In June 2020, Bayer Hawaii launched its third annual Monarch Butterfly Sweepstakes to raise awareness about the importance of the Monarch butterfly, which plays an essential role in the growth of healthy flowering crops. Bayer Hawaii partnered with Sharing the Butterfly Experience, the only Hawaii member of the International Butterfly Breeders Association, to give away butterfly kits to three lucky winners. And due to the overwhelming popularity of the contest, Bayer awarded more than 50 butterfly kits to residents across the state.

One of those lucky winners was Diana Dahilig of Makawao, Maui. The owner and operator of Little Friends Family Child Care Home for 14 years, Diana spends her days caring for and developing the young minds of children from three months to four years of age. With a play-based curriculum that enables children to explore, the Monarch butterfly kit was an exciting opportunity for her students to learn more about nature and the cycle of life.

“In the beginning, we had more caterpillars that didn’t make it than those that did, but I’m happy to share that many butterflies have visited our thriving crown flower plants to lay their eggs,” said Diana. “We currently have lots of caterpillars at different stages - so many that the Little Friends are learning to count up to 20!”

As of November, Diana and her students had released nine healthy butterflies and they look forward to many more.

“I have also given a chrysalis to an older sibling of one of the daycare children - as a birthday gift - along with the book, tent, and rack. She was just so happy! I will be giving her more caterpillars soon and a crown flower plant as well,” Diana added.

Each monarch butterfly kit included everything a budding butterfly farmer could need to nurture a monarch caterpillar through the stages of growth into a fully-grown butterfly. The elements of the kit included 15 live caterpillars, a 24-inch by 12-inch habitat to protect the caterpillar from predators, a picture book on How to Raise Monarch Butterflies, a bag of food to feed the caterpillars, a crown flower plant for the next generation and instructions on how to raise monarch butterflies.

The crown flower plant is one of the most commonly found milkweed plants in Hawaii and a main food source of monarch caterpillars.
Congratulations to Diana and our other winners. We look forward to sharing the Monarch butterfly experience again in 2021.