My package arrived in the mail today!
Here is the invoice for 500 normal silkworm eggs from Coastal Silkworms:
For now, we're storing the eggs in our refrigerator until the first mulberry leaves arrive.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Sunday, March 3, 2013
First Post: Ordered silkworms today
Welcome to The Silkworm Chronicles (a.k.a. The Silky Chronicles; you may refer to this website by whichever name)!
I created this new blog to keep a record of my new batch of silkworms this year (2013).
When I was younger from as early as first or second grade, I constantly kept pet silkworms for many years, but my last silkworms died out several years ago because of overexposure to moisture as well as under-feeding (you have to change the leaves anywhere from several times to once a day- I got lazy and started to only change them every few days, which made layers upon layers of digested leaves pile up onto the silkworms and feces, which was just gross, caused some malnourishment, and yeah, I'm sure you can guess what's coming...) and subsequent dietary and fungal problems (yes, I know, kind of gross, but that risk comes with the territory of keeping silkworms). My silkworms paid dearly for my wonderful laziness, so this year I hope to rectify these mistakes with better care of my silkworms. -_-
So far, the only varieties I have kept are the typical Bombyx mori and a whiter variant. At one point, I may have also had the sexually dimorphic zebra variety, but I can't be so certain.
Today my mom and I ordered a fresh batch of 500 "normal" eggs from Coastal Silkworms, a website known on some reptilian forums as a relatively cheap supplier of silkworm eggs. We ordered them with ice to prevent early hatching; in our area right now, the mulberry leaves haven't begun to grow yet, so we plan to refrigerate the eggs until sometime in the later spring, when the tender shoots begin to emerge.
My current designs for the silkworms are to grow them on normal mulberry leaves to at least the 3rd instar before buying the colored chow from Lady Silkworm's website and feeding them some of that up to the cocoon stage. According to reports from other sources, I probably only need to feed them the chow for 4-7 days before they begin cocooning for the dye to take full effect. I think it's an interesting and seemingly harmless way- at least, that's what the website professes; I'll have to see about this myself- to get colored silk more easily, so I want to test it out this year. Originally, I never fed my silkworms anything but the natural mulberry leaf, so this year I'm obviously trying to deviate from the norm and get funky. ;)
I've reeled silk at least 3 times from the silk cocoons. I usually just picked the largest cocoons as well as the stained cocoons and set those aside for mating purposes; I then reeled silk from the rest of the smaller cocoons using a boiling pot of water and some bamboo chopsticks over a hot stove and a trashcan. Just a warning: For those of you who are new at the silkworm game, most people, including me, reel in the typical fashion, meaning that for best silk results, the pupa is killed inside by the boiling water in order to keep the cocoon intact. Worm Spit is a great website for people who want to learn more about the process of reeling silk either by Peace Silk methods, which are professed to be more difficult because the cocoon is ripped open but allow the silkworm to fulfill its full life cycle, or conventional methods, which allow for more consistent results.
My mom says that she's interested in keeping some of the cocoons for facial moisturizing/ softening properties. Lady Silkworm sells cut cocoons for this purpose, and my mom wants to try it out herself.
This year, I will be gathering mulberries from around my neighborhood community. I have a single, young mulberry tree in my backyard, which will suffice for emergencies, but I will also have to gather leaves from elsewhere. Luckily, mulberries are pretty abundant in my neighborhood, so I just have to set aside a little time. I can always keep a stash of mulberry leaves in my refrigerator, but from previous experience, I know that there's often too much moisture, so I have to take care to wipe off the leaves with a paper towel before laying them down.
Again, I'm hoping to keep up with my silkies on this blog. I might take pictures and post them up, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Thanks for visiting!
I created this new blog to keep a record of my new batch of silkworms this year (2013).
When I was younger from as early as first or second grade, I constantly kept pet silkworms for many years, but my last silkworms died out several years ago because of overexposure to moisture as well as under-feeding (you have to change the leaves anywhere from several times to once a day- I got lazy and started to only change them every few days, which made layers upon layers of digested leaves pile up onto the silkworms and feces, which was just gross, caused some malnourishment, and yeah, I'm sure you can guess what's coming...) and subsequent dietary and fungal problems (yes, I know, kind of gross, but that risk comes with the territory of keeping silkworms). My silkworms paid dearly for my wonderful laziness, so this year I hope to rectify these mistakes with better care of my silkworms. -_-
So far, the only varieties I have kept are the typical Bombyx mori and a whiter variant. At one point, I may have also had the sexually dimorphic zebra variety, but I can't be so certain.
Today my mom and I ordered a fresh batch of 500 "normal" eggs from Coastal Silkworms, a website known on some reptilian forums as a relatively cheap supplier of silkworm eggs. We ordered them with ice to prevent early hatching; in our area right now, the mulberry leaves haven't begun to grow yet, so we plan to refrigerate the eggs until sometime in the later spring, when the tender shoots begin to emerge.
My current designs for the silkworms are to grow them on normal mulberry leaves to at least the 3rd instar before buying the colored chow from Lady Silkworm's website and feeding them some of that up to the cocoon stage. According to reports from other sources, I probably only need to feed them the chow for 4-7 days before they begin cocooning for the dye to take full effect. I think it's an interesting and seemingly harmless way- at least, that's what the website professes; I'll have to see about this myself- to get colored silk more easily, so I want to test it out this year. Originally, I never fed my silkworms anything but the natural mulberry leaf, so this year I'm obviously trying to deviate from the norm and get funky. ;)
I've reeled silk at least 3 times from the silk cocoons. I usually just picked the largest cocoons as well as the stained cocoons and set those aside for mating purposes; I then reeled silk from the rest of the smaller cocoons using a boiling pot of water and some bamboo chopsticks over a hot stove and a trashcan. Just a warning: For those of you who are new at the silkworm game, most people, including me, reel in the typical fashion, meaning that for best silk results, the pupa is killed inside by the boiling water in order to keep the cocoon intact. Worm Spit is a great website for people who want to learn more about the process of reeling silk either by Peace Silk methods, which are professed to be more difficult because the cocoon is ripped open but allow the silkworm to fulfill its full life cycle, or conventional methods, which allow for more consistent results.
My mom says that she's interested in keeping some of the cocoons for facial moisturizing/ softening properties. Lady Silkworm sells cut cocoons for this purpose, and my mom wants to try it out herself.
This year, I will be gathering mulberries from around my neighborhood community. I have a single, young mulberry tree in my backyard, which will suffice for emergencies, but I will also have to gather leaves from elsewhere. Luckily, mulberries are pretty abundant in my neighborhood, so I just have to set aside a little time. I can always keep a stash of mulberry leaves in my refrigerator, but from previous experience, I know that there's often too much moisture, so I have to take care to wipe off the leaves with a paper towel before laying them down.
Again, I'm hoping to keep up with my silkies on this blog. I might take pictures and post them up, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Thanks for visiting!
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