Harvesting cocoons-with scoop and bucket

Scoop tool

Scoops are modified screwdrivers and are a boon to harvesting cocoons.

The angle (more like a sine curve) of the scoop ensures that the tip of the scoop slides under each cocoon and lifts them out of each nesting tray.  No other tool does it so easily.  At the same time as removing cocoons, nesting tunnels are rid of the majority of mud and other debris.  This make the scrubbing process a lot faster.

Cocoons are scooped out of
nesting trays straight into
 a large bucket filled with water.

Scoop cocoons out of nesting trays over a large bucket filled with water.  After about 30 minutes, the water has softened the dirt around cocoons and the dirt drops to the bottom of the bucket.  This is the first step in cleaning cocoons.

Dave M. uses a sieve for the next step.  Using a sieve, a soft stream of water is sprayed over cocoons held in a sieve.  Water removes a lot of debris from cocoons.



Once cocoons are washed, and dried, cocoons can be candled
A bleach wash, drying, screening and candling are the final stages of cleaning cocoons.

A soft stream of water washes a lot of debris from cocoons held in a sieve.
This idea came from Dave M. from  Port Alberni, BC