The Commercial Butterfly Breeder's Manual
The definitive manual on breeding butterflies
Revised edition, October 2001.
About Butterfly Farming
If you are interested in butterfly farming, it is our suggestion that you buy Rick Mikula's "The Family Butterfly Book" and see how you like some of the raising experiences it gives! This is a perfect way to try out raising butterflies and when you are ready to go further, below are the best butterfly farming guides to purchase. There are cheaper books available, but if you are serious about butterfly farming then these books are the best investment for your future. You will enjoy these resource books for years to come.
The Commercial Butterfly Breeder's Manual:
Long recognized as the complete source for raising butterflies on a commercial level. Provides several methods for raising and has incredible amount of information not only on the best livestock and hostplant raising but starting up and operating a commercial butterfly farm.
Compare Table of Contents and volume of information to other butterfly raising manuals! This one has ten chapters, and over 150 pages of expert advice.
Compare the author's number of years of experience to others! Nigel Venters has been raising many hundreds of butterfly species in various regions of the world for over thirty years!
A variety of raising methods are presented, along with detailed photos and drawings of raising equipment and set ups.
The Advanced Guide to Commercial Butterfly Production:
Gives detailed instructions, photos, drawings and production spreadsheets for two different raising techniques for a smaller output and a higher volume output butterfly farm.
Below is information about The Commercial Butterfly Breeder's Manual. The current demand for our manual is very high, after its initial release and the strong reviews that have been received! Nigel, Paul and I are very happy about this as it was so important to us to create a manual that would truly educate and help farmers.
If you would like to find out more about raising butterflies, please go to the following websites for lots of great, free information that you will find very interesting!
The Butterfly Website
The Butterfly Website has lots of information about raising butterflies, including newspaper and magazine articles about butterfly breeders and
the industry opportunities. http://www.butterflywebsite.com
International Butterfly Breeders' Association Inc (IBBA)
The IBBA website is the home of a fast-growing, mutually-supportive association of butterfly breeders and butterfly enthusiasts. http://www.butterflybreeders.com
THE COMMERCIAL BUTTERFLY BREEDER'S MANUAL
The very successful Commercial Butterfly Breeder's Manual has now been revised. Authored by Nigel Venters and Linda Rogers, and with photographs and graphics by Paul Chesterfield, this is a valuable resource for anyone with an interest in breeding butterflies.
Below is the Table of Contents so you can see what's in this truly terrific manual! After that, there are recent unsolicited "reviews" of the manual by butterfly breeders: "newbies" and experts alike are loving this book!
It totals about 610 two-sided pages, with 4 color pages of the USDA species (beautiful). The information contained in the manual is astounding!
You'll find every conceivable piece of knowledge you need to start up and operate a very successful commercial butterfly operation.
Nigel's 30 + years of experience breeding butterflies all over the world comes shining through. There are construction drawings for a Butterfly House, diagrams for efficiency devices and nectar delivery systems, original hand drawings that are stunning, and photographs.... great section and photos on Containment systems and a series of photos showing hand-pairing! The chapter on regulating your stock development to meet your shipping orders is priceless. How to complete USDA permit applications is included with sample forms. The vendors section gives you sources, addresses and phone numbers for everything you will ever need for your business. There is a very complete section on business development and website business is also covered.
You'll be glad you ordered it. This manual will pay for itself very quickly. We've enjoyed the tremendous response from people who have bought it and then stay up half the night reading it!
To purchase your copy, please follow the instructions at the bottom of the page HERE.
THE COMMERCIAL BUTTERFLY BREEDER'S MANUAL
1.0
INTRODUCTION TO BUTTERFLY FARMING
Introduction and Acknowledgements
The History of Butterfly Farming
Opportunities in the Butterfly Breeding Industry
Look Before You Leap
2.0
INTRODUCTION TO BUTTERFLIES
Anatomy
Basic Butterfly Facts and Genetics
The USDA Species
Reference Books, Videos and Periodicals
Glossary of Terms
Photographing Butterflies
3.0
THE STAGES AND THEIR CARE
Lifecycle of the Butterfly
Containment Systems: Indoor, Outdoor
Foodplants: Larval, Nectar & Plant Pests
Artificial Diets and Nectar Recipes
Reproduction: Natural Pairing, Hand Pairing, and Egg Laying
Predators, Diseases, Parasites and Fungal Infection
Making a Collection: Mounting Specimen and Preservation
Start Up Small and Try it Out: Painted Ladies
4.0
COMMERCIAL-VOLUME STARTUP AND OPERATION
High-Volume Commercial Operation:
Regulating Stock Production to Meet Shipping Schedule
Table 4.2: Regulating Growth of Stock With Temperature and Lighting
Time Saving and Efficiency Devices
The Production Schedule: Working Backwards to Plan Livestock Needs
5.0
USDA PERMITS
USDA/APHIS Permits and Shipping Information
Completing the Permit Application
6.0
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Your Website: Design, Construction, Hosting
Contacts and Advertising
Butterfly Release Sales
Other Sales Opportunities
7.0
PACKAGING, HANDLING AND SHIPPING
Containerizing Eggs, Larvae, Pupae, Butterflies for Shipment
Shipping Companies
8.0
VENDORS AND SUPPLIERS
9.0
BUTTERFLY ASSOCIATIONS, WEBSITES, EXHIBITS, AND FUN
10.0
TROUBLESHOOTING WITH TEXT REFERENCES
Reviews & Testimonials
From Cornelius DuPlessis,
Rainbow’s End Butterfly Farm, New YorkHope this photo gives an idea how we used Nigel and Linda's manuals when we started our farm, every second sentence on the farm in the beginning started with "but Nigel says....." important to remember and Nigel had mention it as well that what works in Spain may be a disaster in Canada.
Cornelius
Rainbowsendfarm
Rick Mikula (The Butterfly Guru)
"Alrighty Kids time to play. Go get your dictionaries, Go head I'll wait. dum de dum de dum Just singing while I wait for you so go ahead, dum de dum de dum.. Okay great if you look up the words -Great-Amazing-Indispensable- Encompassing and even WOW. You will find thatthey have one thing in common. Immediately under the word they show a pictureof Nigels manual. It is a must and should be on everyone's bookshelf. It is .. well worth it! Hey the holiday season is coming so ask you family for it as a present. You'll have the winter to study it and by the first thaw you'll be ready to go. You will not be sorry! Nigel is the Master no doubt! So no need to go to themountain when Linda is willing to ship it to you."
Dottie Coombs, New Creature Butterfly Farms:
"Hi Linda! I just wanted to send you a personal note of thanks for the work you put in on the butterfly farming manual. I have all of them, as far as I know (even the one from the infamous W.R.), and this one is definitely the best! The day it came I stayed up until 2:00 AM reading it. It is refreshing to get a new slant on things; sometimes the butterfly farmers in this country start to sound alike. (For example, I love my swallowtails, and it was nice to see them described in a way other than "fragile" and "unpredictable." Also, Nigel's handpairing advice has been great. Using a pin in a board to get the claspers open and making sure the males are at least three days out of the chrysalis, I have been able to hand pair many times now.)"
Cindy Alder writes:
"Dear Linda, I have just had the opportunity to explore the manual and wanted to write and thank you so much for such an excellent reference source. Over the course of the next few days, I shall read and absorb! Perhaps more importantly, over the course of my time as a butterfly breeder, I will leanon the contents of the manual for much needed support and guidance. Mythanks to you and (fellow countryman) Nigel for all your hard work. Ashleyand I both feel that it is a fine work and a great investment! Thank you again."
Jim Saxton, Special Education Teacher, says:
"The Butterfly farmers manual that I ordered has arrived and the students are devouring every part of it. Both of you and Nigel did a great job! I am using it as part of my science curriculum. The manual is well set up and easy to follow. Directions are complete and written so that even my students can follow them. I thought I was getting pretty good at butterfly farming; however, this manual shows me just how little I really know. If anyone is trying to start up in this business without a manual they are not taking full advantage of all resources to have a successful business. Again thank you for writing and selling this fantastic book."
Karen Payne writes:
"I purchased from The Nature Store, and just received the Butterfly Breeder's Manual, which you co-wrote with Mr. Venters. "Thank you" very much for taking the time to publish this wonderful manual. I'm fascinated by butterflies and yourmanual will be extremely helpful to me in getting this hobby off theground. I find the information to be very thorough and helpful, very well written, enjoyable ....... just wanted to say 'Thanks' and God bless you and your family!"
Melanie McCarthy, butterfly breeder, says:
"The absolute best manual on the market and the only professionally written one, in my opinion, can be obtained from: Linda Rogers of The Butterfly Boutique.
This is a bit more expensive than others, but it is the only one that has the best insights and very detailed, step by step directions on how to prevent disease, how to treat it once you have it, what to do, etc. and many, many other secrets of the trade. I have 3 manuals and currently only use hers, referring to it about once a week for advice (and this is our fourth year in the business and 40th year raising lepidoptera). You will shortchange yourself and possibly create a lot of headaches for yourself if you are not aware of the some of the more serious problems in raising butterflies, this manual will teach you all about that and more. Then it takes you beyond just starting up and will lead you into medium to large scale operations. One last thing, there is an extensive index where, among other things, is a vendor list of where to get all the supplies you need, including seeds for your host plants. Good luck."
Advice from IBBA member Amy Atwood posted to IBBA Mailing List:
There is a manual called 'The Advanced Guide To Commercial Butterfly Farming' by Nigel Venters and Linda Rogers with Grace Sipowicz and Paul Chesterfield. It is VERY thorough, and talks all about 'getting outside'! I love it. I got it at the IBBA convention in Niagara Falls hot off the press.
The manual before this one 'The Commercial Butterfly Breeders Manual' by the same authors is also great. here are a few places you can get them, try www.butterflyboutique.net You are so lucky to be in S. Cal! I am in NH and have a short season. To move outside, basically set up in a shadecloth covered hoophouse-type structure, and raise your larvae on the milkweed in there, and also use a section of it for a flight house. Of course, that's a very abbreviated explanation but...
Hope this helps!
Amy
To order:
Price: $135 includes shipping and handling.
To purchase your copy, you can either mail us your check or use the PayPal online payment system. We will send out your copy ofThe Commercial Butterfly Breeders Manual within 10 days of receipt of your payment.
Please click HERE for our order form.
See also: The Advanced Guide to Commercial Butterfly Production
