Sleeping Silk Maker

A very nice neighbor in the village we were visiting showed us her day's work and family income...silk worms. Just taking care of the silk worms is a full time job. She has a screened hut filled with racks from floor to ceiling of 1 meter wide bamboo woven trays of silk worms in different stages of life. They begin as small caterpillars gobbling up green leaves, that she collects daily. Another set of trays hold the older worms, thicker than my pinkie and a few inches long.

Just before the caterpillars begin making their silk sleeping bag, they are placed in a special tray that has dividers throughout it so they make individual cocoons. Otherwise they would ball together and the silk would not be as beautiful. They go from fat caterpillar to golden cocoon in one night usually. However, the neighbor said that the caterpillars are like people, when the weather is too hot or too cold, they don't like to work as hard, and they will take longer. Also, if they get too fat, they can't produce as nice of quality silk, so she must monitor their eating too.

Once the butterfly hatches, they are kept in a net until they lay eggs and the process starts all over again. The cocoons are then taken, dunked in water and the silk strung out and dried. Eventually it will be woven into scarves, Thai dresses, and other beautiful things. The silk from this village is very high quality and is sold to the king on occasion. They were very proud of that fact.