We enjoyed raising our silkworms last year so much that we're doing it again this year. Even better, we are using the eggs that our very own moths laid last fall!
Or, at least I thought it was better. Now it looks like I may not have stored them in the ideal way. While our moths laid way more than the 250 eggs we ordered last year, it looks like, at best, only a couple dozen caterpillars have hatched. I guess that ain't nothing, but I'm still kinda disappointed. Looks like it's time for even more research, so I know how to handle our eggs even better for next time.
I've kept the rest of the eggs so far, but they look very dried and sunken, so I'm not hopeful that any more will hatch this year. Almost all of them were the good, black color of fertile silkmoth eggs, but just having fertile eggs appears not to be enough.
Unfortunately, my camera seems to be in it's twilight of life, and I can't get a focused picture of the new silkworms or the non-hatched eggs to share, but maybe I can sweet talk my husband into taking some photos for me with his snazzy camera later on to show off.
As a refresher, for anyone who cares, here are my posts from last years silkworm adventures (so far our silkworms look like the ones from the second link:
Silkworms, Day 1
Silkworms, Day 8
Silkworms, Day 15
Silkworms, Day36
Silkworms, Day38
And Then There Were Two - Silkworms, Day 51
Silkworms, Day56 - Silkmoths!
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