A buddy of mine will drop them in boiling water for just a few seconds then dip them out and into water with ice cubes all over the top (ice cold water). He claims it makes them tougher. Straight out of the ice water into ziplock bags for the freezer. I have already had 3 of my trees stripped and the new leaves are starting to grow back. I have 2 more trees that havent had but a few. Funny thing is...back when I wanted taber worms I'd have to ride and look for trees that had 'em. Now I got trees and dont use 'em anymore. Go figure...:rolleyes: