It is NOT just a class in school. It is NOT just a tome of knowledge, facts, figures, and charts. Science is alive and has a vibrant pulse. If it's being done right, it will empower you and make you crave more.
Indy Labs - "We Put The Science In Your Hands" Fun, awesome experiments using easily accessible materials, low cost, and is worth your time! We don't skimp on the science either. You'll learn something with Indy Labs, and most importantly, that science can be done anywhere, by anyone.
Raising Monarchs - Multiple videos on how to perform citizen science and conservation to help out the Monarch Butterfly.
Tungsten Clan - New video releases of the Atomic Hip Hop group! Science and hip hop, when put together, break down barriers, and help us reach across cultures.
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Last year I released 100 monarchs. Some I brought in as eggs and some as cats. I have 5 or 6 kinds of milkweed planted to feed them and it take a lot for that many monarchs. This year one of my milkweed varieties got a disease so I had to cut it to the ground. I'm not sure I will have enough milkweed to feed as many as I did last year. Yes, I do mow down the ones that get in the lawn. This is the first year I'm having that issue so before I mow I will check the plants in the lawn for eggs before I mow and pull up the plants to try and control it from spreading. HaHa. The Monarchs usually show up in my area in the middle of Kansas around the end of July or early August so they should be appearing soon. Raising monarchs is a lot of work but very rewarding. Last year I spent 3 to 4 hours a day checking my milkweed for eggs and cats, cleaning cages, moving the newly hatched cats to other cages and gathering milkweed to feed them. I don't expect to raise that many this year...I think last year was an exceptional year for me. But I will take what I get and hopefully have enough milkweed to keep them fed.
The numbers have been very low in Chicago due to loss of habitat unfortunately people keep on removing milkweed on their property around my house also there's too many predators this year Earwigs have been very bad this summer. I have a large milkweed patch in my garden and will continue to advocate for planting more milkweed around the neighborhood. Thank You for all that you do for our Monarchs. 🦋🦋🦋
I have exactly 11 bugs. Most have chrysalized the past few days. 2 more in J tonight. One little baby. Pretty happy about that. And a nice milkweed patch. Lots of ants and other stuff but the chickens are doing a good job of keeping the bad bugs from getting on the milkweed.
Very interesting video! I'll apologize in advance for the long comment. The monarchs I raise are what I consider to be rescue monarchs. I don't need to go get them from an untouched field or anything like that. I let nature take its course. However, I'm surrounded by dirt roads and tiny little milkweed plants like to grow on the edge of the road. In some cases, I'm finding eggs on milkweed that is 1.5 inches high. If a car pulls over or the grader does maintenance or when the municipality goes by to cut the vegetation down along the side of the road, there goes those caterpillars' chance of survival. This is actually why I started raising monarchs again. Years ago, they had cut the vegetation down and while I was walking my dogs, I noticed cut down and dried up milkweed laying on the edge of the road. I decided to pick it up and take a peek and found 2 eggs. I brought them home, cut them out like you do and placed them on a fresh leaf. 1 survived, the other didn't. But that one would have starved to death if I didn't bring it home. That's when I decided I needed to help them. I'm up to 64 this year (all rescue ones from the road) and I'm starting to get concerned about what I can maintain. I can do 64, it will be the most I've raised but I'm comfortable with that number. I have enough milkweed sources and I feel that I have the time to keep things sanitary for this amount. But I feel terribly guilty about leaving eggs out on the road that have no chance of surviving. That's the dilemma I'm struggling with.
Am I understanding that we only need to be concerned about raising outside when we are doing the migratory monarchs? I started doing all raising outside, including eggs. I also want to thank you about emphasizing native pollinators and milkweed needing to be increased. I ammfollowing the Home Grown National Park idea and converting half my lawn into native pollinator habitat. I also bought just iver 5.5 acres of abandoned horse pasture to rehab. A lot of us are trying. We just need guidance (like yoirs) to help us.
I live south of Ottawa Ontario and I have been successful in the last three years. My garden if S full of three different types of milkweed and I now have an infestation of greenfly on the milkweed, not the orange flowers ones. My question is does this deter the monarch from laying eggs on the leaves that have greenfly. I have seen a few monarchs but they are not laying eggs??
I definitely agree that less is more and that it should be quality over quantity. I think 10-20 is a good, safe number. I used to go on a couple Monarch groups on Facebook and people there would constantly brag about how many Monarchs they raised (some raised 500-1000, even with OE and other issues going on) and it really bothered me, so I left. I read some studies that raising that many really doesn't do any good for the population (I think the study was by the Xerces Society). When you're raising that many, most people will not do it responsibly (check for OE, make sure the raising environment is clean, not crowd them, etc). I think people think they're helping, but they're doing more harm. That's probably why it's illegal to raise them in California (where I live). I think it's illegal to even touch a Monarch caterpillar or butterfly here unless you have a permit. I know people don't like that here, but I honestly think it's for the best.
I didn't get a lot of milkweed this year, so I can only take in maybe 10 to 15 eggs. In my backyard any eggs left outside don't have a snowball's chance in hell of surviving. Way too many predators.
I just found a monarch butterfly who fell after hatching and now can not fly. The wings are all crinkled and she won't be able to survive in the wild. Can you make an updated video on how to care for crippled butterflies? How to feed them, the best type of enclosure, etc.? I really want her to live as long and comfortably as she can.
I love your videos!! This is where I came when I was first learning about raising Monarchs and credit you for most of what helped me in getting started! Thank you!
This makes me feel better, Ive been raising monarchs for about 4 years now, because of your videos. I have about 4 butterfly houses, and this year I have 4 eggs. I always give my very best efforts helping the monarch butterflies, keeping them separate so that they don’t eat each other, to Defending the milk weed patch growing outside my bedroom window when my parents wanted to mow it down. I always give each caterpillar a fresh leaf every day, take them with me if we go camping, washing and wrapping the leaves with paper towels. It’s reassuring to me that even though I might only have 4 this year (They all just hatched yesterday 🎉) That im still helping to make a difference.
Thank you. I missed the comment about being able to raise inside til the monarch is expected to migrate. I thought it but wasn't going to do it cause of all the negative pressure on some of the monarch social media sites. I will now!
off a website it was commented that microfiber cloth sticks like glue to the top of the cremaster and WOW, it does work! I have used this on 2 cats that decided to pupate on the ground!
I am Saudi and I believe that the earth is flat, and that is what was written in the Qur’an and what the Messenger said. The earth does not rotate, but the sun and moon are the ones that rotate.
I’m in northern Wisconsin. I’m wondering if my collection of eggs from a field near me has had a negative effect as there are very few monarchs and eggs versus last year?. I released over 100 last year.
Missed seeing you! Nice to see new video. Hey, what do you think of balloon milkweed? It's a monster, very unusual, and since it's not native, I cut it down in late fall
My question I ask to chemtrail believers is: Why? Why is the government or whatever spraying the air with poison when THEY ALSO live in the same land we do. Why would they poison themselves with us? Also- the same people who believe chemtrails also believe vaccines and GMO food and our tap water and 5G, etc is all poisoning us too. So my question- if they are already poisoning us with all the other ways, why would they waste the extra money on chemtrails… surely creating that much specially engineered chemicals and spraying them on the atmosphere would cost a lot of money…
Hi! Love the pest tips! Question... can you feed honeyvine milkweed, or any other non-technical plant closely related to the milkweed family to monarch caterpillars? I have a huge patch of honeyvine growing in my backyard and I was wondering if my monarch caterpillars would eat it.
Greetings! First and foremost, the best answer to give is that I'm not sure, as I haven't ever worked with Honeyvine. That said, it is in the milkweed family, and some brief internet research says that it can serve as a host plant for Monarch caterpillars, though it is a less preferred option for Monarchs. So, can someone? Yes. Should someone? Debatable. I'm never trying to tell someone what they must or should do. I can only say what I myself would do in the same situation, and someone can take from that what they will. If I were in your position, if I was in a pinch and needed those leaves as a food source for caterpillars, it would certainly be a great option, and being fresh leaves, a better option to have around than artificial milkweed, which I do keep on hand if needed. However, I'd also do what I can to not be relying on the Honeyvine, and try to only take in what Monarchs I could support with their preferred milkweed (which would depend upon someone's location...for me, that'd be the Common Milkweed). It's kind of the strategy of wanting to give them the best option available if I have the means. I'd rather rear 10 Monarchs off of high quality milkweed than 30 Monarchs off of less than the best. Does that makes sense? Much luck to your efforts!😃🦋👍
Good to see you! I have a very huge milk week plant (10 stalks, 4 - 5 feet tall) that the aphids just totally, completely, destroy my plant. The last two years got so bad I had to chop it down. I checked for any eggs and hatchlings though. It takes me an hour to hose it down and I don't always have that kind of time. I cant even use it for food for the ones I'm raising. I'm so discouraged and frustrated. I have a few swamp milk weed plants that do very well at least. I have a few eggs and a few small hatchlings now. Have a good summer!
They are indeed a constant battle. I've only managed what I have with daily thumb rubbings... But, I do find, compared to prior to trying it out last year, the cinnamon does help deter/reduce the ants, which has helped. I hope others, when they try this, find similar results. 🤞
Rich, what should we do if we have a leaf covered in yellow aphids? We barely have milkweed, so we can not spare or lose one leaf... any tips are appreciated.
I have a bad Aphid problem, i do squish them whenever I see them, it just seems like a never ending battle. Not sure if you have them but i have seen a tone of black Bean Aphids as well. Thanks for the video, and I’ll try the cinnamon out.
Hey Alex! I do indeed have some aphids on my plants, but nothing out of hand. This is primarily due to two things: 1) I don't have a lot of milkweed to have to manage at this time and 2) I daily get up and check my milkweed, squishing any aphids I come upon. It's been a daily effort, and even with that, my milkweed still will have them on there by the end of the day. Still, the cinnamon has kept the ants mostly away (some still brave the cinnamon, but not many) and that helps too. In these early years at this new residence, I want to make sure the milkweed gets very well established. Good luck to you, sir!
@@MrLundScience Thank you Mr. Lund, i have about 18 plants so it’s kinda easy to maintain the Aphids, but it’s still tedious. I do have some bad news my caterpillar passed away because of my negligence, and rookie mistake not replacing dried out milkweed leaves as frequent as I should, really mad at myself right now.
I live in Chula Vista, CA area 10B, My milkweed garden, three 4x8 planter boxes filled with various species of MW is FILLED with ants and aphids. It's driving me nuts, I see now that the ants actually eat the eggs and tiny caterpillars. I will be trying the cinnamon out after doing a thorough cleanse of the plants by hand. On one planter box I setup a ladybug house I found at Home Depot and bought a bunch of ladybugs but they aren't doing that well of a job.
I've encountered ladybugs on many milkweed plants out in the field when searching for eggs or collecting leaves, and when I find them, usually, they are amidst either some or many many many uneaten aphids. They might be aphid predators, but I think it takes a whole lot of them to make it efficient (and I'm 100% guessing/speculating with that statement...I admit, I'm not sure on this one). Further, the ladybugs that stick around, well, they'll eat a Monarch egg or small enough caterpillar same as an ant would, so that issue still exists. I fully sympathize, and wish you luck with your end of the aphid battle!
Cinnamon would definitely be something that the caterpillars could detect, and likely a cinnamon covered milkweed leaf would not be as appetizing. This is why I only sprinkle it down near the base of the plant. Cinnamon on the leaves of the rest of the plant could deter Monarch adults from landing on the leaves to lay eggs.
Who knew? I know I learned that cinnamon can repel ants sometime in my Middle School years. That science teacher knew...I just don't remember which one!
I hope this method can help out. I used it last year (preliminary testing for this year) and found it effective with my situation for about 2-3 days. Way less ants. But totally serious about the rain part. After it rains, it's like it's not even there and the ants come back much faster. This, along with daily finger squishing has kept my plants relatively healthy. (It was the groundhog that munched a stalk early on that caused the real damage.) Good luck with your season! 😃🦋👍
You can get a big bag of cinnamon at a middle eastern or indian grocery store! Also, my chickens have been doing the ant eating work in my milkweed garden.
Barren year for Joliet, Illinois. Love your explanation for the low numbers , and your optimism for the future. I have 3X’s more milkweed growing on my property this year, than I had last year. Please, keep up your good work! 💜
Very interesting. Where I'm at tropical milkweed is pretty much the only kind available. I recently found a different strain and cats i put on there will crawl over to the tropical as soon as their able. I was wondering why. Thanks so much
Where I live there are (well were) 3 meadows full of milkweed and wildflowers and FULL of monarchs. Now they paved over. With there still being milkweed surrounding the perimeter. I saw my first monarch in my area today all year. And decided to check out those milkweed on the perimeter and left with 42 monarch eggs. How can I go about saving/conserving these last milkweed plants. At my house it is CHUCK full of milkweed and flowers . In 2021 I had raised over 300 monarchs and 90% of them coming from those meadows. Would hate to see the entire thing go away
My milk weed bugs are very destructive to my pods. Although them chewing open the pods helps spread the seeds. That's how i got into this whole thing. Milkweed plants blew in from a neighbors house several years ago
My pug helps me caring for my monarchs. Pugs are awesome, smart, Loving and telling jokes. RIP sasha and Louis.Welcome Roxy balboa and Ruby. Ruby looks like a Bugg.( Boston terrier/pug) My dearly departed Agnes was a bugg. I heard on coast to coast from a pet psychic that when a dog passes away they cross over peacefully once you get a new dog. Being that they think they take care of us. Pet psychic aside i like the idea of Agnes passing the torch to Olive❤❤
That stuff looks like caterpillar vomit. Ewww. I've read that chonky boi 5th instars can eat pumpkin, cucumber, watermelon in a pinch. I tried 🍉 and nope, they did devour a baby zucchini cut in half lengthwise though
