A Shafter based business called Insect Lore is celebrating its 40th anniversary by opening its doors to the public in a way it's never done before.
Insect Lore breeds bugs and ships them worldwide for learning in and out of the classroom.
The president says a new "Bugseum" will capture the imagination of kids young and old in a way electronics never could.
The noise of chirping insects has been a familiar sound at Insect Lore for about 40 years. Now the public can hear it too.
"We're opening the doors to our business really for the first time,'' said Insect Lore president John White. "There are people, even in Shafter, that don't know what we're doing."
With a facelift making the building look more like Disneyland than a bug farm, White hopes people from Shafter and beyond will stop in to see what they're doing. In the past they've turned away field trips because the shop wasn't equipped for tours. When you walked in the front door, you used to see people packing boxes, now you'll find their brand new "Bugseum."
"I think the real beauty of what we're doing is that kids are able to see nature in its purest form, first hand," White said.
"It's not virtual. It's not digital. It's real, and the experiences they get are really unmatched."
Kids can experience exhibits featuring live butterflies, toads, lady bugs, scorpions and tarantulas.
Behind the scenes, employees are busy growing bugs and preparing to ship them worldwide.
Some labs niow are open for school tours and field trips, and the students' reactions are very positive.
"They start talking. They start asking questions, and I think that just showing something, bringing nature to life for them, is so wonderful because it goes into so much more than science," said Vanessa Toews, the marketing coordinator for Insect Lore.
And kids can take the experience home if they want. There are ant farms, There are preying mantis kits, ladybug farms and butterfly gardens.
"I just think it's really fascinating to watch a caterpillar crawl to the top most part of its environment and spin a chrysalis, and it just knows to do that. It's really kind of nature's own little magic," said Toews.
Insect Lore sends its products worldwide. Last spring, it shipped about 13,000 caterpillars a day.
The new "Bugseum" opens to the public on Monday.
