# Silk Harvest (DD-583) > Forced silking, or reeling, is a standard way for researchers to collect spider silk. In the Oxford Silk Group's demonstration, a golden orb-weaver, Nephila edulis, is sedated with carbon dioxide and pinned gently in place. A thread is pulled from the spinnerets with tweezers, fixed to a spool, and a motor reels it in. The group says 30 to 80 meters can be collected in one go, after which the spider goes back to its web. The silk drawn this way is mainly major ampullate (dragline) silk, plus some minor ampullate silk. Each silk type comes from its own gland, and a female of this species can make up to six types. Forced silking isn't identical to natural spinning: a 2004 study in Biomacromolecules found that restrained spiders brake the line hard, putting the fiber under far more stress than a spider descending on its dragline, which can change the silk's properties. Scale is the hard part. For the golden spider-silk cape shown at London's V&A from January 25 to June 5, 2012, Simon Peers and Nicholas Godley's team in Madagascar harnessed wild-caught golden orb-weavers 24 at a time and released them at the end of each day. The cape used the silk of 1.2 million spiders, and the V&A says about 23,000 spiders yield around an ounce of silk. The footage is the Oxford Silk Group's reeling demonstration. - Department: Nature (also Science) - First published: 2025-05-28 - Last updated: 2025-05-28 - Permalink: https://detailenjoyer.com/case/silk-harvest/ - Author: Marcus Easterling (DetailEnjoyer), The Detail Department ## On the timeline - **Jan. 25, 2012**: The golden spider-silk cape goes on show at the V&A Full timeline: https://detailenjoyer.com/timeline/?case=silk-harvest ## Quick facts - **DD-583-F01**: Forced silking mainly draws major ampullate (dragline) silk. _(Write-up · Exhibit B (Silk comes from glands))_ - **DD-583-F02**: The V&A's golden spider-silk cape used the silk of 1.2 million golden orb-weavers. _(Write-up · Exhibit D (1.2 million spiders))_ ## Write-up Silk, reeled straight from a living spider. One golden cape at the V&A took the silk of 1.2 million spiders. 1. **Sedate, pin, reel**: The spider is sedated with carbon dioxide and pinned, and a motorized spool draws the thread out. 2. **Silk comes from glands**: Each silk type comes from its own gland. Reeling mainly yields major ampullate (dragline) silk. 3. **Not quite natural**: Restrained spiders brake the line hard, which can change the silk's properties. 4. **1.2 million spiders**: The golden cape shown at the V&A in 2012 used the silk of 1.2 million spiders. 5. **An ounce at a time**: The V&A says about 23,000 spiders yield around an ounce of silk. ## Related case files - [Argyroneta Aquatica (DD-670)](https://detailenjoyer.com/case/argyroneta-aquatica/): I linked another spider that builds its life around silk - [RoboWeaving (DD-716)](https://detailenjoyer.com/case/roboweaving/): I paired it with weaving at industrial scale, the opposite of this - [Spinning a Yarn (DD-241)](https://detailenjoyer.com/case/spinning-a-yarn/): I linked another kind of spinning - [A Web of Wonder (DD-294)](https://detailenjoyer.com/case/a-web-of-wonder/): I paired it with silk made by another animal ## Reel vs. record - **Note**: 'Different types of silk, depending on which spinneret is activated': I'd say gland rather than spinneret. Each silk type is made in its own gland, and several glands feed each spinneret. Reeling mainly yields major ampullate (dragline) silk. - **Note**: 'This process doesn't harm the spider': the spider is released afterward, but I'd add that forced silking isn't the same as natural spinning. A 2004 study found that restrained spiders brake the line with far more force, which can change the silk's properties. - **Note**: 'Large-scale harvesting is inefficient': true, and the best example I know is the V&A cape. It took 1.2 million spiders, and the V&A puts the yield at about an ounce per 23,000 spiders. ## Video: Silk Harvest: Silk, Reeled Straight From a Living Spider - Duration: 27.1 s · Published: 2025-05-28 - File: https://detailenjoyer.com/assets/videos/DKNSitpyoWl.mp4 ### Transcript DID YOU KNOW? Spider silk can be drawn out manually by gently pulling threads from a spider's spinnerets, typically located at the rear of its abdomen. Researchers or silk harvesters immobilize the spider, often using a soft restraint or harness, and use tweezers or spools to slowly extract the silk as the spider naturally produces it. This process doesn't harm the spider, and can yield different types of silk, depending on which spinneret is activated. However, because spiders are territorial and produce less silk than silkworms, large-scale harvesting is inefficient. NOW YOU KNOW! ## Questions & answers **Q: What is used to sedate the spider in the Oxford Silk Group's demonstration?** A: It's then pinned gently in place. _(Source: Write-up · Exhibit A (Sedate, pin, reel) · Oxford Silk Group: Spider Silk Harvesting (YouTube, 2013))_ **Q: Which silk does forced reeling mainly yield?** A: It forms the frame of the web. _(Source: Write-up · Exhibit B (Silk comes from glands) · Oxford Silk Group: Spider Silk Harvesting (YouTube, 2013))_ **Q: How does forced silking affect the fiber?** A: That can change the silk's properties. _(Source: Write-up · Exhibit C (Not quite natural) · Ortlepp & Gosline, Consequences of Forced Silking, Biomacromolecules (2004))_ **Q: How many spiders' silk went into the V&A golden cape?** A: Collected in Madagascar. _(Source: Write-up · Exhibit D (1.2 million spiders) · V&A: Golden Spider Silk press release (2012); The Guardian: Spider silk cape goes on show at V&A (2012))_ **Q: About how many spiders yield an ounce of silk, according to the V&A?** A: That's why spider silk textiles are so rare. _(Source: Write-up · Exhibit E (An ounce at a time) · V&A: Golden Spider Silk press release (2012); ABC News: Golden gown of spiders' silk goes on show (2012))_ ## Sources - [Oxford Silk Group: Spider Silk Harvesting (YouTube, 2013)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLSGBQUA8l0) - [Ortlepp & Gosline, Consequences of Forced Silking, Biomacromolecules (2004)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15132653/) - [V&A: Golden Spider Silk press release (2012)](https://media.vam.ac.uk/media/documents/Golden_Spider_Silk_Press_Release_update.pdf) - [The Guardian: Spider silk cape goes on show at V&A (2012)](https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/jan/24/spider-silk-cape-show) - [ABC News: Golden gown of spiders' silk goes on show (2012)](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-25/spider-silk-outfit-on-show/3791928) ## Cite this case file Easterling, Marcus. "Silk Harvest." The Detail Department (DetailEnjoyer), case file DD-583, last updated May 28, 2025. https://detailenjoyer.com/case/silk-harvest/