CATDOLL : CATDOLL: Encyclopedia of Silkworm Breeding (How to do it)

1. What is the whole process of silkworm rearing?

There are five stages in silkworm rearing: silkworm eggs - larvae - mature silkworms - silk cocoons - silk moths, which takes a total of more than forty days.

Ant silkworm: When the silkworm hatches from the egg, its body is brown or reddish brown, very small, and has many fine hairs, which looks a bit like an ant, so it is called an ant silkworm. The ant silkworm is about 2 mm long and 0.5 mm wide. After it crawls out of the egg shell, it will eat mulberry leaves after 2 to 3 hours.

The sleeping nature of silkworms: Silkworms eat a lot of mulberry, so they grow very fast and their body color gradually fades. But their appetite gradually decreases or even completely stops eating. They spit out a small amount of silk, fix their abdomen and feet on the silkworm seat, raise their head and chest, and stop moving, as if they are asleep. This is called "sleeping". The sleeping silkworms may seem motionless on the outside, but they are preparing to shed their skin inside. After shedding the old skin, the silkworms enter a new age. From ant silkworms to spinning silk cocoons, they shed their skin four times in total. Having the sleep nature is one of the growth characteristics of silkworms. Sleep nature is a genetic trait of silkworms and is also affected by the environment. The silkworms currently raised in my country belong to the four-sleeping varieties.

Silkworm age: also known as age period, which indicates the development stage of the silkworm. From the ant silkworm to the first molt is the first age; after waking up from sleep, it enters the second age; after molting again, it enters the third age; after the third molt, it enters the fourth age, and the fourth molt is also called the long sleep. After the long sleep, it enters the fifth age. The fifth-age silkworm grows very fast, with a body length of 6 to 7 cm and a weight of about 10,000 times the weight of the ant silkworm.

Mature silkworms: When silkworms reach the end of the fifth instar, they gradually show the characteristics of maturity: first, the feces they excrete change from hard to soft, and from dark green to leaf green; their appetite decreases, and the amount of food they eat decreases; the front digestive tract is empty, and the chest becomes transparent; then they stop eating completely, their bodies shorten, and their abdomens tend to be transparent; their head and chest are raised, they spit out silk threads from their mouths, and they swing left and right and up and down to find a place to build their cocoons. Such silkworms are called mature silkworms.

Cocooning during the adult stage: People put mature silkworms in special containers or on cocoons, and the silkworms will spin silk and make cocoons.

2. How to raise silkworms?

1.

Preliminary preparation: Prepare the silkworm room and silkworm tools after planting mulberry leaves; 7 days before raising silkworms, spray and disinfect with 1% strong chlorine, half a pound of liquid per square meter, and seal for more than 24 hours after spraying. At the same time, the environment around the silkworm room should be sprayed and disinfected.

2.

Mulberry leaves: When raising silkworms, it is important to note that the mulberry leaves should be fresh. Do not use mulberry leaves that have been stored for too long for feeding, as stale mulberry leaves can easily cause diseases in the silkworms.

3.

Temperature: Silkworms are temperature-changing animals, and their adaptability range is 20-30℃. In the spring, silkworms often encounter low-temperature and humid climates, so the focus is on replenishing warmth and removing moisture. In the summer, silkworms encounter high-temperature and high-humidity climates, so the focus is on cooling and removing moisture, keeping the air in the silkworm room flowing, and removing stuffiness. In the autumn, if the weather is hot and dry, you need to replenish moisture indoors.

4.

Accelerate the incubation: About the eighth day after the silkworm eggs are taken out of the warehouse, you can see a small black dot at one end of the egg, which is called the green dot. If 20% of the eggs on a sheet of silkworm eggs have the green dot, use a black cloth to block the light. Starting from the day of the green dot, remove the black cloth at 5 o'clock in the morning on the third day and turn on the light for photosensitive incubation.

5.

Disease prevention: Silkworms are prone to many diseases, so prevention is generally the main approach. After an illness occurs, special agents should be used for disinfection. At the same time, sick silkworms should not be thrown away randomly as they are highly contagious.

6.

Management: When feeding mulberry leaves, it is best to feed 2-3 times a day. Secondly, no incense is allowed in the breeding room, and mosquito coils, perfumes and other things with strong odors are not allowed to be placed in the breeding room to prevent the death of the silkworms.

7.

Hygiene: When there is too much accumulation of silkworm feces, bacteria can easily breed and spread. Silkworm feces must be cleaned up in a timely manner, usually on the same day. In addition, the silkworm skins shed and the leftover mulberry leaves must be cleaned out in a timely manner.

3. Information about silkworm breeding?

Preparation before raising silkworms:

On the basis of planting mulberry leaves, prepare the silkworm room and silkworm tools; 7 days before raising silkworms, spray and disinfect with 1% strong chlorine, half a pound of liquid per square meter, and seal it for more than 24 hours after spraying. At the same time, the environment around the silkworm room should be sprayed and disinfected.

Quickening:

Around the eighth day after the silkworm eggs were taken out of the warehouse, you can see a small black dot at one end of the egg, which is called "green dot". If 20% of the eggs on a sheet of silkworm eggs have green dots, use a black cloth to block out the light. Starting from the day of "green dots", the black cloth should be removed at 5 o'clock in the morning on the third day, and the lights should be turned on for photosensitive incubation.

Collecting ants:

After 3-4 hours of exposure, the spring silkworms can be harvested at 9 am, and the summer and autumn silkworms can be harvested at 7-8 am. Method of harvesting ants: Cut the first unfolded leaf of mulberry tree into 0.5 cm small squares, use about 5 times the amount of leaves as ants, and sprinkle them on a dustpan lined with plastic film. Hold the silkworm seed paper in one hand and the silkworm chopsticks in the other hand, and evenly pat the back of the silkworm seed paper to make the ants fall into the dustpan, then scrape the ants with goose feathers and arrange them into a round shape.

Rearing of silkworms:

1. Temperature and humidity adjustment: 1-3 years old are called young silkworms, and they require a high temperature and high humidity environment. The suitable temperature for 1-2 years old is 26-27 degrees and the relative humidity is 90%; therefore, 1-2 years old silkworms are fully dry-reared, that is, covered with plastic film and padded with plastic film; 3 years old silkworms are semi-dry-reared, that is, only covered without plastic film, and the temperature is kept at 26-27 degrees and the relative humidity is 85%.

2. Leaves for young silkworms: For 1-year-old silkworms, use the 3rd leaf from the top bud of the mulberry tree. The leaf color is yellow with green. For one silkworm of silkworm larvae, 1 kg of leaves are used; for 2-year-old silkworms, use the 4th leaf from the top bud. The leaf color is green with yellow. For one silkworm of silkworm larvae, 3 kg of leaves are used; for 3-year-old silkworms, use the 5th to 6th leaves from the top bud. The leaf color is light green and shiny. For one silkworm of silkworm larvae, 10 to 12 kg of leaves are used. For 1st and 2nd instar silkworms, cut the mulberry leaves into small cubes 1.5 times the length of the silkworm body. For 3rd instar silkworms, cut the mulberry leaves into triangles for feeding. The amount of mulberry leaves fed each time should be appropriate, leaving a small amount of residual mulberry leaves on the silkworm seat before the next feeding.

3. Frequency and time of feeding mulberry: Feed 4 times a day, at 7 a.m., 11 a.m., 4 p.m., and 10 p.m. respectively. Young silkworms grow and develop quickly, so each feeding should be combined with expanding the seat.

4. Treatment before sleeping: (1) Desanding before sleeping: When the body color of young silkworms turns white, their bodies shorten, their bodies become tense and shiny, and part of the bodies of first-instar silkworms are covered with silkworm feces, and second- and third-instar silkworms are carrying silkworms, you can add nets to the mulberry trees to remove sand before sleeping. (2) Raising silkworms: If some silkworms have already fallen asleep and some have not, you should add nets to the mulberry trees again to lure up the silkworms that have not fallen asleep and move them to another winnowing basket to continue feeding until they fall asleep.

5. Protection during dormancy: In the early stage of dormancy, the silkworm seats should be dry. Lime powder should be sprinkled on the seats to maintain a relative humidity of 80%. When the silkworms begin to hatch, the room should be humid and the relative humidity should be maintained at 85%. If the humidity is not enough, water can be sprinkled on the ground to supplement moisture.

6. Feeding after waking up: When more than 95% of the sleeping silkworms have shed their skins, their heads have turned from grayish white to brown and have become noticeably larger. The young silkworms are crawling around looking for food. At this time, they can be fed. The mulberry leaves used as food should be slightly tender, and the amount of mulberry leaves given should be relatively small.

Silkworm breeding:

1. Rearing method: 4-5-year-old silkworms are in the adult stage, and the suitable growth temperature is 25 degrees. Silkworms have weak resistance to high temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide, eat a lot of mulberry leaves and excrete a lot. They can be raised on the ground indoors or on outdoor sheds.

2. Move the silkworms to the ground: Clean the silkworm room, disinfect it with 1% bleaching powder, and after it is dry, sprinkle a layer of lime powder on the ground. After feeding the silkworms a meal of leaves, move them to the ground for feeding.

3. Reasonable mulberry feeding: The 4th instar silkworm is the transition period from the growth of the silkworm body to the growth of the silk gland. If the silkworm is malnourished, it will affect the yield and quality. The mulberry leaves should be fresh and of good quality. Select 7-15 leaves under the top bud for feeding to achieve the purpose of good mulberry. The amount of mulberry used by the 5th instar silkworm accounts for about 85% of the total amount of mulberry. This period is the key period for reasonable use of mulberry and improving the efficiency of mulberry leaves. The feeding method of tight at both ends and loose in the middle is adopted: on the 1st to 2nd day or the 5th to 7th day of the 5th instar, the amount of leaves should be strictly controlled until the silkworms have just finished eating the mulberry leaves next time. On the 3rd to 6th day, the silkworms should be fully fed with good mulberry. Each time the silkworms are fed with leaves, the silkworms are moved and the seats are expanded to keep the silkworm heads even.

4. Keep the silkworm seats clean: During the early stage of silkworm growth, use fresh lime powder to disinfect the silkworm bodies and seats every morning. On rainy days, when the humidity is high, sprinkle lime powder twice a day to keep the silkworms ventilated and dry.

5. Collecting cocoons: After 6-7 days, the fifth-instar silkworms stop eating mulberry leaves and excrete a lot of soft green feces. Their chests are transparent, their bodies are slightly soft and waxy yellow, and their heads swing left and right. At this time, select 3-4 square clusters and overlap them horizontally. Sprinkle the mature silkworms evenly on the clusters, and hang the clusters up after the silkworms have settled. Good ventilation should be maintained during the clustering period, and the temperature in the cluster should be maintained at 24 degrees and the humidity at 85%. Generally, the cocoons can be collected and sold 6 days after the spring silkworms are clustered, and 4-5 days after the summer and autumn silkworms are clustered.

4. What is the process of raising silkworms?

step

(1) Place the silkworm eggs in a clean and odor-free silkworm rearing box. From the time the silkworm eggs leave the warehouse, they will naturally hatch into larvae in about 11 days (including the shipping time) at room temperature of 21-29°C.

(2) The larvae begin to have an appetite about 40 minutes after hatching, and can be fed. You can cut the mulberry leaves into small pieces with a knife and put them in the silkworm box. The silkworms will actively climb onto the mulberry leaves to eat. For 1-3 day old silkworms, you can choose tender mulberry leaves, and for 4-5 year old silkworms, you can use ordinary mulberry leaves.

(3) Silkworms grow well in an environment of 22-29°C, with the optimum temperature being around 27°C. Feeding can be done in the morning or at noon.