so far so good. made it to day 8. in the beginning i was afraid they wouldn’t be warm enough as most of what i read says to keep them at 78 degrees. (i didn’t want to spend $100 on an incubator and the one i found on craigslist for $30 sold right away -lots of people raising raising poultry for eggs now with the “new” backyard gardening craze. doubt there will be too many jumping on the silkworm farming “craze” though.)
i decided that they might like to be in my lighted display case so i moved over some of the ceramics and called it home. it stays nice and toasty in there with the small 20 watt bulb. i think the last photos were from 3 days ago and they sure are starting to fill up the petri dish. i made a trip to my friends house today and picked some mulberry leaves. decided to transfer some of the worms to leaves and see how they do before risking the whole lot. since the silkworms hatched long after the mulberry trees began leafing out (the new tender leaves are perfect for hatchlings, or cats as susan calls them) i decided to use the silkworm chow to get them started, letting them get a little bigger before switching them to the older and not-so-tender leaves i have available to me now. so, here is what they look like today:
and the expats in their new environment-
when we were in Japan visiting the sericulture farm, there was a fine white powder sprinkled over the leaves and worms. they didn’t know how to tell us what it was but since i have found out that it was lime powder. apparently used to keep them dry and prevent bacteria from growing and killing them off. perhaps since it is so humid in the summer there it is a problem. not so here.
these worms were about 2 weeks old when we saw them (in Japan at the sericulture farm)-
i took a photo of the powder- i noticed they used a very fine screen and brushed it through onto the leaves and worms.
and in between serving the tiny masters, some dyeing, some writing and shipping, i played a little with some more of the kanoko stencils. no stitching yet, perhaps tomorrow.
Shibori Girl 
wonderful. wonderful. i love this midwifery you’re writing about. (or maybe parenting?)
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yes, always worrying about the young-uns
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weaning silk worms. geez, they are so little.
those stencils are outrageous….
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gonna go get some netting today for changing the trays…micheal says it’s the way to go.
the stencils…finally getting around to working with the. not enough hours in my day it seems but enjoying seeing all the fine designs. of course each one has its particular meaning…will get to explaining all that later-
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Oh I am so curious about the silk worms! My great great grandmother raised them in her home in Italy.
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hmmm….do you know what she did with the silk?
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Pretty sure she sold it to the silk factories…my great grandmother worked in one as a teenager. I think it was a fairly common thing to do at that time for a little extra money…kind of like selling eggs. 🙂
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i had the weirdest experience the other day, since you’ve begun posting about your tiny masters… i was running errands with a friend and we were in a pet store. they had an display of silkworms and i got all excited and told my friend about your little hatchlings and your work with silk. i was curious, so asked the woman about the silk worms (they were pretty big, like 2 or so inches long) and she said they are popular. i was like really??? and she said yes with the lizard owners. i didn’t catch on at first, but my friend who has a myriad of pets (and who has lizards) informed me that lizards love the silkworms. i must have given them the most bizarre face, i was all wrap up with thinking people were growing them for the silk!!! ha! they really are the most interesting looking little fellas.
can’t wait to see how it goes with the stencils this time… and to hear about their meanings. so interesting!!!
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i recently discovered that myself- they would make good food for reptiles i imagine. you can also find silkworm larvae in cans at the korean grocer….
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This is such an interesting venture, Glennis. I imagine learning this process gives you great appreciation for woven silk now. Keep us updated, please!
Kate
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i have to do it at least once. wanted to get a better understanding…
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