First batch of silkworms on blanched then frozen then thawed mulberry leaves.

[kingofnobbys]

Thanks to my darling 5 yo grandson's temper tantrum on the last day of his 4 day last sleep over at poppy's/granny's place a couple of weeks ago - he has discovered light and power point switches - he'd turned off the bulk food fridge/freezer in the spare room (where my silkworms eggs were in the fridge door) , food started thawing and the fridge zone was quite warm when we discovered he'd turned the unit off a bit over a day later.
So I've had no choice but to hatch my eggs (over 3,000 of them I reckon), about 2/3 have hatched so far , starting on Sunday), been chilled since Feb 2016.

Fortunately I have chow on hand if I need it, and I'd blanched about 4 shopping bags full of fresh mulberry leaves after I'd used my last silkworm of the season, these had been frozen since the end of Apr 2016.

Seems the blanched => frozen => thawed ==> patted dry leaves are quite edible by the baby worms, have been keeping very well in the worm tub (only starting to feel dry after 4 days, and no sign of mould).... I think blanched then frozen mulberry leaves are a success based on how things are going, certainly a good option for hatching and raising silkworms in the off-season.

I suppose my next experiment will be blanching my Xcess silkworms as I'll never be able use to all the worms I've got as feeders for my small family of lizards.

 

[Stuart]

Good info, cheers for sharing.

 

[Micksreps]

Id be more them happy to take a few hundred from you to ease your burden

 

[kingofnobbys]

Id be more them happy to take a few hundred from you to ease your burden

LOL

it could come my offloading some as they get bigger...

- - - Updated - - -

Update :

Starting to skeletonise the leaves now

I've finally removed the first leaf after 6 days, dry but no sign of mould. Tried refreshing it with light mist and soak with water , then patted dry and softened up nicely , so back in at one end of the tub .... will see if the worms like the refreshed blanched leaf.

 

[kingofnobbys]

so far so good, removed that 1st leaf , now partly eaten and very crispy today, still no sign of any white or yellow mould - a good sign , and worms are still alive ....