Day Eleven

Caring for fifteen silkworms is MUCH easier than caring for three hundred plus!

Last year I bought fifteen silkworms at the markets, for $5.00.  Fifteen silkworms doesn't seem many.  Somehow I lost three of these silkworms, I'm not sure what happened to them.  Out of the remaining twelve silkworms all managed to reach the spinning stage, and eventually we had just as many moths.

Not all the moths lay eggs, only the females.  The eggs were refrigerated until spring and the result is what you see in this blog.   I realise now, that fifteen is probably a good number to keep as pets.  As the larvae grow and come closer to spinning cocoons, the more ravenous they become and need an endless supply of mulberry leaves.   Last year I ran out of leaves towards the end, but luckily I was able to find some at a relatives house which is quite a distance away.  Since then I have found a closer supply, besides the one little tree we have in the garden.  How many will be needed for hundreds of the little creatures?

Sometimes it's necessary to transfer some of the larvae from one leaf to another...they can become quite attached to an old leaf, even when it's all shrivelled up and lifeless.

I have found that the easiest way to transfer the silkworms is by scooping them up gently using a side way stroke with a soft water colour paintbrush.

The larger silkworms are now measuring in at 12mm in length.

I'm finding that the insects are much more active early morning.

This seems to be the best time to transfer them from old leaves to new ones when it becomes necessary to clean out the tanks.

I spread fresh leaves over the old and as the silkworms crawl onto the new leaves I transfer the leaves and silkworms into the second freshly cleaned tank.

Before I throw any of the old leaves out, I put them into what I'm calling a 'holding tank' with one fresh leaf (to attract any silkworms I may have missed) for twenty four hours.