How To Preserve Bugs in Resin: giving specimens a new life after death. step by step with time-lapse 

Thanks so much. I lost my pink toe tarantula this morning and have been panicked on what to do. I didn’t want to jar him up so I went and bought resin and molds. He will be a fabulous cup coaster 😂 not the most honoring but he will remain part of my daily life and I like that idea.

Wow I didn't know you could do that with the bugs. When my son was in 4-H I love catching bugs. I had bug field manual and was forever looking for names of the bugs we found. I found a Carrion beetle for the first time thought it was so beautiful, found out it like decaying flesh. I was so tickled! And mud dabbers the beautiful blue ones, scary but amazing. I only wish I would have been an entomologist as I am fascinated with bugs. I saw a massive locust at one county 4-H show. It looked like a kid's toy it was gigantic! But my absolute proudest moment was catching a massive water beetle , it's the giant water bug (if I remember right they ate in the true bug category) . I still have it in tbe freezer and my son is done with 4-H but I want to keep it. Resin would be perfect but I would not have a clue how to do it. I just turned 45 but my heart is failing so doubt I will ever get it done before I pass. But oh was I proud. I still have 3 or 4 wooden bug boxes that we won purple ribbons with at the state fair here in South Dakota. I should donate them to you for your cart to show kids. Bugs are amazing! We would spent hours and hours walking alfalfa fields with fishing nets that a friend cut fish net out of and sewed in light scarf material for catching butterflies and bugs. Those were fun times. I even collected a good sized yellow jacket wasps nest as I was cleaning up on the side of house my folks lived at. I was so scared! It was attached to old roll of carpet and I rushed nest and jumped on it with old clear pretzel container then duct taped it (ha ha, I was scared as there were 20 or 30 wasps in container angry as could be) so put it in freezer. We were always going to do project with it for 4-H but never got it done. Thank you for the videos. Take care and stay well.

thanks for sharing! I like the idea of using these in art pieces.

While waiting for my resin to arrive I stumbled upon this Now I'm tempted to look for bugs aaaaaaaa

Beautiful art!! 🐞

I really like these, I buy one whenever I find them being sold. Now I learned you can make them yourself!

I think it's great ... a nice memorial 😀

Yay! Thank you for this great step by step video! My nieces, nephews and I have slowly collected almost every type of insect in our state (natural deaths only) and now we want to preserve/label them-so they can use them to teach young kids about all of the cool local bugs we have! In a perfect world, we would LOVE to create a *{Species Collection}* for all 50 states! ❤️ Thank you again for this tutorial!

Thank you for specifying that these lives were not taken for art. I am researching this resin process for the sake of preserving my Tarantula when she passes and care about her. It is quite ugly to watch people kill bugs and laugh about it.

Thanks for the tutorial

shes a preservation queen and nice with it nice video imma do this for my son definitely

We love this ...absolutely in love with the domino roach ones!

My snail passed away and I’d like to preserve its shell in resin. Thanks for the great tutorial!

So happy to have found you 💓 this is a great way to protect my collected babies and let my kids play with them.

I love this, I have a couple pet arthropods (cockroaches, beetles, a scorpion) and I hate the idea of just disposing of them when they die

These are so cool. I have a dead beetle and a moth saved for resin pieces, and this is really helpful!

Tip, dry using a cup with a spout to pour the resin more accurately

You have a beautiful voice!

Good I was looking for a tutorial on this

So nice yes I like it

I found a deceased bee today in the choir loft of my church; scooped him up not knowing what I’d do with him. I think I’ll try this! I may have yet another hobby!

You fast forwarded through the parts I wanted to see! It would be really nice if you did one thing from each step at real speed, like one pour, and one peel out. Also I was hoping to see how the old ones that you topped off turned out. I am so curious!

this is wonderful thank you. After the passing of my mantis ive decided I wanted to make resin things out of her and her molts. What molds do you recommend? its hard for me to find things that will hold them in their later instar sizes. I wish I could make her final instar into a necklace but the pendant moldings are all quite too small

hey nice voice... so i have a dead scorpion picked up in my backyard, wanted to put it in the resin. looking forward to buy the materials.

I didn't want to do it. But last night 7/9/21 I was working on my car and my dad went outside, lucky he spotted it. I was working near a almost fully mature Black Widow ⏳ that set up camp at the front of my vehicle. The fact she was there, and never tried to harm me still bothers and intrigues me. My dad killed her with Raid, I get it she's poisonous and harmful. However, it's the fact that she has a natural hourglass that's fully red that represents time, and the rest of her whole body is black. It's how you're meant to not pay attention to anything else but the hourglass. The thing that represents how much time you have from when your bitten to when the poison starts to react. You really gotta respect nature, it's all really fascinating. So, I wanted to preserve her, and this was my first idea to resin her inside of a mold. What shape or design idk. However, seeing how easily it's done truly helps. Not everyday you come across a Black Widow, let alone one that's only a few inches away and doesn't feel threatened by a human presence. Thank you. Truly helped. Even I don't use it this time the gained knowledge and insight really helped. 🤝👍🏼✌🏼🤙🏼

thank u 4 the help!! u found a beautiful beetle that is dying. i left him outside but if i find him after he has passed away i will try preserving him!!!

Exactly what I need. Please explain, resin, proportions, technique, drying, bubbles temperature. I didn't see you working in hardner. Am working scorpions,

I have learned the hard way how important that first hour is to stop the insects or flowers from floating up. Also I needed to put my wasp upside down in my mold 🤦🏻‍♀️

Great video. I have a solution for the floating bug issue. I pour a little bit of the resin into the mould first, let it harden a little, then put the insect in, then fill the rest of the mould with resin.

Looking this up because I wanna preserve an io moth a yellow one really beautiful with the black spot on the wings

This is such a great video! I've got bugs and tiny seashells waiting to be resin cast. I have a question, why did you pour it in two parts?

Looks fantastic, great channel too! What is the resion you use? What do you mix to get it? Cheers!

Hey there, so did you end up doing 3 or 4 layers of resin for the new pieces? Layer one: placing the specimen Layer two: about halfway Layer Three: topping off Thanks!

Thank you for video. Best wishes.😮😮😮😮😮😊😊😊😊😅😅😮😮😮

Did you pin and dehydrate anything before setting it in resin? Trying to decide if I have to take the pinning step for my mantises

I saw that you used a blow torch, will that get rid of any bubbles that form? Every layer I add, a cluster of bubbles form at the top. No matter how careful and slow I mix the resin!! Will a hair dryer work? Please let me know thank you.

Hey Ambassador, I'm really glad I found you channel Mrs. Arthropod Ambassador... I looked into resin preserving because my Giant Golden Asian Mantis is going to eventually pass (short lives) and I wanted to see if there was a way to preserve her (weird I know, but I think you understand)... But the thing I'm seeing with resin preservation is you can't have them in a specific pose. More or less, just kind of laid flat. I have her here next to me this very moment and she assumes very specific poses. Her poses to me are her identity. Anything different just wouldn't be a good memorial... So my question is, can you meticulously pose the animal between multiple levels/layers of epoxy??? I'm thinking meticulously move her each layer, let the epoxy dry and go from there... I know it would be very difficult because to be malleable she would have to be fresh and hydrated. Which is bad..... Have you been able to get natural looking mantis poses while preserving??? Is something like this even feasible or am I better off memorializing with another method?

where did you get that first mold you picked up? and where did you get the insects?? they look beautiful by the way

I have a question what is your choice of resin please thanks

it's good you took already dead bugs. i saw this other resin video where they shoved live bugs in the freezer, murdered them, and then played with their legs without showing a bit of respect. you earned a like :)

I also do resin and would love to try this. I have tried it with insects and plants before, both with wet specimens/fresh plants and with dried specimens/dried plants and they still yellow or brown for me. Do you have any tips on stopping them from yellowing, browning, or looseing color naturally as they age.? (like they would outside of resin) anything helps. Thank you so much in advance. 😊

Where did you get the molds from?

I wondered how would you start the process. Reason i ask is a lot of bees are dying in my area and ive been trying to figure out a way to preserve them. They are dying naturally. But i dont know what i have to do after finding them. Do i just start the resin pouring after a few days or? Do i have to like put the bees in something first or like do something to prep them first?

Thanks

Would it be a good idea to pour a little 1st then insert specimen to avoid air pockets underneath?

When using the whole bug, do you air dry, oven dry, or silica dry?

I definitely want to do this if I take in any injured monarch butterflies and they pass away.. im currently raising monarch caterpillars and I love the little guys so much

Can you give me the description of the resin you are using? and what are all the efficient methods of avoiding air bubbles?

thank you. my first tarantula died recently and i wanted to try to preserve him in resin instead of doing a wet specimen or taxidermy (taxidermy sounds like too much work lmfao)

Hi there... have you ever tried a larger spider after preserving in alcohol first?

These are awesome! Did you do anything special to preserve the whole insects or just let them dry out (I have a dead spider I want to try this with)

Have you used silicone powder they use for flowers?

Any experience doing this with fish bones, or bones in general? I think a small alligator gar fish skull would look great

Nice 👍 first

Where did you get your molds? And can you drill a hole through resin?

would you need to do anything to say a dead moth before you cast them? worried about the wing dust.

Whats your experience with wet specimens. I have two very tiny wet specimen scorpions I’m gonna put in enamel for a ring. Do you think they will decompose over time?

nice work! what is the purpose of the lighter? how do you use it?

How do I clean uncured resin off from past resin attempts? It's so sticky!

I have some Japanese hornets that I'm casting for one of my nephews... Any things to consider before getting started?

This is my first video of yours that I watched. I have 2 cicadas and a bark scorpion I want to put in resien. The cicadas died naturally and the scorpion was a pet that I unfortunately didnt get a heat lamp in time for texas fall/winter a couple years ago. I want put all of them in resin. So you do half and left them float a bit? Then do the other half after?

Can you use a heat gun instead of butane lighter?

Does anyone know if this will work with uv resin? I’ve always thought it was a beautiful way of honoring death & would like to try it myself but I’m not sure it’d work

I'd make a suggestion to use a high clarity high build high uv stability epoxy resin. And

I put my scorpion in alcohol. He just passed away. Would it be fine since I did not freeze it? Also what else you use besides epoxy?

Do you think that Mercola Liquid Glass Crystal would be ideal?

Heyy! I just found a dead cicada how do I keep it safe until I find more insects. How do you keep it preserved??

May I know the mixture? Thank you

This past Fall I found an invasive Spotted Lantern Fly and it's in my freezer in a small bottle. They have the most beautiful under wings. Bright orange with black spots. I'm deciding whether to thaw him out. pin him in a flight position and dry him in floral crystals and pour in resin, OR, make a pair of resin earrings out of those beautiful orange polka dotted wings! It depends on the outcome of the freezing. It may effect the color. Thanks for the video. Didn't know you had to do multiple pours. You're very interesting.

Thank I had a pet butterfly that died and this will help keep them remembered (Thay hed messed up wings so thay couldn't fly.there name was jumpy)

What molds do you use?

Could you do the same process with a seahorse skeleton? I’ve had one for years that used to belong to my grandma and I thought it would be a good way to preserve it and keep it safe

Are you mixed hardner?

Do you need to do something to process the bodies before casting? I've heard that putting anything with moisture in resin is a bad idea and can cause it to grow mold, discolor etc.

I want to see what you do to the newly dead insect before putting it into the resin.

I have a giant water beetle and when it dies I plan on putting it in resin. Any suggestions?

Can u plz share the chemicals u used in this preservation and their quantity

Where did u get the molds?

Can I do it with 1 layer

what kind of resin do you use? can you send me a link to it please? also the silicone molds :)

What resin do you use, and what song is in the video? Thanks!

What did you use to make the glowy marbles?

I didn’t see you arrange the bugs at all? It would be good to see how you manipulate the dried bugs into position.

is using two types of resin necessary or can i just go to the craft store and just buy one kind? thank you

Okay so if my hissing roach dies or I find a dead beetle I can just put them in resin? I don’t have dry them a certain way or preserve them first?

You could probably use those little squeezable condiment bottles for the resin 🤔. Also does anyone know how to keep the resin from yellowing?

casting a crawfish me and friends took from a buffet and was friends with for the night

Have they rot in the resin with the freezing method?

What kind of resin do I need to encase a butterfly??? First timer

How lomg does a bug need to "thaw" before enclosing them in resin

Hi, what resin are you using?

What is the resin?

found a huge dead cicada killer on the sidewalk and i really want to preserve it

How do you repair ones that have air bubbles in them?

What products did you use and what trey ?

how do you preserve the spiders so that their legs don’t curl up when they die?

Does freezing the scorpion kill it??? I wanna kill a scorpion I found tdy and put it in risen mold and ya but I'm still a beginner so some1 please answer

Can you use UV resin for this?

I want to preserve my butterfly but my mantis discoloured as soon as she touched the resin… i know they will be slightly different bcs they’re ‘wet’ but she was completely different. I’m scared this would also happen with my butterfly. Does anyoneknow what i did wrong/has tips?

Are you supposed to preserve it first