Little did I know this would start a terrific family hobby.
A Mom's Guide - How We Started Bug Collecting Our Family Hobby Insect Collecting
Who knew bug collecting was a low cost, nearly no cost way to learn about nature, science, nurturing, ethics, and really a tremendous amount of learning and bonding for me and my kids, year round! I'm sure your thinking this is GROSS!
At first I was a little creeped out by these tiny creatures, all be it dead, laying around my home. But once we started reading about collecting bugs, and then grabbing library books on how bugs live - well drop everything! It's truly an amazing other world right under our feet.
This first dead bumble bee we found at grandmas house did not make the first bug box collection of 2010. My older son was 6, and brought me this dead bee in the palm of his hand. Yes I was irritated by the thought of it (irrational thoughts: it's gross, will it sting him, it's really gross). I grabbed a small envelope at my dads and put the bee inside. I had agreed to take it home "to keep."
This was NOT the exact bee that we first brought home. This however IS a bee in our collection, note the torn wing.
My First Mistake
After we brought the bee home, and it spent the day on the dining room table, my son said he wanted to see it. I already knew from the little science I had learned about bugs in our nature study's, that insects have their exoskeleton (that's their skeletal system) on the outside of their body. I explained to my son as the bug dries out it gets more delicate and can easily be damaged and cracked (loosing its shape, arms, legs, etc). So yes, he could see the bug, but we can't open it's envelope often because we will damage it. My son then proposed "mom, let's pin the bug like they do in the museum."
Brilliant! But of course, one of my biggest faults, is I like to do things right the first time, so I wanted to "read up" on how to properly pin bugs. This is a fault because I'm also a procrastinator. Maybe I like having a,list of things to do? I didn't research pinning insects for 3 days. It's a super easy process that I've reviewed here in this blog post on "A Mom's Guide: How to Start Pinning Insects."
I learned later that putting bugs in a plastic - airless container - is a better choice then an envelope because no other flies, or bugs can get to the bugs body. Unfortunately, when I returned to get the bee from the envelope it was infested with maggots. That was really gross. However, it was a great lesson early on in the process and my insects getting infested NEVER happened again, in 3 years now.
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A Mom's Guide: How We Started Bug Collecting, Our Family Hobby
This first dead bumble bee we found at grandmas house did not make the first bug box collection of 2010. My older son was 6, and brought me this dead bee in the palm of his hand. Yes I was irritated by the thought of it (irrational thoughts: it's gross, will it sting him, it's really gross). I grabbed a small envelope at my dads and put the bee inside. I had agreed to take it home "to keep."
LIFE IS STILL EXCITING AT OUR HOUSE!
With more insects. . .
AMI Studios Chicago
It's mostly baby girls videos and here slime making, she spends time with friends, goes on road trips, lots of coloring activities and make good choices while having fun. During the covid stay at home orders - she had many many many facetime pandemic playdates - we made time work for us and not be bored.
My First Mistake
After we brought the bee home, and it spent the day on the dining room table, my son said he wanted to see it. I already knew from the little science I had learned about bugs in our nature study's, that insects have their exoskeleton (that's their skeletal system) on the outside of their body. I explained to my son as the bug dries out it gets more delicate and can easily be damaged and cracked (loosing its shape, arms, legs, etc). So yes, he could see the bug, but we can't open it's envelope often because we will damage it. My son then proposed "mom, let's pin the bug like they do in the museum."
Brilliant! But of course, one of my biggest faults, is I like to do things right the first time, so I wanted to "read up" on how to properly pin bugs. This is a fault because I'm also a procrastinator. Maybe I like having a,list of things to do? I didn't research pinning insects for 3 days. It's a super easy process that I've reviewed here in this blog post on "A Mom's Guide: How to Start Pinning Insects."
I learned later that putting bugs in a plastic - airless container - is a better choice then an envelope because no other flies, or bugs can get to the bugs body. Unfortunately, when I returned to get the bee from the envelope it was infested with maggots. That was really gross. However, it was a great lesson early on in the process and my insects getting infested NEVER happened again, in 3 years now.
Keep reading: A Mom's Guide - How We Started Bug Collecting Our Family Hobby Insect Collecting
Our Bug Collection Today
Three years later our bug collection is over 200 specimens. In this time we have self taught how to pin bugs, proper storage and collection methods (even though we have only collected mostly already dead specimens, used an in ground trap twice "just to see what happens," and a kill jar for injured insects that would die anyway).
This is our first bug box. Our collection has grown to 5 Bug Boxes plus many more miniature displays.
The next few blog posts will cover our new family hobby and show you how we have come to appreciate nature at a whole new level. I'll include links to websites I use frequently for identification purposes and details on pinning. We have also come across some awesome resources for learning more about bugs and even days camps and activities kids can attend in our area on bug collecting projects.
But mostly, it fascinates me as a mom to see how my kids have a profound interest in these tiny creatures, their lives, and learning all we can about them. Our compassion for these little insects has grown. We understand their world and lives, the importance of bugs in the greater life and food cycle impacting our everyday lives as people. And we have put our irrational insect fears aside.
I hope you enjoy learning more about our hobby, and start your own bug collection too.
NEW UPDATE :: YOUTUBE CHANNEL INFO ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT BLOG
Our family has had many adventures through the years. Mom, the @Minstr0Interior had an a-ha moment . . . Suddenly I See what we will have filled our life with, ADVENTURES! We travel, craft, sing, dance, collect insects and spend loads of time together. Sometimes too much time together. Our kids have recently begun to document their own adventures, and so this channel was born. Enjoy our adventures. Or not. WANT MORE? If there is a blog post accompanying this video we will share it here. Sometimes we will include the ingredients list of the craft or recipe, or the itinerary of our trip. In the meantime click play.
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Original blog post date: March 14, 2014
Thank you for sharing this! My daughters (4 and 6) are really interested in bugs and we've kept dead ones in a mason jar for a few days before discarding. I had no idea how to proceed with actually building a collection. Thank you!!
ReplyDelete👍 how exciting! post pics of anything you pin or put in a special box.
DeleteKeep commenting - we would love to see your bug pins.
ReplyDelete