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harrison6jd
02-19-2012, 08:09 PM
tapped on friday in north smithfield and collected 45 gallons of sap on saturday. boiled down today and forgot how much i missed that steamy smell. looks like i'll get another 40 of sap tomorrow morning.
thecabinguy
02-21-2012, 06:59 AM
I don't know how many taps you are running, but I'm getting very little sap flow over here in Chepachet. I'm getting worried. Only collected 8 gals off of 40 taps. Some trees have none at all. Are you having this problem?
harrison6jd
02-21-2012, 08:14 AM
i have noticed that the best producing trees are within 25' of running water. these are all sugar maples and those 30 buckets yeilded 20 gallons in a day. i feel very fortunate to have that little stand of trees. the red maples are not producing much , in fact some are dry. i did make a half gallon on monday. a neighbor is in the same boat as you with small collection volumes.
thecabinguy
02-23-2012, 12:13 AM
I've got mostly reds tapped. I think that's the problem. I think this non-winter may have adversly affected them the most.
I'm all set up for serious boiling and it's going to be quite a downer if the trees decide to take this year off.
harrison6jd
02-23-2012, 05:45 PM
i have just a few reds tapped and i have only gotten an ounce or so from each in a week. and the color is terrible. those will be coming down this weekend and i will be on the hunt for more sugars. also, we did some pruning at a customers house today and those trees were pouring out. they were norway maples. usually a city tree but there may be some in your area. if i had more sugars to tap, i'd share but as it is i am venturing onto neighbors property.
Revi
02-24-2012, 06:07 PM
Norways are maples too. They make a nice sap, but they will quit earlier in the year than the sugars. They are tough trees, so a little sap won't bother them at all. I say tap them.
thecabinguy
02-25-2012, 08:26 AM
Unfortunately most of my really large trees are reds. (I think) It's hard enough to tell in the summer when there are leaves on them, never mind trying to figure it out now. Well, actually, the reds are bone dry so I guess it's not really that tough to figure out. :)