May Journal

[mountainvan]

I guess I'll start this here strand of maple information. Bottled 20 cases of glass the other day, clearest I've ever had my syrup. I give myself complete credit for using the filter aid this year. I took two 100ml autumn leaf, light amber, and made a pair of glasses. Some people see the world through rose colored glasses, I saw it through maple syrup. My kids and wife now are sure I'm certifiable. Sprayed my roadside trees to kill the caterpillars this morning, already starting to work!! Went to Phonecia again today, the trees at the school, and around the village, are loaded with caterpillars. I've never seen so many!

[Russell Lampron]

April Journal? Van I think it is May. Inhale too much of that stuff you sprayed your trees with?

Russ

[mountainvan]

No inhaling, just like Clinton!!

[Sugarmaker]

We saw a tent caterpillar nest in one of the apple trees. Will Diet Pepsi kill them ? That's all I had with me.
I have been hauling a pick up truck load of junk pallets each evening for several weeks and have enough wood for 40 gallons of syrup. I have permission to get these at a shop in Near Girard and they must have 3 semi trailers of them. I probably wont get them all hauled away before they have to get some one to clean up the rest. It sure would be nice to get all the syrup wood cut before June :D
I have been marketing syrup and honey and will need to can some this week end as the shelf is getting sparse. I canned 60 lb of honey Sunday afternoon.
Worked the bees tonight and added a super to two hive as the queen was moving up into the lower super. Also moved a frame of brood, bees, and young eggs to a box that I am trying to get started. The transition to bees from honey is just about prefect for timing. When its to warm to make syrup the bees begin needing attention.
Updated our web site with some product costs and newsy notes and a link to a site for steel head fisherman. Also a link to our local buffalo farm.

Hope things are good with everyone!
Chris

Super Sappy had a good idea about getting in the scrap nail business :D :D

[mountainvan]

rolled up tubing yesterday and today finally got my ro drained and membranes in storage. took a long time to get the glyserine I needed. got tracrac for my truck today, put the canoe on, this is the 7th truck I've put this canoe on, to bad the trucks did'nt last so long. had a choice for a high school grad gift, a trip to holland( to see relatives) or a canoe. glad I took the canoe. maples here are flowering now with some caterpillars munching away. are anyone elses maples flowering? this weekend, WALLEYE!!

[lew]

All of our maples are flowering as well. We've noticed that the year after a heavy seed crop, our sugar content is lower thatn normal. Although one year when we expected this drop in sugar content we actually had extrememly high sugar content, the highest we had ever had for an overall season. Just goes to show you that the longer you're in this game, the less you know.

[ibby458]

The metal buckets are all washed and put away, now we've started on the plastic 5 gallon pails. Since the bucket washer doesn't work very good on them, it's all hand washing and very slow. They dry a lot slower, too!

Obviously, it would have been easier if we had done it within days of pulling the taps, but it's so much nicer to do it outside on a warm spring day and let the sun dry them. I tried to get the Son(s) to dry them, but they were all "busy"

[mountainvan]

sprayed my trees again this morning, did'nt inhale again. have to bottle again soon, especialy before I go fishing again. no walleye this weekend, but a stringer of nice crappie, a bunch of bass, and a 6 lb channel cat. ate very well last night.

[mountainvan]

Still hav'nt bottled, today for sure. Played hooky and went for crappie yesterday and got enough to last a couple dinners. Some days you just got to say, " I'm going fishing the heck with everything else!".

[mountainvan]

went fishing again!! caught some nice walleye today for dinner tomorrow. back in the saphouse tomorrow to bottle more gallons. nice to come home from a good day fishing to an order for maple syrup. some days it does work out. bought a vacuum pump today too. now I need a gas motor and a releaser, that's for next year.

[ibby458]

Yummy Walleye! Best tasting fish ever!

The owner of the rig I used this season is coming after his bulk tank today. He's going to build a new sugarhouse, So I told him he could store the evaporator here until it was done, or until July - Whichever comes first.

AS soon as the ground dries up enough to hold the truck, I'm ordering a tandem load of cement gravel to pour a floor in one bay of the tractor shed to put the evaporator on. No more daily leveling and muddy boots while boiling!

[mountainvan]

Bottled syrup yesterday, sold it today. I like my pancake house. Starting to get ready for farmers markets and the tourist season. got to keep everything picked up, the lawn mowed, etc. nobody stops if your place looks like scary!!

[mountainvan]

Going to spray for caterpillars again today. Have'nt got much done in the last few days other than selling syrup cause I got one nasty cold, the kind that settles in your bones and makes every part of your body ache. Tomorrow I'm planning to go fishing!!

[Sugarmaker]

Still cutting wood for next syrup season. I have enough for about 70 gallons at this time. We have been very busy with the bees the last few weeks. I captured a swarm 5-13 and one 5-24. I am up to 12 colonies and now need to consider getting the electric fence up to keep the bears out. The bees and the boxes add up in value. If they do well I could have 500-1000 LB of honey by this fall.

Who is the maple producer near Somerset PA who is working with my nephew Arron on the Railroad?

Chris

[ibby458]

Good news about the swarms! "A swarm in May is worth a load of hay, A swarmm in June is worth a Silver Spoon, A swarm in July Ain't worth a fly" I think is how the old saying goes.

I'm still pondering getting a couple hives. Might make a little on the honey, but mostly for pollination in the gardens. All the wild bees have died off, and the guy that pastured his bees on the next road over passed away. Haven't had good pollination since. I've actually had to hand pollinate the squash to get a decent crop.

Went to an auction last night, and bought 2-500 gallon storage tanks. Genuine Leader sap tanks. Older galvanized tanks, but usable. Not bad - $75 for the pair. THe newer one has some light rust on the inside bottom from being left with sap in it, but the older one is rust-free with baffles. I might put that one on a heavy trailer for hauling sap. Gotta build covers for both. I like my sap covered.

[TWhite]

Chris how are you finding your swarms. I use to keep bees about 25years ago and bought a package a month ago thinking I would get back into having a few hives. Maybe hive a swarm or two. In the past a neighbor would call when they had a swarm in there yard but havn't seen one naturaly in a while. Thought it would work well with maple so we can have a sticky kitchen all year long.

Todd

[maple flats]

As I was driving to pick up some spreader sticker to use when spraying Btk to reduce the forest tent caterpillar population I litterally ran into a swarm. About 50 were splattered on my windshield before I could slow down. Didn't see anything that looked like a queen or anydifferent than the rest on the windshield. I hope the queen made it ok and with enough support crew to start a new colony. I never even saw it over the road til about 5' out.

[mountainvan]

May was good here in the catskills. fish were biting good and syrup sales are up 25% from last year at the same time. June looks to be a little rough though. going back for surgery next week and won't be able to work, or fish, for a bit. Caterpillars are defoliating all species of trees this year, which is good. They're eating the trees on the edges and so far leaving the main woods alone.

[Fred Henderson]

There must be a different strain around here because the are only in the apple trees and sugar maples.

[HanginAround]

Flats, strangly enough, having just read your post about driving into the swarm a couple days ago, but having no knowledge of bees, nor memory of ever having seen a swarm or hit more than one at a time on the highway... the very same thing happened to me the day after you posted it.

My cuz was driving and we were on a syrup delivery trip to Prince Edward Island, and suddenly, I though it was one of those surprise showers where the drops are as big as quarters and thud on your windshield, but was over instantly, and I knew exactly what it was. Very weird and coincidental.

[maple flats]

I guess I am real lucky so far. My damage is very light, need to look into canopy closely to see it, a few smaller branches are hit but no mass damage yet. I will spray BT again on weekend if weather cooperates. I am using a spreader sticker which helps BT last longer if it gets rained on, still has short effective life.
Dave

[maple flats]

HanginAround, that was the first time it ever happened to me, the proof was dead caught under my wipers or i might not have known what hit me.

[ibby458]

Our catapillars seem to like popple trees quite well too. We cut a bunch on Saturday to make a new road, and it was literally crawling with the uglies. They were all over EVERYTHING after being in the woods a few minutes.