Day Sixty Nine

Day Sixty Three

I think I can safely say that today saw more female moths emerge than male.

Some of the excess males which had been delegated to the verandah, were added to the indoor tanks to make up  for the lack.

Still more cocoons waiting to broken open.

Day Fifty Seven, Week 9

We Have Moths!

Fluttery moths, who have wasted no time with moving on, to the next step of ensuring the cycle continues.

As with the hatching of the silkworms, all the action seems to take place around dawn.

Not much happened after about nine this morning.

So...all that work I was going to do, to prepare for the emerging moths, has been delayed because of a four week influenza that eventually developed into bronchitis.

I'm on antibiotics now and I have been feeling a little bit more on top of things for about twenty four hours...thankfully.

Working under pressure now, I removed from the tanks and counted the cocoons.

I cleaned and dried the tanks and then lined them with paper.

One layer of paper is laid out to line the tank.

A smaller piece of paper is used to add a second liner to the bottom of the tank.

Rectangles of paper are added, in the hope that the moths will lay their eggs on these bits of paper making for easier handling.

So far I've got two requests for eggs.  The first is for a small amount.  The second is for  whatever remains.

If you would like to purchase eggs or empty cocoons, do contact me.

Sorry, due to border control, New South Welshman only please.

And, what does six hundred and ninety nine cocoons look like?

Well, this one didn't cocoon...but metamorphosis is still progressing.

As I'm about to publish this post, the first batch of eggs has been laid!

Day Fifty Six

Inside the cocoons the caterpillars quietly morph and will eventually transform into moths with four creamy coloured wings, six legs and two antennae

THE

POPULAR SCIENCE

MONTHLY.

OCTOBER, 1873.

Day Fifty Five

I don't have a camera!  It's very annoying.
I left the camera at my sister-in-law's house on Boxing Day and have had to resort to using my mobile telephone (which is not very good for taking photographs).
Today I have three things to report:
1.  My daughter fed her silkworms frozen leaves and returned home to find that the silkworms had turned green! She quickly removed the leaves from their tank and gave them fresh leaves.  Will they recover?  It remains to be seen.
2.  One of my silkworms  has failed to spin a proper cocoon.  It simply crept into a spot beneath some silk from other silkworms' cocoons.  I initially thought that the silkworm had failed to spin because it had died.  What I can see now is that the caterpillar is actually metamorphosing!  I will take photographs as soon as my camera has returned home.  Apparently a silkworm does  not need a cocoon for metamorphoses.   
3.  I found a cocoon in the garage...so similar in shape and size to a silkworm cocoon but a bit different in colour.  I've become so much more aware of cocoons now that I've watched hundreds of my own silkworms spin a cocoon.

Day Fifty Three

Silkworm condominium has increased from four to five levels.

The sun shone today, the temperature rose to the mid twenties and not much else happened.

The little creatures are metamorphosing quietly in their cosy cocoons.

My influenza is still bothersome but improving.  When I start feeling more energetic I have to start cleaning up the tanks in preparation for the moths' emergence.

Hundreds of moths.....

Day Fifty, Week 8

My aim for this blog is to post each day.
I have no camera at the moment.  I forgot it at my sister-in-law's house on Boxing Day, and I've been suffering from an extended-play influenza which is now in its third week.
The last thought on my mind today is silkworms.  Sorry to say.
Thank goodness only one, solitary, silkworm languishes on, waiting to spin its cocoon, eating very little and therefore not needing much attention from me.
All of the family have been visiting over the Christmas holiday period and only one adult child remains and plans to return to the city tomorrow.
Hopefully this means I can fade into the woodwork for a few days in an effort to fully recover.
Let's see if cocooned pupae can wait for my full recovery before metamorphosing and emerging as moths.
There is much work to be done before eggs begin to be laid.

Day Forty Nine

Can report that today, one silkworm caterpillar remains.
Only one caterpillar left to spin a cocoon.
Hallelujah!

Day Forty Eight

The silkworms continue to spin cocoons.
Only six or seven remain and are yet to spin.
Mulberry leaf feeding is no longer a first priority.
Mr Honey Pie has had four days off work over the Christmas holiday break and therefore not able to top up our supply daily from the usual source.
Thank goodness we are not desperate for leaves!  Today, the remaining silkworms have barely made an impact on two large Mulberry leaves fed to them this morning.  It will be a relief to not to have to worry about where their next supply of leaves is coming from.
Once all the cocoons have been spun I'd like to count the number of cocoons.
Of course I'll be quite short of the three thousand cocoons needed to make half a kilogram of silk!
The next challenge will be housing hundreds of moths and providing them with a place to lay their eggs.  Each female moth will deposit around 400 eggs.  They will only be viable if fertilized.

The silkworms at maturity, are around ten thousand times heavier than when they hatched.

Day Forty Seven

Image of silkworm cocoons.

From Inheritance In Silkworms by Vernon L Kellogg, 1908.

Day Forty Six

A quiet day on the home front.
Only a few silkworms left to cocoon.
A bit of relief at Christmas and so grateful!
Hope your Christmas day was all you wanted it to be.

Day Forty Five

Today we discovered a silkworm cocoon on the skirting board, behind the dinning room dresser.

Hope we don't find any more surprises!

Day Forty Two

Today has been a day of capturing escapees.

And watching other silkworms spin gossamer webs to build their cocoon.

Day Forty One

My biggest fear at the moment is that one of the silkworms is going to get stepped on!
I came home this afternoon to find five or six of the little critters creeping around on the floor, probably having dropped off the edge of their tank in a bid to find a spot to anchor their cocoon!

Spinning is proceeding happily.

The silkworms make just as much noise spinning as they do eating!

Did you know that the length of silk thread produced to make one cocoon exceeds six hundred metres?

Day Forty

The colours of the cocoons are many and varied.

The one above is almost white.

More and more of the silkworms are spinning their cocoons.

It won't be long now before they've all done so.

Some of the smaller silkworms have been separated from the adult silkworms because I don't think that they're capable of competing for the food and were at risk of suffocating.

All continue to thrive.

It's almost a full time job keeping up the feeding, the transferring and the cleaning.

Once more I've got Mr Honey Pie to thank for keeping up the supply of mulberry leaves!

Day Thirty Eight

The adult silkworm larvae now have a new type of condominium.

About twenty cocoons are being spun at the moment.

A close up of the latest cocoon.  Inside, the silkworm is still spinning away.

The adult silkworm, preparing to spend the next few days spinning.

This is the typical arch of the silkworm as it makes ready to build its cocoon.

We ran out of leaves today and Mr Honey Pie had to make a special trip down to Nepean River's Tench Reserve to collect more.  He brought back five shopping bags full.  One and a half have already been devoured by the ravenous silkworms.

I think the most important job to growing silkworms is keeping the tanks clean.

This has been a constant task over the past two days.

The amount of frass is astronomical!  

Silkworms can survive without food for up to one week, but if their housing is allowed to go mouldy, then that could be the end of them.

Day Thirty Six, Week 6

One sure sign, in my opinion, that a silkworm is about to commence spinning its cocoon, is when it starts to climb the walls - literally.

Like the one above did late last night.

I removed the larva from the its tank and placed it in a shoe box with some cut down egg cartons.

It eventually found itself a nice little niche. 

I've turned the carton over so the silkworm could be photographed.

I want to keep the cocoons separated from the larvae as much as practical.

It wasn't long before the adult silkworm had settled in and started cementing itself into a space under the egg carton.

Here is the resulting cocoon not twenty four hours from when the top photograph was taken.

It's still the only cocoon so far.

On the right you can see a white-ish stain on the cardboard.  This is a fluid emitted by the larvae just before it begins to spin.  

Another sign that the silkworm is about to start spinning its silk cocoon is that it stops eating.

Because of the awkward position of the cocoon I couldn't take a close up of the beginning of the spin.

With the light behind the cocoon, the adult silkworm could still be seen spinning from side to side even when this last photograph was taken about thirty minutes ago.

Day Thirty Five

Today's post is brought to you by the letter S and the number 6.5!

I'm still feeling a bit under the weather today.
My tummy is still sensitive and I'm only eating lightly.

On the other hand, the silkies are spurring on.

The fellows below are measuring in at approximately 6.5cm in length and 1cm in thickness.  Others are are measuring in at almost 8cm.

onthesilkwormroad.blogspot.com

 

Isn't the creamy wonderful?

The cream silkworms are definitely a minority.  Perhaps this is what makes them seem more attractive to me.

I found an interesting article about changing the colour of silkworms which in turn changes the colour of the silk:

Australian Geographic.

Oh the possibilities.

I've listed the silkworms for sale on Gumtree.  The ad will be visible tomorrow.

Unless I take up sericulture  as a full time activity I panic to think what I'm going to do with around six hundred cocoons and the resulting moths and eggs! 

Feel free to contact me through this blog if you would like to purchase some.

The going rate is $5.00 for 15 silkworms.  Pick up only and I'm in the Blue Mountains.

Thanks for visiting!

Day Seventeen

The rain has stopped and the sun is shining.

The silkworms are much more active now and eating voraciously.

This little critter seems to have no stirpes.

He is one of the bigger silkworms

I've fed the silkworms three times today.

They are getting through the leaves very quickly now.

One more batch went to a pre-school this afternoon.

There has been a lot of interest on the facebook page I'm trying to sell them from but not all the people expressing interest actually follow through on their requests.

If I don't sell many of the silkworm larvae I will try and sell the cocoons, and then if I need to the eggs as well.

Day Fourteen

Today, I sold three batches of fifteen silkworms.

Persistence is paying off.

I have been listing them on a community facebook page so I have sold four batches through this listing.

Because the weather has remained cool (it's 13.6 oC outside tonight) the silkworms do become less active.  I have switched the heating on so they will be alright.

The two plastic shopping bags full of mulberry leaves that Mr Honey Pie picked and which I posted about yesterday are almost gone.

My Dear Daughter took some for her silkworms while mine have continued on their feeding frenzy despite the cooler weather.

DD has commented on how Grand Daughter is showing responsibility by for her pets by feeding the silkworms herself.  She is only four years old.

By being responsible for her fifteen pets, she can demonstrate that she might actually be ready to have her own larger furry pet...like a cat or a dog.

By the way, the silkworm larvae are no longer furry.

Their skin is smooth now and are a much lighter colour.

Some of the larvae are moulting again.  Second or third moult?  I'm not sure,  but probably third.

The fourth moult is the final one and after the fourth moult, the silkworm, once mature, begins to spin a cocoon using a silk filament.

The silk filament is actually the silkworm's saliva.

The next stage, that is when the cocoon is formed, is called the pupa stage.