Talking About the Experience

I will be in St. Joseph, Missouri on Thursday, October 20, 2016 at the Missourians for Monarchs meeting to talk about my experiences raising #MonarchButterfly.

The meeting is at 6:30 at the Missouri Department of Conservation offices. 

Not going to be in St. Joseph?  Can't make the meeting?  Check out the PowerPoint.

Then join us again next year when the migration of the #MonarchButterfly returns to the Monarch Cafe.

Sterilization of Supplies

At the end of the season, cleaning and sterilisation of the supplies is important so bacteria is not left in the container to infect the caterpillars next year when the season starts.

It's recommended to wash your containers with a 5% bleach solution, run them through the dishwasher or expose them to 6 hours of UV radiation.

Given the  "black death" we fought at the end of the season this year we decided to go overboard to make sure it was all gone.

First I wiped every container down using Clorox wipes making sure I got all the webbing and any remaining splatters wiped off.  (I use paper towels at the bottom of the containers to catch the dripping off the emerging butterflies which cuts into the clean up afterwards).  Then I rinsed the container to make sure all the residue from cleaning was removed.

Then to make absolutely sure the containers don't  spread black death to next year's caterpillars, I  put them all out in the sun for UV exposure.  This has been the hard part because finding 6 hours of sun is not so easy this time of year.

Once they're done in the sun, I will stack the containers in a trash bag and store them in the attic until I need them next year.

Final Butterflies

Our last #MonarchButterfly of the year have emerged as large quantities of have migrated as far as Texas.

The five butterflies bring the Monarch Cafe total to 344 #MonarchButterfly for 2016.

It's been a good year to be a #MonarchButterfly at the Monarch Cafe.

We're going to be in the Saint Joseph MO area on October 20th to talk about raising #MonarchButterfly at the Missourians for Monarchs meeting. Come join us, 6:30 at the Conservation Department.

The Season is Wraping Up

 The season is wraping up as the weather is getting cooler.

So far the Monarch Cafe has successfully released 336 #MonarchButterfly.

We have 11 chrysalis left. The last of our caterpillars caught "black death" so when the butterflies emerge from the chrysalis the season is over at the Monarch Cafe.

All in all its been a banner year for us.

And to finish off the season, we will be in Saint Joseph, MO to speak at their #Missouri4Monarchs meeting on October 20th.  The topic is the experience of raising/rearing #MonarchButterfly.  If you're also going to be in the area come join us.

300

300 #MonarchButterfly have now emerged and flown away from the Monarch Cafe.

This is more than we ever imagined when we planted all the #milkweed last spring, hoping to increase our numbers over last year's 38.

Invite a #MonarchButterfly to lunch, plant #milkweed.

Sharing the Experience

This weekend the Monarch Cafe butterflies went on a road trip to visit my favorite preteens.

And my niece  (who's remaining anonymous) got a chance to help with the butterfly release.  Nothing like sharing the experience to get another generation hooked on building the #MonarchButterfly population.

We are now at 282 #MonarchButterfly released a few dozen chrysalis and a couple dozen caterpillars. (Unfortunately lately we've had a rash of unsuccessful emergences.)

200th Monarch

And so we've had a hectic #MonarchButterfly season this week and are now up to 235 #MonarchButterfly.  Pictured to the left is the 200th #MonarchButterfly to emerge from the Monarch Cafe this year.  He emerged yesterday, today we have had 35 more.

Where does this leave us? Around 100 chrysalis and approximately a dozen caterpillars.