How Silk Is Made By Silkworms?

China learnt the secret of making silk. it was thousands of years ago Silk is made from the fine web spun by a certain caterpillar in making its cocoon. This secret was jealously guarded. Any one taking silkworms or their eggs out of China was punishable by death.

Silkworms are raised is India, China, Japan, France, Italy and Spain. The best silk is produced by the caterpillar of a small greyish-white moth which feeds on the leaves of white mulberry.

The female moth in the early summer lay 500 or more eggs. These eggs are very carefully kept on paper or cloth strips until the coming spring when the mulberries open their leaves. The eggs are placed in incubators. They hatch out tiny black worms. These worms are placed in trays filled with finely chopped mulberry leaves arid are fed to them constantly for six weeks.

The worms begin to move their heads back and forth slowly. They are now considered ready to spin their cocoons. Little twigs placed in trays are placed to support them. Almost invisible thread is looped by worms, which they pour out through the little holes in their jaws. The cocoon containing from 500 to 1200 metres of thread is finished in about 72 hours.

A shrunken chrysalis is inside the cocoon. It may develop into a moth in about 12 days. The cocoons are exposed to heat to kill the Chrysalises. The cocoons are placed in hot water contained in troughs. The silk gum gets softened, it holds the filaments of the thread together.

The filaments from several cocoons are brought together into a single thread. These are unwound from the cocoons and wound on a reel. The threads from the reel are twisted into a skin of raw silk. The threads of 10 or 12 filaments called a “single” thread of silk.

We buy silk stockings marked “two thread”. These markings are based on this silk thread. In the current era, nylon has become so popular and cheap that it has replaced silk in many ways and uses. But, a fact remains that silk will always be appreciated for its beauty, richness and softness and grandeur.