No cold weather, now what?

[DougM]

We're trying to decide what to do here in Indiana. We haven't yet had more than three below-freezing days in a row here, so I keep thinking winter is going to arrive any time.

Today I looked at the 8-day forecast, and after the next two days in the 20's they are predicting freeze/thaw until next Thursday.

Does anyone have any experience with how the lack of a prolonged cold spell like we usually have affects the trees?

I would hate to miss a good early run next week, but this is about two weeks early for us so we are hesitating to go ahead and tap. At least if it freezes up after we tap like it did last year, they will run when they thaw.

Thanks,
Doug

[mapleman3]

why not put a few trees on tap next week as test tree to see how they do?

we are in a huge deep freeze again for the next week, wqish we could send some to you Doug :(

[themapleking]

Doug;
Tap a few trees (10 taps) randon through your bush and take a sugar % reading and decide if its worth tapping more.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Doug,

I wouldn't panick and tap too soon because our weather is usually comparable to yours and our seasons run about the same. I have seen a lot of years like this and a lot of syrup made on these kind of years. The sap is running up and down the tree so much, maybe it will get sweeter.

If you tap a few buckets, let me know how the sugar content is because I am curious.

[DougM]

Thanks to everyone for the input. I checked the Maple Syrup Producers Handbook, and it says that syrup can be made any time after the trees lose their leaves in the fall, but fall sugaring was discussed a while back.
Besides, it occurred to me on the way home that my Grandpa used to make syrup in Tennessee, and I know they don't have long periods of cold like we normally do here.
Brandon, I'm not panicked, just don't want to miss a good early run if it were to happen. But I also don't want to be too early and have the holes start to close up. Same as usual, just weird weather this year.
We are just going to put out a couple of taps and see what happens.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Doug,

I am really interested to know that if you normally tap around the 1st of Feb, when does you season normally end :?:

Do your trees flow good until the sap gets buddy or do the holes start to seal before the sap gets buddy :?:

[DougM]

Brandon,
we usually tap the first or second week of February, and run into mid-March. We are only about 130 miles difference between here and there north to south.

I don't have all the dates here, but in 2001 (first year) we weren't ready at the beginning, and only ran 2/10-2/18. 2002 we ran 2/9 - 3/6. I don't have last years dates on hand, but it was later, around 2/15 - 3/20.
As long as we don't get a stretch of warm days the holes don't start to close, and they flow well the whole season.

Doug

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Doug,

Sounds like are seasons are a lot the same. I usually tap around the same time and go to the middle of March. I may tap on Jan 31st this year depending on what the weather does for the next couple of weeks, but it is likely that I will wait until Feb 6th or 13th. I have made syrup for around 13 years, but I didn't make any from 1999 to 2002 and during that period, we had a couple of years where it warmed up around the middle of Feb and hardly got cold again.

Sure glad I wasn't making syrup those years as I would have been pulling my hair out! :( :(