On 27/07/2014 12:26 AM, Pam Moore wrote:
On Sat, 26 Jul 2014 14:52:04 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

I know that
when we were in China we went to a silk factory and I was sad and
rather appalled to see that the worms were boiled!

Oops, sorry. James 1 not Charles 2.
The coccoons have to be boiled, first to kill the larvae which would
otherwise eat their way out, thus spoiling the continuous thread, and
second that the larvae are considered a delicacy!!!

Boiling to kill the pupae is only one way of harvesting the silk. There
is also the option of waiting for the grub/worm to emerge and then
proceeding to degum the cocoon and then spin the fibre left in the
remainder of the cocoon. The silk isn't as long as the boiled cocoon
but by letting the worms/grubs eat their way out, there is a new batch
available to be raised. It's bit like keeping a herd of cattle by
ensuring that they reproduce.