Ask a Mentor


The Ask a Mentor program is designed to enable members
of the IBBA to share their knowledge and to benefit from the
experience of others.


Current Ask a Mentor topic:
Commercial Butterfly Farmers
Working With Funeral Directors

By Linda Rogers


Click HERE to enter the password-protected Members Section.
Then select "Ask a Mentor" from the Members Section Menu at the top.

Or read on for further information...

The Ask a Mentor download page is in four sections:

The current Ask a Mentor topic (see details HERE)

Mentors share their expertise by supplying a paper, sometimes
accompanied by photographs or drawings, that can be downloaded
and kept. Discussion then takes place on the IBBA Mailing List, with
other members adding their knowledge and ideas or asking questions.

The Ask a Mentor Archive (see details HERE)

Past mentor papers, together with any worthy mailing list discussions
that have been generated, are kept in the Ask a Mentor Archive.

Bonus Items (see details HERE)

From time to time additional items may arise in the form of unscheduled
Mailing List discussions, ad-hoc papers or other supplied material. This
is placed in the Bonus Section.

Tips and More (see details HERE)

A special page of useful and interesting tips and snippets, formerly available in the Special Information section.

Click HERE to enter the password-protected Members Section.
Then select "Ask a Mentor" from the Members Section Menu at the top.


The following past topics are still available in the
Ask a Mentor archive.

Jay McRoberts - Creating a Butterfly Habitat
Rick Mikula - Winterizing Your Income
Nigel Venters - Swallowtails: Raising/Breeding Tips
Cindy Hepp - Educational Presentations
Nigel Venters - Queens and Fritillaries
Eric Cope - Marketing and using the Spheres
Jacob Groth - Monarch Disease Control
Julie Wood - The Bridal Trade Show
Paul Chesterfield - Photographing Butterflies
Edie McRoberts - A "Touch of Class" with Brochures & Envelopes
Melanie McCarthy - Outdoor Exhibits
Garry Cousins - Breeding the Painted Lady
Linda Rogers - Buy wholesale livestock to increase your income
Deborah Payne - Host Plans and Larvae in Educational Displays
Melanie McCarthy - Cold Weather Regions: Breeding and Raising
Kathleen Ziemer - Accessorize your web-site, your presentations and your butterfly farm
Ed Reinertsen - Display Cages and Containers
Rose Franklin - Milkweed propagation & Monarch attraction to Milkweeds
Leslie Lange - Outdoor breeding and raising
Nigel Venters - Red Admirals
Terry Fluke - Let's get Organized
Don Adams - Raising the Saturnid Silk Moths
J Howard Garrett - A Day at the Farm - notes compiled by Peggy Hatcher
Jay McRoberts - Jay's Favorite Seeds and Plants
Thea Ryan - Educational Games & Activities
Ed & Kathy Reinertsen - Big Ed's Backyard Cafeteria
Two handouts from Howard Garrett, the Dirt Doctor -----
----- "Basic Organic Program" & "Sick Tree Treatment"
"Managing Your Inventory -- Planning Percentage Losses in Each Stage of the Lifecycle" -- by Linda Rogers and Jacob Groth, with input from Melanie McCarthy and Nigel Venters.
"Butterfly Nectar" & "Overwintering" (IBBA Mailing List correspondence topics)
D. Gary Geer - Experiments in growing A.currasavica
Dan Greathouse - The Greathouse Travelling ExhibitConstruction Information
"Teaching Butterfly Gardening and Plant Propagation Classes" - Edith Smith
"Propagation From Stem & Root Cuttings" - Edith Smith
A soapy pepper spray recipe for ants, aphids and spider mites - by Gary Geer
Building a "Caterpillar" Flight Cage - by Anne Collins
Presentations from the 2002 IBBA Convention
Building a "Caterpillar" Flight Cage - Anne Collins
The Butterfly Booth - Fran LeMasters (with a follow-up note from Rick Mikula)
Making Compost in 2 Weeks! - Doc Palmer
Making a Display Cage - by Anne Collins
Here Comes the Bride with BUTTERFLIES! - by Victoria Warner.
Ideas for an Educational Presentation - by Phyllis Baker
Marketing Your Crafts for Money - by Barbara J. Bosco
Dry Water in the Greenhouse - by D. Gary Geer.
Totes Adapted for Rearing Larvae - by Edith Smith.
Rick Mikula's Kinderflies Activity Kit - Rick Mikula
Collecting Eggs - Melanie McCarthy
Shipping Foam - Nigel Venters
Hand-pairing Monarchs - Nigel Venters
Larvae & Egg Shippers - Linda Rogers
Two-Butterfly Release Envelope - Jon & Cindy Timko
Companion Planting
Propagation for Beginners
Overwintering Monarchs - by Nigel Venters
Keeping Monarchs - by Nigel Venters
Secrets of the Talking Butterfly - pages from the popular IBBA booklet
Triangular Release Box Instructions - a design by Felicia Tappan
Raising Mourning Cloaks in a Barrel - by the late Patrick Ogletree.


These additional Bonus Items are also available:

Nectar Additives (IBBA Mailing List discussion)
OE, disease & sterilization (IBBA Mailing List discussion)
Artificial Diets (IBBA Mailing List discussion)
Shipping Methods (IBBA Mailing List discussion)
New Farmer Help and Advice (IBBA Mailing List discussion)
Artificial Nectar and Fermentation (IBBA Mailing List discussion)
How to construct an accordian-folded mass-release box - by JulieWood
Monarch Tagging Events - by Kathleen Ziemer
The Whitefly Battle - by Deborah Jacobs
Butterfly Maze - a puzzle by Laury Smith
Hanging Cage Instructions - supplied by Laury Smith
Overwintering Monarchs (IBBA Mailing List discussion)
"Baits and traps for the tropics" - Nigel Venters and others
Growing Passion Vine - (IBBA Mailing List discussion)
Butterfly Release Customer Instruction documents provided by Jacob Groth and Melanie McCarthy
How to Mount a Butterfly - Link to "It's O.K. to make a Butterfly Collection" article.
Butterfly 101" - Discussion topics from the very successful 2003 workshop.
Aphid Discussion - IBBA List discussion compiled by Amy Atwood
Propagating the Butterfly Bush
Raising Mourning Cloaks


Tips and More

The topics covered on this page are:

Nigel and Grace in the Amazon
Link to ANBP (Association of Natural Biocontrol Producers) Postings page
- for info about biocontrol of insects
Sexing Monarch pupae
eNature.com wildlife guides
An example of a decorated display cage
J.Howard Garrett Day at the Farm
EntomoTech web site link
Butterfly House Construction - John & Mary Fields
Brighten up your display cages - tip supplied by Penny Wilson
Interesting fact
Giant Milkweed - photos supplied by Margarita Ashman
Humming-Bird (Common Clearwing) Hawk-Moth
Green Milkweed - Asclepsie viridis - Linda Rogers
Additional Crown Flower pictures - by permission Prof. Gerry Carr, U.Hawaii
Printable Labels to stick inside Release Envelopes and Boxes
Link to Insectnet.com
Crown Flower - pictures supplied by Julie Wood
PVC sandwich technique: more structures! - by Charles & Peggy Hatcher
Warning! Be on the lookout for Butterfly Bandits!
PVC Sandwich cage-building technique - by Grant Hackett
Link to PAN Pesticide Database Web Site
A selection of interesting links - provided by Rick Mikula



Click HERE to enter the password-protected Members Section.
Then select "Ask a Mentor" from the Members Section Menu at the top.




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