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

The largest of the silkworms is weighing in at around two grams, its length six centimetres.
I'm feeling quite concerned that the larvae are getting so large that they may begin to squash each other.
Because of this concern I'm contemplating adding another level to the condominium to give them more room to spread out.

About fifty more silkworms left home late yesterday, to replace the ones lost by one of my customers.
She revealed to me that she had a Glade Air Freshener in the same room as the silkworms and that this is what may have caused their demise.
I have received a message from her today telling me that this new batch is thriving.  They are residing in her daughter's bedroom as opposed to the kitchen.

Day Twenty Eight

By the size of the holes in this leaf it 

 seems that silkworm caterpillars are not the only caterpillars that like mulberry leaves.

I found the above little fellow on my supply of leaves that have been stored in the refrigerator.

It has been chilled for something like three days, and survived.

I put the caterpillar and the leaf outside.

I'm hoping that the little creature can fend for itself.

My other find today was a silkworm in a smaller container that I  had been storing the larvae in ready to be picked up.

I thought  it was empty.

I'd say that the silkworm had been in the container for something like a week.  

It too survived!  

If there was food for in the container who can say?  There was none today.

It has now joined it's brothers and sisters in one of the three tanks I've got going to house them all.

Day Twenty Four

Thanks to The Graphics Fairy for the above vintage image of a silkworm caterpillar, moth and eggs.

I'm beginning to feel quite attached to the caterpillars.

They are large enough now to be much more easily handled.

The size variance between them all is still huge.

The larger ones are buzzing with life.

I can feel this when I touch them.

They do not flinch at all when I make contact with them gently using my finger tips.

It is essential that the larvae are only handled with clean hands.

Bacteria may be transferred to the larvae.

To keep the caterpillars healthy it is important to keep the humidity (moisture) in their tank  low.

High humidity encourages mould to grow and will make the silkworms sick.

If the worms must be handled it should be done with great care so as to avoid bruising them.

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.

Day Nine

The weather over the last two days has been miserable.

On Tuesday, the temperature was around 37oC.  Yesterday it was 15 oC.  A big drop, and this can play havoc with the silkworm larvae.  The poor little things became sluggish and they slowed their eating right down.

In the end I turned the heating on.  Can you believe it?  Less than two weeks to summer and I've got the heating on?

Well, the good news is that the weather is back on track today and the little critters have returned to their active hungry selves.

And I sold my first batch of the silkworms today.  So far I've exchanged about 20, given away about 15 and sold another 20.

The larger of the silkworms is now measuring in at 12mm long and 2mm thick.  And their colour is lightening up to a nice creamy colour.

I've also got a request for some eggs (ova) when they eventuate which I might exchange for a mulberry plant.

I have become quite attached to the little things, I spend around an hour morning and night making sure they have enough fresh leaves and that old leaves are removed.

Of course if there were less, then this would take less time to do.

Day Eight, Week 2

Some tiny little larva are still present.  Can you see it to the left of the coin?

Most though are now around 7mm long and a bit more than 1mm thick.

More fertilizer means that I can now feed my indoor plants.

But this many silkworms also means a need to clean out their house.

Fresh leaves in place.

My Grand Daughter took around 20 silkworm larvae home with her yesterday.

I've also listed them on Facebook  for sale and sold one lot of 20 so far.

I have two tanks going now as one tank is not large enough.

I estimate well over 300 silkworms that need taking care of.