{We Both Watched Silkworms Chew Mulberry Leaves in Italy}

• When we went together on one of our consulting trips to Italy, we had quite an experience on June 6, 1986. We will never ever forget this day. After our work day, before our friend Tommaso did drop us off again, at our favorite four star hotel Bellavista in Montebelluna, Treviso, he brought us to the most unusual place we've ever been. A Sericulture or Silk Farming place! Wow, we had never ever seen anything like that! Sericulture or Silk Production... just click those hyperlinks. 
• During my fashion study we did cover the qualities of the various silks, like Japanese and Italian silks being of very high quality. I knew Thai silk as my husband had a very special tie made from Thai silk, I knew raw silk, silk georgette, silk charmeuse etc. etc. 
• But NEVER I had seen those actual silk worms. Yes, there are different types of silk worms, yielding those various silk qualities. But here we were in a kind of a huge greenhouse where racks were build and one could hear those thousands and thousands of silkworms actually chew!

• This is the actual photo that my husband Pieter made of such silkworms being on the racks. In the back you also see some cocoons.
• The entire family in this Italian town were involved. Cutting up the leaves from the mulberry trees for feeding them to those silkworms.

• This is a ready cocoon that will be good for collecting!

I got one but gave it away to my nephew for taking it to school...

• They yield 600 to 900 meters (2,000 to 3,000 feet) when unwinding, after dropping them in hot water. Poor silkworms...

• From friend Tommaso I received this Italian book about Modern Silk Worm Culture.

• Instead of copying some photos from this book, there is a link below this post where you will find plenty of silkworms eating mulberry leaves!

We did have a weeping mulberry tree near our gazebo. We cut it down as it grew so big and completely blocked our pond view. But this would be the leaves that they do prune off and chop them up like making salad, for feeding them to the silkworms!

In our wood garden we also do have a mulberry tree that does yield mulberries. Mostly they fall off and I guess the birds will feast on them. The tree is way too tall for us to get any for making jam.

Did any of you ever see this kind of silkworm farms?

Or does any of you have a mulberry tree?

Related link:
Silworms eat mulberry leaves | link from Bing with lots of photos for getting the idea