Silkworm farming in China involves a fascinating blend of ancient techniques and modern technology to efficiently harvest billions of silkworms. Farmers carefully manage the lifecycle of each silkworm ...

Narrator: Communities around the world rely on harvesting some of the rarest known fibers to make a living. But for most, it's not an easy task. Fragile fibers like lotus silk and vicuña wool are ...

Phan Thi Thuan's family have been making silk for generations, growing and harvesting the threads from silkworms themselves to create luxury garments. But making lotus silk is different.

There, Nannie “Nan” Songer, a self-taught naturalist, housed thousands of venomous spiders in jars in the front room of her small farmhouse, from which she harvested silk for her many clients—most ...