Harley & I are making the unscientific observation that when the Lindheiemer Senna go to seed, the acorns start dropping and the cactus tunas fade, the cochineal white webs start to appear on the cactus pads. Let the cochineal scraping commence!
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debmcclintock 
Happy harvesting the cochineal.
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Let me know when you’re harvesting madder … I’ll be in and out of town so hopefully our schedules match up.
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watching the weather, probably late nov or early dec!
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So interesting! It never occurred to me that some lucky dyers live in places where they can collect their own cochenille 🙂 Can you only collect them when they make webs?
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Astrid, yes, they can be collected here in the Hill Country about Oct thru Jan. That is when they nest. They fade away over the winter.
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