Essential Compendium of Sericulture

...would be the result.

If they all wake at once and are fed together, they will thrive. However, if their cycles are uneven, they will become both exhausted and hungry, leading to many diseases and a meager yield of silk. The root of these problems lies entirely in this synchronization. This is why the Silkworm Classic provides such a stern warning. Whether the "sleeping" and "waking" are uniform depends entirely on the evenness of the leaf distribution. If the feeding is uniform, the cycles will be synchronized; if not, they will be irregular. Those who raise silkworms must understand that the "disease of halved silk" A common term for a 50% loss in silk production due to poor management. is caused by this, and they must be meticulous in their feeding.

The First Sleep

This refers to the first of four molting periods in a silkworm's life cycle.

From the time the silkworms are first hatched until their first sleep, if fire is used To provide artificial warmth., it takes approximately three days; if no fire is used, it takes about seven or eight days. Whenever the silkworms are about to sleep, one should sweep away the waste traysoriginal: "shabu" (沙篰); bamboo trays filled with "sand" or silkworm droppings and leaf remnants. to clear away impurities and foulness. Silkworms raised with fire enter their sleep rapidly and uniformly; as soon as you see delicate, reddish silk threads appearing, you can clear the trays. For silkworms raised in cooler conditions, the onset of sleep is slightly staggered. One must wait until about twenty percent of them have begun to anchororiginal: "mian" (緜); the process of spinning a fine silk web to secure themselves to the tray. before deciding to stop feeding. It is absolutely vital not to stop too early. If you stop too early, many are still eating; if you continue to feed them in large quantities, the waste trays will become too thick, and the silkworms will inevitably suffer from suffocating heatoriginal: "yuzheng" (鬱蒸); a condition caused by the fermentation of moist leaves and waste, creating stagnant, humid heat.. Conversely, you must not be too late. If you are late, they will sleep amidst the waste in the trays, making it impossible to inspect or move them properly.

The regulation of this process depends entirely on perfect timing. Whenever a silkworm is ready to sleep, it first spits out silk to grip the tray and anchor its feet; this is called forming the web. Once they begin webbing, you must stop both the fire and the feeding. If you do not stop the fire, you will harm the silkworms; if you do not stop the feeding, those who have already finished webbing will crawl back up to eat again.