Blog • Florida Monarchs

Release Update

Release Update We have release 107 healthy Monarchs!!! June was an amazing month!! After the massacre of monarchs in May I had to do research on OE and how to ensure it didn't happen to my flock again. There are many resources out there to help, that is why this blog isn't here to replace them, but to share my experience and what our family is learning from this whole experience. What we did different Two plastic containers 1 fine colander 380 ml off water 10 ml of bleach We learned the formula for cleaning our eggs! According to our research, once picking the eggs we would take aprox 380 ml of water mix it with about 10 ml of bleach and wash in a tub plastic tub for about 60 seconds gently agitating, then transfer the leaves to a new tub and rinse with fresh water for about 60 seconds. We then poured the left-over water through a sive to get any eggs that were knocked loose from agitation. Keeping the Milkweed Fresh We are keeping tubs of no more than 10 and trying to keep the daily egg picks to a tub. Still trying to keep a happy balance between too humid and too dry. The goldilocks moisture is hard to find. One we can put the cats into the mesh cages we are using a mix of flora tubs and floral foam to keep the milkweed fresh. Both…

What is Going on with my Monarchs?!

How do you say OE? So far we have had nine Monarchs that didn't make it. Some took a while to get out of their chrysalis, so their wings didn't form. Some were weak, so their wings didn't spread and their proboscis did not zip up to become usable. (Before this experience, I only called that bit of anatomy “the zipper up butterfly straw”). So the poor guy couldn't eat. A couple were just weak, fell and died. What was going on with my Monarchs?! Well I asked around and found out this is a parasite called Ophryocystis Elektroscirrha, which I can't even pretend I know how to pronounce, so we'll go with the short version of OE. I have been researching a bit and have found some info that will help out with our next generations. For more information on OE, check out the resource page. To prevent the invasion of an OE: Bleach all enclosures before starting (20% bleach/80% water for 4 hours or more) Clean eggs with a bleach/water solution - Tried this with what I thought was a 20% bleach to 80% water and it disolved the eggs!!! So Don't try this at home based on this blog post. Updates to come on what the real deal is. Wash leaves before letting caterpillars eat Monitor the cats for discoloration then euthanize when O.E. is identified. Always, ALWAYS wash hands before and after handling the cats. Pets…

Monarchs and Family Fun

A Week of Releases At the time of typing this article our family has successfully released 21 monarchs for the 2018 spring season! About two weeks into the season we decided to start bringing in eggs and watching them from the beginning . The biggest challenge has been keeping the moisture in the containers just right. If there’s too much moisture,the leaf starts to mildew and then the egg follows. If there’s too little moisture, the leaf shrivels up. In all we have probably lost about 20 eggs to mold this season. Next, I think I will try a different method based on some suggestions from a fellow monarchist and spray them once a day with a light mist of water. Kids Learning Through Fun Last week, I was able to help our Cub Scout Pack earn their World Conservation Award by teaching about Butterfly Conservation. The kids were able to see each stage of the cycle and through all the stages of the butterfly and were able to release a couple. We planted some milkweed for the host church and were able to show the families how easy it is to plant their own butterfly habitat. Teagan took a milkweed plant to school last week that had about 8 eggs on it. His class is learning about lifecycles by watching the full lifecycle of the Monarchs. He has also joined the school garden club and has helped build a…

Our 8th Monarch of the season.

Florida Monarchs Take Flight

Join us as we create memories by building a backyard butterfly garden and watching the monarch butterfly cycle through life. We love sharing our adventures through pictures and videos on Facebook, we decided to launch floridamonarchs.com so we can widend our reach. Through sharing our experience and lessons learned each season we hope others can learn how to do it on their own. Today we take flight on a new adventure, come along for the ride.