Fill a gallon milk jug with hot water and fresh 2' stems of milkweed trimmed and immediately immerse them in the water to keep them fresh and introduce an egg laying monarch you netted into the 2' x 2' x 3' hatchery habitat. (You can also use stems with eggs on them you found) She will lay hundreds of eggs so add a couple more jugs of milkweed stems for more eggs you can put in another hatchery or share with friends with hatcheries, and keep some jugs handy because the caterpillars will eat faster as they get bigger. Eventually they will go to the top as shown in the other picture. Purchase 2 hatcheries here !
You will have up to a hundred maybe more chrysalis on top that will emerge in about 2 weeks and take 24 hours to dry. Check at least 10 of them for OE as described here. http://butterfly-lady.com/what-is-oe/ If those 10 are OE free release them all into your exhibit as shown above. They will breed, lay eggs on milkweed in the exhibit, and you can give milkweed stems with eggs and 10 (18 tropical milkweed) common milkweed leaves in a cup of water with a lid and straw hole to people who come through the exhibit, so they can take them home and watch them turn into butterflies too. You habitat needs disinfected immediately after using it by collapsing it and completely submerging it in 1 part unscented bleach and 4 parts water for 12 hours, rinse it thoroughly opening and letting it dry.
FOR MORE VIDEOS OF OUR LIVE BUTTERFLY EXHIBIT CLICK HERE https://www.youtube.com/@craigthebutterflyman4387
This 10' x 25' x 6'6" high educational live butterfly exhibit fits great into a privately owned garden center setting out front in the parking lot, at an event, or even n your own yard with a 20' long yellow banner with red letters
LIVE BUTTERFLIES-COME INSIDE !
Buy one here for $250
https://www.quictents.com/products/25-x10-x7-large-greenhouse?ref=pzfcpaeo&variant=42040383340784
Families line up to come inside to experience dozens of monarchs flying around, landing on them, and nectaring on the potted plants. Educational netted pop up hatcheries demonstrate the amazing life development stages of monarch butterflies.
Families will be visiting the exhibit into September.
ATTENTION: garden center owners, and/or managers, open to the public and/or wholesale plant farms, nature centers, public gardens, festivals, events, Facebook group and page members, founders and/or Administrators, etc.
This program can be adapted and extended to public events and festivals outside the garden center to promote the garden center. An extra exhibit can easily be put up and taken down as an off site extension of the garden center during the event.
The portable educational live butterfly sanctuary and plant display shown and talked about in the videos below was set up in Branford, Connecticut and garden centers in North America in 2023 and 24.
OUR GOAL WITH THIS EXHIBIT IS DISPLAYED IN THE VIDEOS BELOW. IT'S EASY AND INEXPENSIVE TO ACCOMPLISH ! IF YOU WILL STUDY THIS PAGE YOU WILL LEARN HOW TO MAKE THIS PROGRAM WORK FOR YOU. YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS AND YOUR GARDEN CENTER AND/OR VENUE WILL BE ABLE TO EDUCATE THOUSANDS OF CITIZENS IN YOUR COMMUNITY AND HOW TO PLANT FOR MONARCH BUTTERFLIES AND POLLINATORS AND IMMEDIATELY INCREASE THE ENDANGERED MONARCH MIGRATION POPULATION TOO !!!
Citizens of the town flocked to the FREE exhibit and around 2000 citizens experienced an up close and personal experience with monarch butterflies over about 3 weeks. We will be setting up the exhibits in June this season for months of education and fun shown here. https://youtu.be/tObZPxsq4l4?si=3hIAeYjVO3UDZiAy
Children released some of the butterflies from the exhibit and we educated our citizens in monarch and pollinator conservation. Some of the children were able to take a milkweed plant with a monarch egg or caterpillar on it home to experience the monarch developing into a butterfly.
People bought plants to take home and make pollinator gardens !
We had the opportunity to talk with our neighbors about monarch butterfly conservation in general. This educational live butterfly exhibit became a gathering place as
shown in the following short videos.
https://youtu.be/CeZ5jWhUwHE?si=6FEODJhC5tso8EAF
(A) https://youtu.be/B96k_HMkYFs
B) https://youtu.be/Mf1ZX4slD5Y?si=7Q4haBANHsnpplfN
C) https://youtu.be/n9j_z95l6yU?si=ALnMEK_jDYyAjhPa
D) https://youtu.be/Q6at5gyJtxE?si=OaEheiB4opqGP0vV
Our YouTube channel has over 300 videos starting with recent videos teaching how to protect monarch eggs from predators until they are adults and released to save and increase the monarch migration population.
https://www.youtube.com/@craigthebutterflyman4387/videos
You can get your 10' x 25' x 6.6'
"Educational Live Butterfly Sanctuary Exhibit"
for $250 from Quictent with free shipping.
This exhibit can easily be put up n your garden center,
out front in the garden center parking lot, or
other location on the property in a couple hours.
https://www.quictents.com/products/25-x10-x7-large-greenhouse?ref=pzfcpaeo&variant=42040383340784
The exhibits will need rope and stake tie downs on all 4 corners and in the middle. Drilling or cinder blocks or water barrels will work on Asphalt or concrete. The exhibit needs to be anchored sufficiently for safety purposes.
You habitat needs disinfected immediately after rearing monarchs in it by collapsing it and completely submerging it in 1 part unscented bleach and 4 parts water for 12 hours, rinse it thoroughly opening and letting it dry.
You will need a 6 foot long folding table to put the hatcheries on.
Each garden center will need a yellow banner with red letters 20' long and
18" wide that says
LIVE BUTTERFLIES-COME INSIDE.
Each banner will need grommets on each corner and every 2' the length of the banner on the top and bottom. You can suspend the banners with bunges on all 4 corners and hooked to the corner of the ends of the exhibit to hold the banner to the side of the exhibit.
Rope needs to be strung over the top of the exhibit every 4' and connected to the banner grommets on each side to support the length of the banner. Anyway that works for you to have the banner visible to the public is great !
PLEASE CONTINUE READING THIS PAGE TO LEARN IMPORTANT DETAILS OF THE PROGRAM
Be sure you have a water hose to the exhibit so you can water the plants and spray the sides and top inside regularly to keep the plants watered and the monarch butterflies hydrated. Avoid spraying the hatcheries where the monarchs are developing.
After carefully studying this website page and the information below and above let me know if the instructions above and below are clear to you and if you have questions
email me at CraigTheButterflyman@gmail.com
I will reply to the email as soon as possible with the answer.
This portable educational live butterfly sanctuary exhibit with at least a couple dozen up to 100 monarchs flying around inside and 2 hatchery habitats on a folding table with monarchs developing inside them is the best way to educate people and get monarch and pollinator plants out of the garden center or wherever you are set up, in the ground to help monarch butterflies and pollinators thrive.
Make some hanging sponge and tray 9 to 1 sugar water or orange Gatorade butterfly feeders to supplement flowering plants butterflies nectar on in the exhibit as shown in this video
https://youtu.be/n9j_z95l6yU?si=xhDOjTe8DyuoM-Lz
Garden centers and other venues across the country are excited about placing this beautiful educational and marketing tool out front to draw customers into their garden centers who have never been there before and most importantly late in the season.
You will also need to disinfect your 2' x 2' x 3' hatcheries before and/or after every batch of monarchs you rear by collapsing it into a circle and completely submerging it in a 1 part unscented household bleach solution mixed with 4 parts water for 12 hours and then remove it and rinse it thoroughly, open it, and let it dry.
Learn how to rear up to 100 monarchs on this website at this link and read on to find monarch conservationists in your area to
help you raise Monarchs free of charge.
https://craigthebutterflyman.com/raise-monarchs-1
Monarchs will be in the exhibit developing in the hatcheries in June and flying around and laying eggs in July and August and you can have multiple monarch releases in July through September extending the time families will be coming to the garden center and buying perennial
plants available to take home and plant in their gardens
Monarchs will be in the exhibit and there will be monarch releases into September.
You will need to be checking monarch butterflies for OE before allowing them in the exhibit and before you release them to keep the monarch migration population healthy. If you're going to put a monarch in your hatchery to lay eggs you will also need to check her for OE like the Butterfly Lady teaches here: http://butterfly-lady.com/what-is-oe/
The fall is a great time to plant perennial native monarch host plants and nectar sources and you can provide them to your customers. Plants will establish themselves over the winter and they will bloom the next spring and summer.
You will see towns people you've never seen before when you place this exhibit in a highly visible location on the property of your garden center in the Midwest, Northeast, Canada, or almost anywhere in North America, and it's explained how to accomplish that below.
THE MEDIA WILL WRITE ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING AT YOUR GARDEN CENTER. Below there are links to local media stories about what we are doing in Branford, Ct. with our exhibit and we received many positive responses. The monarchs and plants attracted hundreds of families. We put a banner down both sides of the live butterfly sanctuary exhibit that says 'LIVE BUTTERFLIES COME INSIDE' Adults and children love to get up close and personal with butterflies, watch them nectar, and have them land on them instead of flying away like they do outside. People love them and want to be part of conserving them and seeing more of them and we teach them how by providing the plants they thrive and reproduce on, https://www.ctinsider.com/shoreline/article/branford-ct-monarch-butterfly-sanctuary-18388004.php
Here's another great article written recently about what we do. https://www.zip06.com/person-of-the-week/20240508/craig-the-butterfly-man-on-a-journey-to-save-a-species/
You probably already know people who raise monarch butterflies in your area and/or you may have employees who already know how or want to learn. They will raise and put monarchs in your exhibit. We teach you and them the correct way to easily raise dozens of healthy monarch butterflies to put in your exhibit on this website at this link:
https://craigthebutterflyman.com/raise-monarchs-1
If you don't know anyone or can't find anyone to provide you with monarchs, our organization has over 300,000 members in North America. We have educated monarch butterfly conservationists in your area that will raise and bring monarchs to your exhibit or you can learn how here: https://craigthebutterflyman.com/raise-monarchs-1
These volunteers will enjoy spending their own time without pay in and around your educational butterfly and plant exhibit during your business hours educating your customers about monarch conservation and point out the plants in the exhibit that monarchs lay eggs on, as well as the plants they nectar on and pollinate. These customers will buy plants to plant their own pollinator garden at home to attract monarchs and pollinators.
If you don't know anyone rearing monarchs in your area and you know or have someone who knows how to post to a Facebook group, you can go to our groups page on this website linked below and put the link to your garden center website in a post and write you have an educational live monarch butterfly exhibit at you garden center and you're looking for someone in your area to raise monarchs for the exhibit and spend time there to help you inform the public about monarch butterfly conservation .Ask them to private message you on Facebook.
https://craigthebutterflyman.com/groups%2Fgallery
GARDEN CENTER OWNERS
Please read and study this entire page so you will know how to educate your neighbors about monarchs and pollinators and add a profit center to your business . You will attract many new customers to buy plants and garden supplies late into the season.
If you're the garden center owner reading this and you don't raise your own native plants, don't have a local grower where you get your native plants, order at wholesale from American Beauties Native Plants www.ABNativePlants.com
American Beauties has the largest selection of monarch and pollinator plants in the country and delivers wholesale by truck through out the MIDWEST AND NORTHEAST Have them delivered to put inside the educational live butterfly exhibit shown above
If you're viewing this as an individual monarch conservationist leader, and/or native plant organization. check out the garden center locator map to get your plants. https://abnativeplants.com/pages/store-locator
GOOGLE: "American Beauties Native Plants Amazon" and have them delivered to your door in a full size one gallon pot or larger for about the same price you would pay at a garden center.
Here's our beautiful botanical garden in downtown Branford, Connecticut we planted with American Beauties Native Plants.
https://youtu.be/sI8GgCHv_HY?si=sjyvOeOFuJYzP03K
Please continue reading this page to find out more important details of this program.
Many monarch butterfly enthusiasts want to take it to a different level and become a monarch conservation leader and build an organization of family, friends, and other members of their community to expand and multiply their monarch conservation efforts.
If you have a privately owned garden center near you team up with them, put one of the portable educational live butterfly exhibits at the garden center and spread the word about monarch conservation throughout your area. Buy here $250
https://www.quictents.com/products/25-x10-x7-large-greenhouse?ref=pzfcpaeo&variant=42040383340784
THIS PROGRAM WILL ALSO WORK VERY WELL ON AN ACRE OR A FARM OF ANY SIZE OR LOTS IN THE COUNTRY OF ANY SIZE OR AT EVENTS AND FESTIVALS AS LONG AS YOU HAVE PARKING FOR ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WILL COME TO SEE YOUR EXHIBIT AND GARDENS
YOU CAN SELL PLANTS YOU GROW, ETC.
First, on this page, we will introduce you to a few people involved in monarch conservation efforts that have built large International, National, and local monarch conservation groups and followings below. You can view and join their FREE organizations if you like.
Their members are posting and teaching monarch conservation right now. Post the link to this website page on the timeline of these groups.
https://craigthebutterflyman.com/leaders-program
None of these groups charge anything to join or charge for any of the education you receive or try to sell you anything.
We do this because we love monarchs and want to see more of them.
There is 100's of 1000's of monarch conservationists in North America and we're bringing more conservationists into our noble and necessary cause and movement everyday and we hope you will help us help monarchs and pollinators in general.
After meeting and reviewing these leaders accomplishments below we will explain more about how you can increase monarch conservation awareness and, if you like, build an organization in your community. If there's a privately owned garden center in your area you're all set to make a big difference. Please read on.
ADMINISTRATORS : Cecilia Dunn resides in maryland usa, Elsa Iglesias resides in florida usa, Jennifer Bellware resides in montreal canada, Mark Galey and Robibn Cooper are in New Zealand, Blair Walton resides in nelson new zealand, Victoria Stewart resides in virginia usa, sue noble adams resides in clyde new zealand, Leo Silvestri resides in ontario canada, , Kerri Bradley-Ronne resides in illinois usa, Dorothy Cox Hector resides in arkansas usa Marie E. Malboeuf resides in montreal canada usa, shirley maki resides in michigan usa. Their organization is linked below, please share this group with all your friends on Facebook and send it to your email list along with the link to this website https://www.facebook.com/groups/256008941698368
Here's a fun video we made: https://youtu.be/B96k_HMkYFs?si=3m2k69hMMr39XJff
Read about getting one of these for $250 educational live butterfly sanctuaries exhibits featured in the video above and how to fill it with plants, butterflies, and people on this website page https://www.quictents.com/products/25-x10-x7-large-greenhouse?ref=pzfcpaeo&variant=42040383340784
Teresa and Leo (AKA the milkweed man) have attracted hundreds of Monarch butterflies into their cemented garden since 2018 with a few simple nectar-rich flowers and many milkweed plants. Their success is based on the “Protective Rearing and Releasing” methods. You too can easily do this at your home if you like. To find out more visit their YouTube channel full of videos we're sure you will enjoy and share the inked on your friends Facebook pages and with your email list along with the link to this website https://www.youtube.com/@leosilvestri5440/videos
If you want to see pictures of milkweed and pollinator plants monarchs and pollinators love click here: http://savethemonarchbutterfly.ca/butterfly-garden-flowers.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3XvEwYZKQK-xE6hr9YbigzwJx_9YZUOne1L7XaRGwE_QLc8211dQh48m4
Here's a fun video we made: https://youtu.be/B96k_HMkYFs?si=3m2k69hMMr39XJff
Read about getting one of these for $250 educational live butterfly sanctuaries exhibits featured in the video above and how to fill it with plants, butterflies, and people on this website page above https://www.quictents.com/products/25-x10-x7-large-greenhouse?ref=pzfcpaeo&variant=42040383340784
Teresa and Leo's group with over 4000 members is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/299958150869056
GOOGLE: Craig the Butterflyman
Mary and Craig are presently living in Branford, Connecticut. They attract more people to their organization using the 'leaders program' Here's a fun video we made: https://youtu.be/B96k_HMkYFs?si=3m2k69hMMr39XJff
Read about getting one of these for $250 educational live butterfly sanctuaries exhibits featured in the video above and how to fill it with plants, butterflies, and people on this website page for $250 https://www.quictents.com/products/25-x10-x7-large-greenhouse?ref=pzfcpaeo&variant=42040383340784
Mary and Craig like to introduce themselves with this five minute mini-documentary: https://youtu.be/jfn9wuvVaDw?si=KMRfZWJMKQD_CQOO
Mary and Craig Founded the following 27,000 member organization https://www.facebook.com/groups/HowtoRaiseMonarchButterflies
Donna is based just outside Baltimore, Maryland and has many local monarch conservationists multiplying her efforts to save and increase the monarch migration. Here's a fun video we made: https://youtu.be/B96k_HMkYFs?si=3m2k69hMMr39XJff
Read about getting one of these educational live butterfly sanctuaries exhibits featured in the video above and how to fill it with plants, butterflies, and people on this website page for $250
here:https://www.quictents.com/products/25-x10-x7-large-greenhouse?ref=pzfcpaeo&variant=42040383340784
If you live close to Baltimore or anywhere else in North America you're welcome to view and join Donna's organization
Donna founded the following 9,000 member organization
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2054563518025870
As a monarch butterfly conservation leader your goal is to get monarch butterfly and pollinator plants in the ground in your community including milkweed and nectar source plants and increase the monarch migration population so we see more monarchs and pollinators in our yards, cities, and country sides.
The first step of our goal explained above, as a monarch conservation leader, is demonstrated in this 2 minute video below. Adults and children like getting up close and personal with butterflies to experience their beauty on a personal level. This is the time we need to explain to people the monarch need milkweed host plants to lay eggs on for reproduction to increase the monarch migration. They also need to increase these plants through pollination
Check out the portable educational live butterfly sanctuary exhibit in Branford, CT. shown and talked about in the video linked here https://youtu.be/B96k_HMkYFs This educational live butterfly exhibit attracts the most visitors when placed on the property of a privately owned garden center in the Midwest, Northeast, Canada, or almost anywhere in North America, and it's explained how to accomplish that below.
This under $250, 10' x x 25' x 7' portable walk through exhibit will fit in only 3 parking spaces in front of a privately owned garden center or another high visibility location. This educational exhibit allows an excellent 85% sunlight penetration to keep the flowering plants inside beautiful and blooming here: $250 https://www.quictents.com/products/25-x10-x7-large-greenhouse
You can also take a couple 2' x 2' x 3' netted pop up hatcheries to the privately owned garden center and a portable folding table to put inside the exhibit at the garden center to demonstrate the different stages of monarch development to the owners , workers, and customers, put your butterflies in the netted pop-ups and take them home at night and bring them back in the morning if you like.
GOOGLE: 'butterfly habitat hatchery ' to get your pop up hatcheries.
We had over 2000 adults and children go through the educational sanctuary above in just the 3 weeks we had it up. You can leave it up all summer in a privately owned garden center. People hear about what we're doing through word of mouth and line up to go inside to see the butterflies and beautiful plants.
We collected many emails from people who will be continuing to participate in our cause and movement to plant more pollinator plants and increase the monarch butterfly migration population in 2024.
When parents are in your educational live butterfly exhibit with their children you can show them plants they need in their yards to attract these beautiful creatures so they can thrive and reproduce. They will buy them and take them home and put them in their garden.
Be sure you get their email. Give them your email so they can send you an email while you're talking with them with their address and link to their Facebook profile page and the plants they bought and if they would like someone to come by their house to talk about their pollinator
garden.
The milkweed plants for sale will have monarch eggs on them laid by monarchs in the exhibit and people can buy these plants and take them home and watch the eggs develop into butterflies as taught here on this website page: https://craigthebutterflyman.com/raise-monarchs-1
Ask people if they would like to raise some monarch butterflies to bring back to the exhibit. If you have plants with eggs on them give them a stem and if you have common milkweed cuttings in a bucket staying fresh give them enough stems that have 8 leaves for each egg they get. It takes 8 common milkweed leaves to feed a caterpillar until it will turn into a chrysalis. (It takes 18 'Tropical' milkweed stems) Have some cups with lids with straw holes in them to put the stems in. Make sure you trim and split the stem before you put it in the straw hole so it will stay fresh while the caterpillar eats it.
We used AMERICAN BEAUTIES NATIVE PLANTS FOR THE GARDENS ABOVE www.ABNativePlants.com and also had them in the butterfly exhibit.
AMERICAN BEAUTIES NATIVE PLANTS are available at 1500+ garden centers east of the Missouri River. You can find the garden centers on the locator map here: https://abnativeplants.com/pages/store-locator
You can have one gallon plants, ready to go in the ground, delivered to your door GOOGLE: "American Beauties Native Plants Amazon"
If you're the garden center owner reading this, order at wholesale American Beauties Native Plants and have them delivered to put inside the exhibit unless you're raising your own pollinator plants or have another place you get them. Of course make sure they don't have any pesticides on them.
THE MEDIA WILL WRITE ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING AT THE GARDEN CENTER. Below is a link to a local media story about what we did in Branford, Ct. and received many positive responses. The monarchs and plants attract the families. We put a banner down both sides of the live butterfly sanctuary exhibit that says 'LIVE BUTTERFLIES COME INSIDE' Adults and children love to get up close and personal with butterflies and have them land on them instead of flying away. People love them and want to be part of conserving them and seeing more of them and we teach them how, https://www.ctinsider.com/shoreline/article/branford-ct-monarch-butterfly-sanctuary-18388004.php
If you have experience rearing monarchs or not, you should learn about the monarch migration. Watch all the videos starting at the top of the 'HOME' page here: https://craigthebutterflyman.com/
You need to learn about raising and releasing clean healthy monarchs here : https://craigthebutterflyman.com/raise-monarchs-1
If you're a garden center owner and/or a potential monarch butterfly conservation leader, you will learn how to become a monarch leader on this page . It's fun and easy and if you have a little initiative anyone can do it. Everyone loves monarch butterflies and wants to see them and be around them and you will be able to teach them how. They will buy plants from you and send their friends to see the butterflies and buy plants from you. You'll have ccustomers you've never seen before.
Monarch Butterfly Conservation Leaders; PLEASE MAKE YOUR FACEBOOK PERSONAL PROFILE PAGES AND BUSINESS PAGES MOSTLY ABOUT MONARCHS DURING THE MONARCH SEASON STARTING IN MAY AND WHAT YOU'RE DOING WITH MONARCHS AND THEIR PLANTS BY POSTING YOUR ACTIVITIES AT THE GARDEN CENTER ON YOUR FACEBOOK PERSONAL PROFILE TIMELINE. FRIEND THE PEOPLE IN YOUR COMMUNITY PARTICIPATING IN MONARCH BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION EFFORT AND LET YOUR CURRENT FRIENDS KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING, MANY OF THEM WILL WANT TO PARTICIPATE AT THE GARDEN CENTER.
REPEATEDLY POST YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND PICTURES TO OUR MEMBER GROUPS IN THE GROUP SECTION OF THE WEBSITE HERE: https://craigthebutterflyman.com/groups%
WE HAVE 100's of THOUSANDS OF MEMBERS IN OUR GROUPS AND WILL HAVE MEMBERS CLOSE TO WHERE YOU LIVE.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/HowtoRaiseMonarchButterflies/
LET EVERYONE KNOW YOU'RE A MONARCH BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION LEADER AND INCLUDE YOU'RE CITY AND STATE IN YOUR POSTS AND THE ADDRESS OF THE GARDEN CENTER YOU HAVE YOUR EXHIBIT IN. OUR 10's OF THOUSANDS OF MEMBERS WILL SEE YOUR POSTS AND SPREAD THE WORD.
ALSO REPEATEDLY POST WHAT YOU'RE DOING WITH MONARCHS ON THE 'BE A MONARCH BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION LEADER' TIMELINE HERE: https://www.facebook.com/groups/211911167974707
IF THE GARDEN CENTER OWNER DOESN'T WANT THE 10' x 25' live sanctuary in their parking lot, you can put a couple 2' x 2' x 3' netted pop-up hatchery in the building where they sell gardening supplies etc. with plants with caterpillars on them etc. and the garden center can sell them for $30 with a caterpillar on them. You should have another one next to it with the different stages of the monarchs development and the link or 'QR' code to this page on the website.
If the owner doesn't buy the under $250, 10' x 25' educational live butterfly sanctuary you can buy it and eventually the owner will probably pay you for it once they see how well it works getting them new plant customers. Ask the owner what you would like to do and tell them it will help them sell more plants. They should already have plenty of nectar plants to put in it for sale. Show him this video. https://youtu.be/83khQGlHtHY?si=q6TPqjxyQybZ153z
The portable live butterfly sanctuary will be a great place for garden center customers to observe live monarchs The nectar and milkweed plants and other species of host plants you need to put in it will be available at the garden center and you can ask the owner to put the garden centers nectar plants in it and you will supply the butterflies in different stages to attract customers and promote the sale of their plants.
You can oversee how things are going with your exhibits by teaching employees what to do to keep things going and they will watch your exhibit, sell their plants right out of the exhibit, and collect emails so you can get a local group going that raise monarchs. People will plant pollinator habitat plants in their gardens and around town. .Be sure to get emails from others that live in the area that want to get involved in monarch conservation so you can make an email list to send them newsletters about what is going on in monarchy in your town.
Get a couple of those 2' x 2' x 3' netted popups. Google: 'butterfly habitats cages nursery'. Have a folding table in the portable live butterfly sanctuary with the pop ups on them with monarchs in different stages of development. If you like you can cut the legs shorter so children can better see in the pop ups. If you can't convince the owner to put the greenhouse at their garden center ask if you can put a table with a couple 2' x 2' x 3' pop ups on a table in one of their greenhouses or a their garden supplies building with lots of light coming into the building so their customers can experience monarchs developing.
Have locals bring their monarchs to the greenhouse they're raising in different stages of development and/or once they're out of their chrysalis !!! This greenhouse is great for the entire butterfly and plant season and public events and festivals. You can order other butterfly species to raise. You will almost immediately have people wanting to help you and be involved. Get their emails. You will need to be constantly checking monarch butterflies for OE before you release them to keep the monarch migration population healthy. If you're going to put a monarch in your hatchery to lay eggs you need to check her for OE like the Butterfly Lady teaches here: http://butterfly-lady.com/what-is-oe/
You also need to disinfect your hatcheries after every batch of monarchs you rear by collapsing it into a circle and completely submerging it in a 1 part unscented household bleach solution mixed with 4 parts water for 24 hours and then remove it and rinse it thoroughly and open it and let it dry.
You know it's Guaranteed to get others involved in our cause when children and adults get up close and personal with monarchs and/or other species . Just fill it with potted nectar plants. Have butterfly releases of some of the butterflies you raise and rotate them out the door as you raise them to increase the migration, other local species of butterflies and nectar in local gardens. Get your prtable greenhouse here $250 https://www.quictents.com/products/25-x10-x7-large-greenhouse?ref=pzfcpaeo&variant=42040383340784
It's best if you eventually have other locals help you raise monarchs to release throughout the season and let people know in the community when you're having releases. Encourage citizens to raise flower and native plant gardens. Be sure you have the people who raise monarch butterflies follow Mrlunds program of rearing monarchs linked here. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIJYERWSMyVrOpgo-TVIgWRFKARuT7ImTYou or
our more natural program linked here: https://craigthebutterflyman.com/raise-monarchs-1
You may need to put a fan facing outward in a vent flap and put the other vent flaps up to circulate the air. The backs of the fans need screen on them to keep the butterflies from getting chopped up
Order your exhibit here $250 ; https://www.quictents.com/products/25-x10-x7-large-greenhouse?ref=pzfcpaeo&variant=42040383340784
Everyone will enjoy the butterflies while they're in the portable greenhouse and release a few at a time or a lot at once with an event. Let children and parents release them if there's more in there than you need.
Once they hear about it people will come from all over town to see your exhibit and to see the monarchs develop. Post pictures of your setups at garden centers. It will be a fun summer.
www.HowToRaiseMonarchButterflies.com
Residents of Canada are limited to rearing 60 monarchs per season per person with a permit.
At this point citizens of the U S A are not limited to any number of monarchs they can raise. We do ask people to follow the disinfecting procedure for their equipment and check monarchs for OE before they are released using the following method.
You will need to be constantly checking monarch butterflies for OE before you release them to keep the monarch migration population healthy. If you're going to put a monarch in your hatchery to lay eggs you will also need to check her for OE like the Butterfly Lady teaches here: http://butterfly-lady.com/what-is-oe/
You will also need to disinfect your hatcheries before and/or after every batch of monarchs you rear by collapsing it into a circle and completely submerging it in a 1 part unscented household bleach solution mixed with 4 parts water for 24 hours and then remove it and rinse it thoroughly, open it, and let it dry.
Sincerely, www.CraigtheButterflyman.com
Learn about butterfly plants and learn how to purchase them online and/or in Garden Centers near you !!
AMERICAN BEAUTIES NATIVE PLANTS ENTHUSIASTS FACEBOOK GROUP
LEARN HOW TO HELP SAVE THE INCREDIBLE MONARCH BUTTERFLY MIGRATION
Join our mailing list to stay updated to what's happening in monarchy and how to raise your own monarchs.