Silk Production
SILK
Silk is undisputedly the most beautiful of all natural fibers, with its unearthly sheen. It is also uncommonly strong, even at its finest, when it is almost invisible. It is unlike any other fiber used to make fabrics, for it is neither grown in a field or on an animal. It is not manufactured in a factory. A humble caterpillar about the size of a woman’s smallest finger produces the silk fiber, spinning it out of its mouth, using tiny fore-legs to place the silk where it should go.
It is known scientifically as Bombyx mori, although other species of silkworm produce less famous types of silk
The process of making silk has not changed very much in the thousands of years since the silkworm’s thread was first used, in ancient China. Wooden trays may be exchanged for the more sanitary plastic ones. Powdered silkworm chow is available for those without access to fresh mulberry leaves, making it possible for more people to grow silkworms, and at times of year when the mulberry leaves are not around. Over the centuries, the silkworm moth has lost its ability to fly, but that has little bearing on its care or cultivation. It is still a hands-on process involving live creatures, and takes a lot of time. But the result is certainly worth all the work and will certainly give one a truer understanding of why silk has been so desirable and so expensive throughout history.
The silkworm isn’t really a worm, it’s a caterpillar! The silkworm has been used by people for over 4,000 years to make silk. The practice first began in China in about 2600 BC. The Chinese kept the secret of producing silk for thousands of years, trading silk to Europe and the Middle East. But eventually the secret of how to get silk from the silkworm was learned by other countries. More recently we have learned how to make silk-like material from synthetic materials, but the demand for real silk is still high, and silkworms are still raised for the silk threads they produce.
SERICULTURE
Silk is undisputedly the most beautiful of all natural fibers, with its unearthly sheen. It is also uncommonly strong, even at its finest, when it is almost invisible. It is unlike any other fiber used to make fabrics, for it is neither grown in a field or on an animal. It is not manufactured in a factory. A humble caterpillar about the size of a woman’s smallest finger produces the silk fiber, spinning it out of its mouth, using tiny fore-legs to place the silk where it should go.
It is known scientifically as Bombyx mori, although other species of silkworm produce less famous types of silk
The process of making silk has not changed very much in the thousands of years since the silkworm’s thread was first used, in ancient China. Wooden trays may be exchanged for the more sanitary plastic ones. Powdered silkworm chow is available for those without access to fresh mulberry leaves, making it possible for more people to grow silkworms, and at times of year when the mulberry leaves are not around. Over the centuries, the silkworm moth has lost its ability to fly, but that has little bearing on its care or cultivation. It is still a hands-on process involving live creatures, and takes a lot of time. But the result is certainly worth all the work and will certainly give one a truer understanding of why silk has been so desirable and so expensive throughout history.
The silkworm isn’t really a worm, it’s a caterpillar! The silkworm has been used by people for over 4,000 years to make silk. The practice first began in China in about 2600 BC. The Chinese kept the secret of producing silk for thousands of years, trading silk to Europe and the Middle East. But eventually the secret of how to get silk from the silkworm was learned by other countries. More recently we have learned how to make silk-like material from synthetic materials, but the demand for real silk is still high, and silkworms are still raised for the silk threads they produce.
SERICULTURE