeared to be female, going by size and shape. The trays are getting quite coated in eggs. Most are dark, and more of these are being laid.
Some moths are still mating. I can't tell how old they are, but some have lost enough feathers that they can't be all that new.
Sun 24 June:
Found three more emergent moths this morning, all in the remaining tray from 3 - 7 June. Pulled more carcasses.
No more emergent moths by evening, but more carcasses. Also moved one tray of moths to a clean tray and carefully cut up the wax paper to eight colonies of approximately one or two thousand eggs and refrigerated them and the colony of loose ones (in the old petri dish). Next time, I'll want to do this BEFORE the paper gets so completely covered with eggs.
Mon 25 June:
The moths I moved last night have only laid a few white eggs since then, but two of them are still mating, so we should get something from them at least. The population in there's down to twelve, with only two apparent females besides the obvious one.
The other tray is down to thirty-six moths after I weeded out the dead ones. About half of these appear to be female.
Just combined the two mating trays. Don't know if any still want to mate (except for the one pair, it doesn't appear so), but if any do, this'll improve their chances. Besides, the other paper was starting to look pretty full. I was able to make three good colonies in the same range as yesterday, and added some loose ones to that colony.
Somehow I doubt any more moths will emerge, even though they have four or five (respectively) days remaining. When we leave, I'll combine them, just in case.
Now seems a good time to describe how I weed out the dead ones. Morning and evening, when I check on them, I look at them to see who's moving and who's upside-down. The moths that are upside-down are inevitably dead, unless they're stubby-winged ones fighting to roll back over. Those that aren't moving at all get a light touch to their wings, which makes most of the live ones startle. If they don't, they get carefully picked up just under the wing-joints. If they're alive, they'll fight at this point for all they're worth. If they don't, they're certainly dead and can be handed to the children to examine and toss under a rosebush. Some of the moths, females especially, tend to get a little soft and dented in the middle when they die, another unmistakable sign.
Tue 26 June:
EWWW!!! I don't like moving dead females! The males are so small and dry that they're almost desiccated moments after they die. But the females! With all the eggs, goo, and egg-laying equipment, they don't dry out. And today one came apart on me when I tried to pick it up. The whole tail stuck to the wax paper! And the insides were DISGUSTING!!!
No more emergent moths today either. I really don't expect any more. Or maybe not. I just looked over to count the cocoons and found one rocking back and forth. It's in the tray from the 7th and 8th, so it could happen. We'll see.
Nothing has happened by bedtime, except that three more moths died. Two pair are still mating (maybe one or two more under one of the piles-o-moths), but very few fertile eggs have been laid so far in this tray.
I wonder if maybe all the largest silkworms were female. The female moths are certainly larger than the males, so it would make sense that the largest silkworm caterpillars were also female. That theory, however, will need to wait until I have another batch of silkworms to test it out on. I'd have to separate them before they start cocooning and keep them labeled and separate, but it could be done.
Wed 27 June:
I gave up on any other moths emerging and stuck the rest of the cocoons in the freezer to keep the silkworms inside from going soft all over the silk. No more moths had emerged, and the cocoons were developing an aroma -- like dead silkworms (yuck!).
OHMYGOD!!!!! THEY'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO THAT!!!! I looked into the mating tray to see how many more moths had died today when I say three little black lines! The're supposed to need "several months" of cool weather / refrigeration to develop correctly. So either somebody's wrong or these guys are going to be all messed up. Anyway, there are five of them, and I'm REALLY glad I still had some food left over! Right now, these little guys are all over their food, eating away just the way their parents did. Found two more when I moved the mother to check if any were hiding under her, and decided I ought to move them to another container so they wouldn't get lost under the adults. Guess I'll have more to display in my entry than I had thought!
Talking about my entry [for summer Art-Sci], this is going to be the last day in this diary. I need to get it printed up and added to the notebook.
On a sadder note, I removed eleven dead moths from the tray, including one that was still connected to its mate, despite being obviously dead. Ewww! This last tray also contains very few eggs and even fewer fertile eggs, mostly centered around the mother of the babies that hatched early. She doesn't look like she'll be around much longer, either. At this point, twenty-four of them are alive, but at the rate they're going, they could all be dead by tomorrow evening. By Friday, they certainly will be.
Epilogue:
By the next evening, all but three of the moths had died. Of the remaining ones, all female, two had died by the next morning. The last one, the mother of the larvae that hatched early, survived until shortly after lunch on Friday. They were all given a ceremonial toss into the garden, and we finished packing for Summer Art-Sci. The young larvae were given to a friend at the event, along with a colony of eggs, and others requested their own colonies. Mwahaha!!! The infection spreads!
Please feel free to share this paper for educational purposes, as long as my name remains attached.
Email me if you have any questions about sericulture or this paper.