Fall time tapping

[brookledge]

I was at Bascom's today and they were unloading a T.T. full of drums of syrup from Canada that had just been produced in the last few weeks.
Bruce said they are tapping with small taps in the fall and then going back and retaping the same hole in the spring with a larger tap. They are making about 25% of there annual crop in the fall.
He did not say how many producers were doing this but there was alot of syrup being unloaded.
I forgot to ask him what grades they were making.
Keith

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

GREEDY HOGS. :evil:

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

I wanted to try that before but figured i'd be taking away from the spring seasons production?? 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) Maybe it's working out for the better for them? More ca ching in the nest.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I was thinking about the trees. You know what happens when you try to beat nature, the end result that is. :twisted:

[themapleking]

Let'em over tap and kill their trees. Better for guys like us in the long run.

[GregMVT]

I was talking to one of the salesman at GH Grimm's in Rutland a year or so ago. He had been up in Canada to a large produers sugarhouse. He said the would tap trees that were the diameter of a credit card and once the season is done they'd cut the trees for firewood. They must have an awful lot of trees up there!!

[Parker]

Seem like you would run out of places to tap on the trunk of the tree?

[GregMVT]

No, they were only tapping them once then cutting them to fire the evaporator.

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

I have a couple of handfull of trees that are in the 8" dia. range that i tap/Under the recommended 10" to start tapping dia. I figure that i might as well get a few years use out of them as in 5 or so years the'll be cut down when i thin the bush in those area so no loss if the tree should die before then.

[cheesegenie]

I don`t like the thouhgt of tapping tiny trees , but maybe the
idea of fall tapping isn`t all that bad.It would sure help
utilize some of that expensive equipment over a longer
time in the year. I remember my father and uncles saying
that pipelines and vacuum pumps would kill all the trees.

[brookledge]

Let me clarify my first post.
The trees are not being tapped twice a year. What they do is tap in the fall when the temps drop to freeze-thaw temps. They use a small spout and leave it in all winter then return in the spring and re drill the same hole bigger.
The end result is only one hole per year.
I would think that the issue of sterilization would be key so that in the spring the flow would still be good.
You can buy spout adapters that fit over 7/16 tap to make into 5/16 maybe that is what they are using.
Keith

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

I know what your talking about.
The idea behind making the bigger taphole is to re-sever vessels within the trees plumbing system so that sap will flow more freely again-Research has show that the reason for a hole to "dry-up"(reduce its flow) is from micro-organism contaminating the open vessels within the trees plumbing system and not from the plumbing systems failure. It's about like clogged arteries- take some blood thinners and the flow picks up/In this case the end vessels are clogged and the "reaming" of the hole helps the flow again to a certain extent.
You following me? Hope i haven't got anyone lost??

Using a dull drill bit severs the edges of the trees vessels jaggedly/Not what you want to do as microrganisms-thrive on that. Use a sharp bit and cut the vessels cleanly for a better flowing hole-You can usually tell when your drill bit is dull as you now are pushing harder on the drill. I generally get around 750+ taps to a bit and then it's time for a new one. I used to use the auger 7/16" bit that you could resharpen your self with a small stone/file but now with the 19/64" i'll just have to heave them when there dull? Could buy a bit sharpener for them i guess and save $ over time.

[White Barn Farm]

I have been reading about fall tapping and decided to give it a try. I have a tree that I won't tap in the spring so Sunday afternoon I tapped it and hung a bucket on it. It has been perfect sap whether here in N.E. Pa. I gathered about a gallon and a half yesterday evening and it tested 2 on the refractometer. I boiled it down on the stove and it is every bit as good as I hoped it would be.
I had always wanted to sell Christmas trees, make wreaths, hunt deer, and make syrup all in the same day and yesterday was pure heaven.
I use buckets and plan on staying small. I now have access to more taps than my evaporator can handle timewise so I may try tapping 100 or so in the fall and the other in the spring. I wouldn't tap the same tree twice in one year.
I would have a captive audience with the Christmas tree crowd and probably could market it along with trees and wreaths.
Just a thought.
Ed

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Ed,

That sounds like a tremendous idea. Once a year to tap a tree is good and wouldn't matter when. Twice a year is too much for a tree, but what do I know. 8O :lol: :lol: :lol:

[VA maple guy]

This fall tapping sounds interesting to me. I have about eight or ten Box Elders that i have never taped, I'm thinking about tapping them just in the fall.
Does anyone tap or have any info on these trees.
Gerry

[Maple Flats]

Years ago I tapped box elder in my back yard and boiled them on the wood stove by the batch method. Made good syrup but I never did it on an evaporator so it was dark but taste was there. Don't remember how much it took to make a gallon, don't think I kept track, just added to the kettle as I collected it. Only did about 8-10 taps then and 2 were sugarmaple, rest were box alder. I think the sugar would be in the 1% range but only guessing for the box alders. If I remember correctly I did get a lot of sap/ tap in buckets.

[Sugarmaker]

Weather was just about right recently for tapping, felt like spring here in northwest PA. I think we will stay with the spring run. To busy hunting deer till mid Jan. You guys go ahead, let me know how you make out with this fall syrup run. I assume you still need the freeze/ thaw cyclye to kick it in gear? I make some nice syrup in the spring and still have some in the freezer for Christmas.

[White Barn Farm]

I gathered 3 1/2 gallons of sap Tuesday just as the rain hit and boiled it down on the gas stove. It smelled great in the sap house between the Fraser fir that I was making wreaths with and the syrup smell.
I got aroung 10 ounces of syrup that was a little dark but I may have over cooked it. It's hard to test that small amount without a syrup refractometer. Christmas is coming. :D The hydrometer cup I have is pretty big for that small amount.
Anyway the syrup tasted great and the neighbors are talking.
No one has heard of sap season in the fall!!!
Looks like it may run here throught out the next week. Snow possible, 40's days and 20's nights and we sure have enough moisture.
Ed

[VA maple guy]

I put in 27 taps today all on Boxelders, several of the trees were running really good. I found a few more i could tap, but i"ll wait untill i see what the flavor is like before tapping them. The sugar is only 1.1% in these trees.
Gerry

[markcasper]

I have a cousin that taps about 300 hard maples now, but 4 years ago, he tapped about 100 box elder. I think he made something around 20 gallons. It was darker, had a bit of a woody taste I thought, but it still would taste good on my pancakes!

I tap 2 box elder trees in my operation. One is about 100 feet from my syrup house and is down in a low spot-water run area. Its a fence line boxelder. Its about 12 inches diameter with a very large crown. On a good sap day, it easily overflows a 4 gallon sap-sak. I have tested the% and it consistently has been in the 2.5-2.6 % range mid-season. Not bad for a box-elder.

[White Barn Farm]

Christmas afternoon I gathered about 3 gallons of sap and while the relatives were playing cards I boiled it down. I have the same 4 trees tapped that I tapped in mid November. The weather here is 30's - 40 and it rained Christmas day. Sap was still running at dark and tested 2 on the new refractometer. I made about 8 ounces of light syrup when all was said and done. The nieces had fun checking the boiling process.
I have found that the two taps on the north side ran less than the two tapped on the south side. Looks like sap should run through the week.

[VA maple guy]

I have about thirty some taps in this fall, all in Box elders, i have only got about twenty gallons of sap so far. It's been either too cold or to warm this fall.
I did manage to burn up about ten gallons of it to a nice crisp black mess.
The other ten gallons i made into maple candy. The syrup made from the Box elders has a little bit if a bitter taste to it, but it's good as maple candy.
My trees have ranged from 1.1 to 1.7%.
I hope to make more candy before the spring season arrives in late January to early Febuary.
Gerry

[VA maple guy]

Well i pulled all my taps yesterday. My best run I got thirty two
gallons of sap, not to bad for boxelders. the sugar was 1.5% on that run.
I guess it's time to start getting reaady for the spring season. :D
Gerry

[katmike]

So will you just be reaming them out in a few weeks? I am very curious on how these will produce this spring after a fall season.

[VA maple guy]

Hi Katmike, no i won't use any of the trees i taped in the fall for the spring
season. I'll use my regular trees plus the twenty some sugar maples
that i found for the spring.
Gerry