Raising silkworms in NYC is easy and fun. It is better than having a pet dog or cat because you don't need to pick up its poop or take it out for a walk. All you need are four things:
I. The Silkworm Eggs
II. Mulberry Leaves
III. Plastic Shoe Box
IV. Egg Rolls
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I. The Eggs
Silkworms first came from China. They grow them to make silk from their cocoons.
Now you can buy silkworm eggs from farms in America. We got ours from Chin Lee. Her grandfather had a silk farm in China.
To get your own eggs, email me at
silkwormnyc@gmail.com.
II. The Shoe Box
Once you get the eggs, and you are ready to hatch them, put them in a plastic shoe box. Plastic is easier to clean than card board. We got ours from the dollar store.
Make sure the box is dry, and the lid must fit tightly. You can punch holes on the lid, but you don't need to.
After one week, and if it warm enough, the hairy worms will come out.
First they look like dots. Don't touch them! They will keep on growing!
From this (.) to this
( OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO) !
You measure a silkworm with instars.
An instar is before and after a silkworm molts. The fifth instar is the last one.. It stops growing at 7-8 cm. In between the instars, silkworms molt or shed their skin.
Silkworms molt four times. They hold their breath in like a balloon and pop their skin open. Then they wiggle out.
You know they are molting when they stop eating or moving. Never touch them or move them when they are molting or they die!
III. Mulberry Leaves
Silkworms ONLY eat leaves from the mulberry tree. You will need to find one!
Silkworms don't even drink water. In fact, they will die if they get the slightest bit wet!
Where do you find a mulberry tree in New York City ?
There are none on Mulberry Street in Chinatown. Shakespeare's white mulberry tree in Central Park can't be touched.
But once you know what the trees look like, you can find lots.
The leaves can have three shapes.
The trees bear fruit in the summer.
Silkworms eat the leaves of white, red and black Mulberry trees.
The best Mulberry trees we have seen in the city are in Central Park. They are huge and very healthy. They do not spray pesticides on it. It is near the Tennis court on 96th street.
You have to ask a ranger for permission before you can get some. Sometimes,they say no.
Some other mulberry trees you can pick from in NYC:
Roosevelt Island
Prospect Park
Queens Botanical Garden
From instar 1-3 ,pick 2 leaves weekly per worm. Wash and dry very well. Tear into pieces and put in the shoe box with the worms.
From instar 4-5 , you need 3 leaves a day per worm. We picked a lot and put them in a zip lock in the fridge. It stays fresh for two weeks. Wash them only just before feeding.
IV. Egg Rolls
After eating almost nonstop for 26 days the worms are ready to spin a cocoon. You can tell they are ready to spin when they stop eating and you see little threads of silk on the leaves.
Collect empty toilet paper rolls (one per worm). Tape them together and stand them up. Drop one worm in each cell, cover with lid so they don't escape. When we ran out of toilet paper, we just got construction paper and cut them in rectangles. Then we made cylinders by stapling them together. Then we got a cereal box, cut one side, and made the rolls stand up on them, next to each other, so they stand up. We made 1,000 rolls!!!
It will take about 3 days to make a cocoon. The full growth of a silkworm to a moth takes 2-3 weeks.
In their cocoons, the pupa stays for two weeks. When the moths come out they don't fly or eat. They just mate and lay eggs.
To make silk, unfortunately, you must boil the cocoon with the pupa inside it. If you wait for the moth to come out, it will be one, messy and stinky and two, the silk will not be one long piece ( up to a mile long).
We boiled only 3 of our 12 to get this silk.
In China, they do the same thing but with thousands and thousands of silkworms. They boil all of them.
They get silk threads and weave them into cloth.
