NEW CASTLE, Pa. – Between April and September, a Mt. Air Road farm ships up to 3,000 butterflies weekly across the country.
Jodi Hopper started Wish Upon a Butterfly 25 years ago, raising and shipping butterflies throughout the United States for fundraisers, funerals, weddings and other events.
Fundraisers and funerals are the events the farm ships for most.
“When you do the release of the butterflies at a funeral, it’s sort of an uplifting experience…,” Hopper said. “How it goes into the chrysalis and then comes out as a butterfly, that sort of represents one life to the other.”
Butterflies symbolize transformation, hope, rebirth and renewal, according to lore.
Butterflies are cold blooded and can’t fly in cold weather so shipments are seasonal.
“We raise, primarily monarchs, painted ladies, red admirals,” Hopper said. “We’ve got black swallow tails. Those are the ones that we can raise and ship across state lines.”
Connecticut, however, doesn’t permit any butterfly releases so the business doesn’t ship there. The United States Department of Agriculture regulates what the business may ship to each state. Monarchs can’t be shipped east of the Rockies, for example.
Hopper raises the butterflies in her basement. They’re transferred to small containers covered with mesh when the butterflies get ready to emerge from the chrysalis. After they emerge, the butterflies remain in the containers until their wings dry and they’re able to fly.
Screened-in flight houses on the property provide space for the butterflies to breed and feed.
“They like echinacea,” said Jolene Bingham, Hopper’s daughter. “We have it out there for them. As far as the field, they seem to like the zinnias, the cosmos, the dahlias.”
Several years ago, Bingham added butterfly wish bouquets to the farm’s offerings. Butterflies are housed with flowers in a lantern or within a garden bouquet that people order for special occasions.
“The recipient can release the butterflies upon receipt, within 12 to 24 hours,” Bingham said. “Then they get to enjoy the lantern with the flowers. And then the lantern’s a keepsake.”
Many people order butterfly bouquets for funerals as well and a flyer with quotes and poems about butterflies accompanies each.
The New Castle site includes a flower farm with a full-service florist and pick-your-own flower events.
The farm also sells painted lady butterfly wish kits. They ship live larvae complete with food and accessories to allow people to watch the caterpillar grow, molt, form a pupa that’s enclosed in a chrysalis and emerge as a butterfly.
Wish Upon a Butterfly also brings educational exhibits to school and other events including the Canfield Fair.
The name of the business stems from a Native American legend about catching a butterfly, making a wish and setting it free. The Great Spirit, in gratitude for the butterfly being set free, grants the wish, according to the legend.
For butterfly releases at events, a Wish Upon a Butterfly staff member places an ice pack in the bottom of a container and eases the butterflies into paper sleeves, one at a time, and tucked into the box with tissue paper. Each person at an event that gets a sleeve releases a butterfly.
For large releases, the butterflies ship in a long ribbon-threaded accordion-like sleeve inserted into a chilled box. The recipient pulls out the ribbon, releasing the butterflies.
Smaller butterflies may be shipped loose inside of boxes and released all at once at an event.
Keeping them cold slows the butterflies, making them drowsy and ensuring they don’t injure themselves or damage their wings fluttering around during shipping.
“We ship everything overnight/next day,” Hopper said.
Hopper recommends placing an order six to eight weeks before an event to ensure availability of specific butterflies.
Instructions for the recipient accompany each shipment. Upon arrival, they’re to replace the ice pack.
“Then they’re fine until the next day,” Hopper said. “The next day for their event, they take them off the ice pack, out of the box.”
That should be done about an hour before the release time, giving the butterflies time to warm up naturally. Hopper advises against placing the bugs in the sun or near a heat source.
After release at an event, the butterflies make their home in the new location.
“They’re free to go live their lives,” Hopper said.
Pictured at top: Wish Upon a Butterfly staff Andrea Hopper, owner Jodi Hopper, Abby Mahosky, Shalene McClaine and Sheri Knepp stand inside a butterfly flight house at the New Castle, Pa. farm.