Question

how is silk produced?

Answer 1

The larvae of the silk moth eat mulberry leaves and spin a cocoon inside which they intend to metamorphize into moths. But people take the cocoon and put it into boiling water to kill the larvae and to dissolve the adhesive that glues the thread.

Another process does not require killing the larva so it can chew its way out after metamorphosis and fly away. The remaining cocoon consists by necessity of shorter pieces of silk fiber. The cocoon is ripped to shreds and the fibers are processed. This silk is often called "raw silk" or "Thai silk".

Answer 2

From Cotton to Silk :

$\textbf{Step 1 }$:

Eggs of silk moth are stored carefully on strips of cloth or paper and sold to the silk moth farmers.

$\textbf{Step 2 }$:

The eggs are kept by the farmers under proper conditions till the caterpillars come out from the cocoons.

$\textbf{Step 3 }$:

The silk moth caterpillars are kept then kept in bamboo trays and fed on fresh mulberry leaves.

$\textbf{Step 4 }$:

When the caterpillars stops eating, they shifted to bamboo chambers provided with racks, twigs. Here, they spin cocoons.

$\textbf{Step 5 }$:

At the end of pupal stage, the moth cuts the cocoon and flies out.

$\textbf{Step 6}$:

The cocoons are then stored out according to their colours, size, shape, and texture.

$\textbf{Step 7}$:

The stored cocoons are collected and immersed in boiling water to kill the insect inside them.

$\textbf{Step 8 }$:

The cocoons are given a series of hot & cold immersions, to make them soft.

$\textbf{Step 9 }$:

The silk filaments are separated from the cocoons. This process is called reeling of the silk . The resulting fibre is known as raw silk, which can be dyed into various colours.

$\textbf{Step 10 }$:

The silk fibres are then spun to get silk threads.