# Checking interest in Silk Worm Cocoons



## vance71975 (May 15, 2012)

I did a big order today, and well, i ordered silk to use in my soap and i got to thinking, there has GOT to be a cheaper way to get silk worm silk. So after some checking around on the web, i found a place that sells silkworm Eggs, so i thought what the heck i have a spare 10g fish tank with a lid for repitiles and rodents, so I ordered the eggs, So i got to thinking, if i think silk worm cocoons are expensive i bet other soap makers think so too.

So If my silk worms take off and go crazy and i end up with thousands of cocoons would anyone be interested in buying them? If so what do you think a fair Price would be each?


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## Kleine Teufel (May 15, 2012)

Better buy yourself a mulberry bush. Or two. That's the only food they'll eat, and it gets expensive purchasing powder food.


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## Hazel (May 15, 2012)

vance71975 - 

Normally I delete posts that do not follow the rules of the Member's Ad Forum. However, since there is an answer, I will just move this to the General Business section. 

You'll find the rules here but I have quoted the relevant rule below. 



			
				Tabitha said:
			
		

> 3) SMF encourages active membership and *requires *a minimum of (30) posts & (3) months membership before posting any sale, trade, co-op, pre-buy, fast buy, garage sale, ad or other similar transaction.  In Search Of (ISO) ads do not need to meet this limit.


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## vance71975 (May 15, 2012)

Hazel said:
			
		

> vance71975 -
> 
> Normally I delete posts that do not follow the rules of the Member's Ad Forum. However, since there is an answer, I will just move this to the General Business section.
> 
> ...


 Oh Sorry about that i was just curious it there was interest and wasn't sure where to put it.


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## vance71975 (May 15, 2012)

bettacreek said:
			
		

> Better buy yourself a mulberry bush. Or two. That's the only food they'll eat, and it gets expensive purchasing powder food.



I have access to two mulberry trees but from what i read they prefer mulberry leaves but can eat other tree leaves.


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## sudbubblez (May 16, 2012)

Vance, my silk supplier is on ebay.  Its raw tussah silk, 2 ounces is 7.50 no shipping charge.  2 oz lasts ages, it fills up a standard sandwich bag, not fluffed or anything.  However, this supplier was unable to tell me if it was cruelty free silk.  This was about the best price I could find and the silk is not dyed or anything.


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## Relle (May 16, 2012)

You might be interested in this fact sheet about silk worms. To get an undamaged thread you have to boil the cocoon with the pupa inside and it dies or wait 'til it emerges and then the thread will be broken.

http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/factsh ... worms/2185


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## vance71975 (May 16, 2012)

Relle9 said:
			
		

> You might be interested in this fact sheet about silk worms. To get an undamaged thread you have to boil the cocoon with the pupa inside and it dies or wait 'til it emerges and then the thread will be broken.
> 
> http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/factsh ... worms/2185



Well the only reason you need to worry about damaged or undamaged is if you plan to use the silk to make cloth, since i just plan on dissolving it in lye water anyway, it dont matter if there is a hole in the end lol.

I am honestly most worried about the conflicting information i have found, i have found more than one place that says they ONLY eat mulberry leaves and that other leaves will kill them, but i have also found many sources that say they can and will eat ANY tree leaf BUT the best quality silk comes from them being fed only mulberry. 

I do have access to mulberry trees, but for convenience sake i would prefer to be able to feed them any leaf type without killing them.

I may just have to separate off 12 or so in a small container and feed them other leaves just to see what happens. Because i find it very hard to believe that an insect can only survive on ONE leaf type, that seems to be counter productive to evolutionary biology. This link also proves what i am talking about,it says they can be raised on lettuce but it effects silk quality. Yup i need to experiment!

But thank you for the fact sheet!


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## Suisan2 (May 16, 2012)

vance71975 said:
			
		

> I am honestly most worried about the conflicting information i have found.... i find it very hard to believe that an insect can only survive on ONE leaf type, that seems to be counter productive to evolutionary biology.



No. It doesn't run counter to evolutionary biology, sorry. There are many animals and plants who have evolved to fit into a small niche. Pandas may only eat bamboo, koalas may only eat eucalyptus, some predatory wasps may only lay their eggs in a specific species of caterpillar, some insects are only able to live in very specific underground streams in caves, and the list goes on. 

Animals which are predators are more likely to have a larger range of food sources, and there are some animals who, in captivity can be fed other foods (horses being fed grain leaps to mind), but evolution does allow many organisms to fill some very small niches. It's not at all surprising that a moth would end up being dependent on one type of leaf to feed its larvae. Monarch butterflies are dependent upon milkweed too.


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## vance71975 (May 16, 2012)

Suisan2 said:
			
		

> vance71975 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I guess i am more wondering if it is valid that it is all they can eat or if it is just if they eat mulberry only they produce better quality and more silk. I mean I under stand that some plants can be fatal to some but I just doubt the likelihood of an insect being only able to eat one type of plant, it just seems counter productive to survival.


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## Kleine Teufel (May 16, 2012)

It's true though... Just like someone else mentioned, monarchs only use milkweed to lay their eggs on (that's what the babies eat). Same with silkworms. You could try some with mulberry and some with other leaves though... I'd be interested in that experiment. I did a lot of research on them when I was raising cultures of different bugs to sell as live foods... I never found anything reputable that mentioned raising them on any other food.


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## vance71975 (May 16, 2012)

bettacreek said:
			
		

> It's true though... Just like someone else mentioned, monarchs only use milkweed to lay their eggs on (that's what the babies eat). Same with silkworms. You could try some with mulberry and some with other leaves though... I'd be interested in that experiment. I did a lot of research on them when I was raising cultures of different bugs to sell as live foods... I never found anything reputable that mentioned raising them on any other food.



Well i have read on a biology site that they CAN be fed lettuce but it slows or eliminates silk production, i have 1000 eggs coming so what i am gonna do is separate off a few dozen babies and feed them other leaves and feed the bulk of the worms mulberry leaves and see how it goes.

I reason i am doubtful is i remember back when i was a kid, we had an infestation of silk worms on many many many of the trees around here, maybe it was a different breed of silk worm, but they caused a TON of problems.


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## Kleine Teufel (May 16, 2012)

Where are you from? Could have been the tent caterpillar. They look somewhat like silkworms, create a big silky nest, and destroy everything in sight. We used to blow them up with M80's or shoot the nests with shotguns if they were too high up. They're a terrible pest and can destroy trees like nobody's business.


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## vance71975 (May 16, 2012)

bettacreek said:
			
		

> Where are you from? Could have been the tent caterpillar. They look somewhat like silkworms, create a big silky nest, and destroy everything in sight. We used to blow them up with M80's or shoot the nests with shotguns if they were too high up. They're a terrible pest and can destroy trees like nobody's business.



I'm from Ohio, and you could be right there, they would make huge nests that looked like a giant silkworm cocoon on branches.


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## Kleine Teufel (May 16, 2012)

Yup, I'd bet money that it's the tent cater that you're remembering. I wonder if you could use their silk for similiar things... Certainly would be better than spending a ton of tax dollars trying to get rid of them. :/


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## vance71975 (May 16, 2012)

bettacreek said:
			
		

> Yup, I'd bet money that it's the tent cater that you're remembering. I wonder if you could use their silk for similiar things... Certainly would be better than spending a ton of tax dollars trying to get rid of them. :/



Well we didn't spend tax dollars luckily lol, people just cut the branch they were on off and threw it in a fire. I am betting i personally killed over a million of those damned things, and they did sure look a lot like silk worms.


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## vance71975 (May 16, 2012)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tent_caterpillar

Yup you were right that is what they were!


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## Kleine Teufel (May 16, 2012)

Around here, they have set up a lot of these little purple boxes that hang in the trees. Not entirely sure if they poison them, trap them or just deter them, but it's paid for with tax money. I should look it up just for curiosity's sake.


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## Lindy (Jul 10, 2012)

We have a horrible outbreak of the tent caterpillars going on here right now.  Lots of silk or whatever and very damaging.... :crazy:


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## Dennis (Oct 3, 2012)

Old thread, but wonder if this is the critter you're talking about?  Hungry critters that cause lots of damage but are great fish bait. Early morning fishermen have been known to pull up to someone's house around daylight, go in their yard and collect bait for the day's fishing trip.   I have burned many a tent still in the tree.  Didn't bother to break off the branch.  They aren't the hairy ones shown in the other pics and are named a bit differently.  







Here's a link to the info. 
http://www.ag.auburn.edu/enpl/bulletins ... sphinx.htm

whoops!  Missed a couple of responses above.      Oh well.


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