Western New York

[JandM]

So on Monday, I tapped my ten trees.
Tuesday, I didn't not have any sap in my buckets.
Wednesday, I collected about two gallons of sap - all coming from three trees.
Today, Thursday, I did not have any sap in my buckets.

I'm not sure was I was really expecting, but I'm feeling a little disappointed :(

[plattmaple]

We have had a busy 3 days here. We are at 160 gallons of really nice golden so far. We should have more but we are only at 18 inches of vac. Usually are around 25 inches. I haven't had time to go over the lines because of work but it looks like I should be able to do it Sunday. We have a porcupine problem at the top of the hill so I'm suspecting I will find some holes in the mainline.
Other than the vac I'm happy with our start.

[Masnart]

Was a great day. Sunny. Cut some downed trees while watching a rolling boil all the way through...until the smell of burned marshmallows.

[82cabby]

Aw man, that sucks. We’ve all been there. I scorched a pan after a very long day of boiling a while back. No fun.

[ponderingjunkman]

There are 2 types of sugarmakers- one that has burned the pans, the other that has lied about it!

[plattmaple]

Sap didn't really start running good till 4. It just got too cold last night. We had 17 this morning. It's not supposed to be quite as cold tonight so tomorrow the sap should start running earlier. We did fix a bunch of leaks today and got the vac up to 23. Still a ways to go there.
We did boil tonight and made another barrel of golden. I can't remember ever boiling during the super bowl before and I've been making syrup since 1984! We do have a tv in the sugar house but I was too busy to catch much of the game.
Looks like its going to be a busy week!

[Shaggy acres]

I am in Geneseo. The sap ran yesterday most of the day. Had the tank down to about 20 gallons and it never moved all day. Just evaporating at the same rate it was filling. Both 3/8 inch lines going like mad. At what point do you think a 3/8 line is at max capacity? With 25 trees on one line that drops about 200’ elevation do the bottom trees ever add sap to the line? Do the first 15 fill the line and leave the bottom trees just full with no where to go? Hmmmm. Things I ponder.

[wnybassman]

It's been crazy so far. Been through 1100 gallons of sap since I tapped last Sunday afternoon, and most of that is the 150 3/16ths taps. I only added the remaining buckets yesterday.

[82cabby]

Tapped 120 taps on the 5th. First run on the 8th. We have made 18.5 gallons of syrup so far in 12 days. Absolutely nuts. Last season our total was 25 gallons!

[pathfinder22]

collected 120 gallons over 6 days from my 25 taps.
Our best first week run ever.
Made 2.25 gallons saturday.
Currently holding 108 gallons til tomorrow morning.
22888

[wnybassman]

One more decent run and we'll be over 1/2 crop.

[plattmaple]

Not one drop of sap yesterday. It got up to 42 but it sure didn't feel like it. But that did give me time to get things cleaned up in the sugarhouse. It was the first time we have had the front pan off to clean this year. I couldn't believe how little niter there was after making over 300 gal. Some years we have to clean it after 50 gal.
Scrubbed and washed all our tanks, soap washed the RO and jugged some syrup. So now we should be all ready to go inside. When it does run again I will have to get back to chasing leaks. Friday we were at 24" so I would like that to be better. We still have a porcupine chewing on our lines just about nightly. Just can't seem to see him to get rid of him. And with no snow on the ground we haven't been able to track him down like we have in the past.
We are over a half crop right now.

[plattmaple]

Its 55 degrees here but windy. Not much running though. My son and I went fixing leaks and got us up to 26 inches. I guess we aren't going to get a weekend run again this year. I just looked at my records and the last two years we didn't get much on the weekends.

[wnybassman]

Its 55 degrees here but windy. Not much running though. My son and I went fixing leaks and got us up to 26 inches. I guess we aren't going to get a weekend run again this year. I just looked at my records and the last two years we didn't get much on the weekends.

Dismal run here today too. Maybe .6 or .7 gallons per tap between what little ran late yesterday, and today. Hope things open up overnight for a nice big boil tomorrow.

[Pdiamond]

plattmaple - believe it or not they are pretty good to eat. Tough buggers to skin, just roast them in the oven with apples and onions in the chest cavity and make sure you put some water in the pan. Comes out tasting like roast beef.

[plattmaple]

Still plugging on here. We had a little less than a gallon per tap yesterday and about a half gallon per tap today. That ended up 44 gallons yesterday and 22 gallons of syrup today. We had been making all golden up till Friday. Last 3 boils have turned to dark with great flavor.
We washed all our tanks, drained and cleaned the evaporator over the weekend hoping to help us get some amber but I think the trees and tubing are still gunked up from last weeks warm weather. Hopefully this coming cool down will get us cleared up.
We are well over a half crop right now.

[JandM]

10 trees/taps
18 days
13 gallons of sap

It doesn't seem like I have very good sap-making trees - I was expecting quite a bit more by now :(

[JandM]

I am in Geneseo. The sap ran yesterday most of the day. Had the tank down to about 20 gallons and it never moved all day. Just evaporating at the same rate it was filling. Both 3/8 inch lines going like mad. At what point do you think a 3/8 line is at max capacity? With 25 trees on one line that drops about 200’ elevation do the bottom trees ever add sap to the line? Do the first 15 fill the line and leave the bottom trees just full with no where to go? Hmmmm. Things I ponder.

I thought this was a good question... I tried to find the answer, but couldn't find anything - I would love to know the answer too!

[82cabby]

I thought this was a good question... I tried to find the answer, but couldn't find anything - I would love to know the answer too!

I have 120 taps that feed into 6 5/16 lines, so about 20 taps each give or take on a pretty serious slope. On heavy days they seem to be close to capacity. I don’t run 3/8 but I would guess you’re about at the limit with 25.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Currently at about 40% crop if I am hoping for 0.5 gpt on about 190 taps this year. I think if the better than average sugar this year and some good runs continue, I will get close.

[plattmaple]

On Friday we passed last years total produced. Next weeks forecast is looking like we could add to it. Shaping up to be a nice season.

[plattmaple]

Not a drop of sap today. It was 45 but with a cold breeze. Another weekend without a run. Forecast has changed to a bit cooler this week so not sure if we will get much.

[wnybassman]

Not a drop of sap today. It was 45 but with a cold breeze. Another weekend without a run. Forecast has changed to a bit cooler this week so not sure if we will get much.

Only got to 36 here, but every bucket was dripping and every line was running. Didn't get hardly anything, but everything loosened up. Hoping with not too awfully cold nightly temps we can get at least a little every day.

[mudr]

I checked this morning, I have a 5 gallon ice chunk off my 175 taps. Better news, I'm already at a record for syrup production for the year.

[wnybassman]

A big nothing burger today. The way it loosened up yesterday I expected a little run today. Now it's blizzarding out. lol

[plattmaple]

Little bit of everything today except sap! Sunny in the morning then sleet then snow and then rain. Was really hoping the rain would get it going. What did drizzle in was really cloudy so we dumped it.

[77maple]

We sustained alot of ice damage over the weekend here. Spent yesterday repairing some mains and alot of chainsaw work. Maybe a run on Wednesday, who knows?

[pathfinder22]

Big snow coming this weekend!

[82cabby]

Not much so far this week. I really thought we would get a run.

[77maple]

Same here. We hit 50 degrees with sun and 26 inches of vacuum this afternoon and only got a trickle. Only conclusion i can come to is the trees are still partially frozen. Not sure

[wnybassman]

Same here. We hit 50 degrees with sun and 26 inches of vacuum this afternoon and only got a trickle. Only conclusion i can come to is the trees are still partially frozen. Not sure

Got a little over a half gallon per tap here. Didn't start running until about 1pm though. Bluebird skies and snow still right up to the trunk of the tree, that's my excuse. lol Still 2.1% though!

[plattmaple]

Not much here again today. 51 sunny and a cool breeze. Was hoping for a decent run. On a good note we did get one porcupine today. It had been on a tear chewing our tubing up. My son and I spent the afternoon fixing a ton of leaks and went from 22" to 25". Last Thursday we had it up to 28" but every night it would go down a inch or two so I knew it was at work at night. Hopefully it was working alone. Now we need to work on the squirrels. This has by far been the worst year for us with critter damage. Bears, coyote's porcupine and squirrel all have made their mark.

[DrTimPerkins]

This has by far been the worst year for us with critter damage. Bears, coyote's porcupine and squirrel all have made their mark.

What do you use to clean your tubing?

[wnybassman]

Got a little over a half gallon per tap here. Didn't start running until about 1pm though. Bluebird skies and snow still right up to the trunk of the tree, that's my excuse. lol Still 2.1% though!

Ran good overnight, about a gallon per tap. Could only bring about 2/3rds to the shack due to running out of tank space. Needed to collect this morning due to some buckets already overflowing, and the woods tank might be overflowing by late afternoon if I didn't pump it out some. 1.9% this morning. The next 5 days or so will be a little chaotic.

[pathfinder22]

40 gallons last night from 25 taps after tossing the ice.
Was still running good a dinner time.
Not sure what I have this morning.

[mudr]

Yikes, I can't get out until this afternoon to see what I have in store for me. I am really, really low on firewood. On the positive side, I'm already at a record year for production.


Ran good overnight, about a gallon per tap. Could only bring about 2/3rds to the shack due to running out of tank space. Needed to collect this morning due to some buckets already overflowing, and the woods tank might be overflowing by late afternoon if I didn't pump it out some. 1.9% this morning. The next 5 days or so will be a little chaotic.

[plattmaple]

What do you use to clean your tubing?I'm not a fan of chemicals so we simply pull the tap and let them hang and drain for a week or so. We then come back and cut off the clear disposable tap and insert the tubing on the pin. Since we started doing this our tubing has never looked cleaner. Most of our damage has happened after we tapped with exception to the bear damage. The porcupine was getting the same tubing at night that we fixed a day earlier. Sometimes the tubing was almost gone. It was also chewing the bark on a bunch of trees. Very destructive critters!

[plattmaple]

Ran through the night and we had about 2000 gal at 10 am with another 1000 through the day, down to 1.5ssc. ROed it to 12 boiled 2hrs 15 mins and made 52 gal. Color came back to Amber. Hoping we have a lot more season to go. I'm tired but loving every minute of it!

[wnybassman]

I am really, really low on firewood.

I am burning through it a little more than I thought I was going to. I have some syrup wood reserves and I have also been tapping into some old covered campfire wood I have down at the maple property on the days it's nice enough to haul it up.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I'm up to about 52 gallons of finished syrup drawn off and probably have close to 500 gallons to boil today. After today's haul I will break over 3000 gallons of sap since 2/7. I was pretty impressed how well things were flowing yesterday 33-34 degrees. There's just something great about ice cold, fresh sap.

[plattmaple]

Finally got some sap on a weekend, even if they were small runs! SSC is holding at 1.5 sap is clear and we are making a great tasting amber. Should have a decent run tomorrow ahead of some snow. We have 3 empty barrels left that we can hopefully fill with some decent syrup before we're done.

[pathfinder22]

Between Wednesday night and friday night collected 65 gallons from 25 tap.
Another 50 gallons by saturday morning. Made a little over 8 gallons this year for family and friends.
Even though the trees are running great I am ready to pull the plug as it is past the point of fun now.
pulling the taps sometime this week and dumping what's left.
I think!

[dbc569]

Tapped 45 trees out on 3/16 gravity on 2/8. We’ve made 7 gallons and have over 300 gallons of sap between Thursday and today still to finish. Running low on wood and sleep. If I can get some dry wood we’ll keep running, if not I’ll have to pull taps this week. Sugar has been below 1.5 all year.
Next year it’s more wood, bigger tanks and a bigger evaporator.

[wnybassman]

We are officially well past full crop for the season. Our sap at been running at, or above, 2% the whole time. Only one load I brought back read 1.9% a week ago. Wood supply is dwindling about the same rate as my remaining energy. I won't have to worry about making questionable syrup at the very end because we will be done well before that.

[Framerjeff]

This season has blown my mind. 1st off in January I didn't even think we were going to have a season let alone tapping early. I've collected roughly 350 gallons of sap and all of it has been 2.5 to 3 brix. That might not sound too out of the ordinary for some of you but I am also tapping all soft maples. I've had years that it never got to 1.5 which is about average for me This years been crazy half the taps out and I almost have 10 gallons of syrup and still a ways to go !!!!

[wnybassman]

Still plugging away here. Had a nice little run today, and the end of the week looks great. Shooting to be done by sometime this coming weekend, not for lack of sap, but lack of wood and energy. Some pretty impressive totals for us so far. Crazy crazy season!!

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I'm about 8 gallons shy of my 95 gallon goal which is half gallon per tap and this doesn't include what I have in the pans. I should hit the 100 gallon mark. I'm still making golden at this point. I am going to see where I am at this weekend and maybe continue one more week because I want some darker syrup, but that's it. I'm the one running out of steam this time.

[rasento]

Amazing year in Orleans county. 38 gallons up from 23 last year, with a couple more taps.

I've got 100 gallons that came today, with it still dribbling in. I think it's going to dribble all night. 46 right now 36 tonight, about to cool down on my East facing hill. I hate to waste the wood that I'm almost out of heating the evaporator up for a 4 hour boil when I'll have to boil again tomorrow.

I know this has been asked 1000 times, but any opinions the sap will stay 100% good until noon tomorrow?

[wnybassman]

Amazing year in Orleans county. 38 gallons up from 23 last year, with a couple more taps.

I've got 100 gallons that came today, with it still dribbling in. I think it's going to dribble all night. 46 right now 36 tonight, about to cool down on my East facing hill. I hate to waste the wood that I'm almost out of heating the evaporator up for a 4 hour boil when I'll have to boil again tomorrow.

I know this has been asked 1000 times, but any opinions the sap will stay 100% good until noon tomorrow?

You should be good holding the sap until tomorrow. Coolish tonight and not much for a heating sun tomorrow.

[dbc569]

Running on fumes for wood but trying to finish the sap I have from yesterday. It’s a balancing act to get through today, I may resort to breaking down pallets to finish but glad I stayed in. Part of me wishes I could hold out for this week but I’m definitely done. 45 taps and if all goes well today will hit 14-15 gallons. Very high sap volumes this year but very low sugar content.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I hit my 95 gallon goal and blew past 100 gallons last night. It was still coming off golden last night too. I think I have one more boil for the rest of my sap on Monday and finish what's in the pans. This has been my best season to date. Over half a gallon per tap and lots of fun with cooler weather.

[wnybassman]

We pulled the plug. We ended the season last night with the biggest boil of the year getting through 345 gallons. That brought us to a total of 4,490 gallons of sap processed, most of it at or above 2%, and on 210ish taps. Finished off pan contents today, and was weird actually making good syrup with it. The past several years by the time we ended we were making VERY suspect syrup. lol I'll catch up on bottling over the next few days and get a total, but should be in the 85 to 90 gallon range.

[Elky81]

I've been jealous reading all these post. I have 150 taps on good slope and a shurflo pump and I've only made 25 gallons of syrup this year. The first big run in February I made 16 gallons that week. Not sure what's going on with my woods but looking forward to next season .

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I've been jealous reading all these post. I have 150 taps on good slope and a shurflo pump and I've only made 25 gallons of syrup this year. The first big run in February I made 16 gallons that week. Not sure what's going on with my woods but looking forward to next season .

Where in Rochester? Fairport here.

[Elky81]

I'm in Marion

[wnybassman]

We pulled the plug. We ended the season last night with the biggest boil of the year getting through 345 gallons. That brought us to a total of 4,490 gallons of sap processed, most of it at or above 2%, and on 210ish taps. Finished off pan contents today, and was weird actually making good syrup with it. The past several years by the time we ended we were making VERY suspect syrup. lol I'll catch up on bottling over the next few days and get a total, but should be in the 85 to 90 gallon range.

I was spot on. Bottled exactly 20 gallons today for a total for the season of 88.75 gallons. Let the clean-up commence........

[plattmaple]

It's been a weird ending to the season. We have had a lot of perfect weather the last two weeks but not much sap. Our main bush that has vacuum pretty much quit march 18. I replaced 850 drop lines out of 1500 this year. Was really expecting that to help us towards the end. Back in the days before we replaced taps every year or had vacuum we had several times when we made syrup in January and made it to April. I do feel the new drops did help but mostly in February.
We are going to boil one more time tomorrow night to fill our last boil. Will post final numbers later. Good luck to all that are still going!

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Finished the sweet in the pans last night and got a total of 109 gallons on 192 taps. Surprisingly the last few gallons which was a batch boil in the front pan still graded amber. Very satisfied and impressed with this season. I'll be cleaning for weeks.

[wnybassman]

Finished the sweet in the pans last night and got a total of 109 gallons on 192 taps. Surprisingly the last few gallons which was a batch boil in the front pan still graded amber. Very satisfied and impressed with this season. I'll be cleaning for weeks.

Impressive numbers!!

[Dinorocks]

Finished my last boil over the weekend. Got 4 boils this season compared to the 3 I typically get. Tapped 50 trees in 50 metal buckets (I like the look of the traditional buckets hanging off the trees! Ran most sap through my bucket RO bringing sap from 2% to 4%. I boil in a 2x4 pan over fire (I keep 15-20 gallons boiling in the pan…add 5 gallons of warm sap every 30 minutes if everything is moving along smoothly). First boil was Feb 11. First 2 boils yielded golden to amber and the last 2 were dark. Made 25 gallons! Now it’s clean up time!

[plattmaple]

Finished the sweet on our finish evaporator on Sunday. Ended up right at 675 gallons. It was the most we have ever made by over 200 gallons. We did add 360 taps this year so that did add probably around 100 gallons. We tapped January 28 & 29, first boil was February 6, last boil March 24. We boiled 24 times on the 4x12 and 2 times on the 2x4. Our sap started right at 2% for a week then progressed down to 1.2 in the end. We made at least 4 barrels of golden with most of the rest amber. None of it was commercial. Overall it was a really fun season this year
We plan on adding some more taps for next year but also want to work on getting what we have better. More main lines so we can get less taps on the laterals is tops on the list. And more dry lines connected to the wet line is also on our list of upgrades.
Like others have said its now clean up time! I told my wife Sunday night that we were done boiling and she said thank god now you can do stuff around the house! Had to remind her that it takes about another month to get everything cleaned and put away! You can imagine the look I got!

[wnybassman]

A nice fresh blanket of snow here in Wyoming County that at least gives the illusion that it is winter. lol Sounds short lived though, upper 40's by mid-week. I think at least some operations around here are up and running, although I don't know that as first hand information. I am about as ready for maple season as I have ever been. No major upgrades or additions here though.

This year will be a bit of a different season for me. At the beginning of October I found myself in the hospital for a couple days with strange to me symptoms. After ruling out all the things I was worried about (stroke, cardiac stuff, etc), it was determined that my history of a little bit of T2 diabetes has morphed into a lot a bit of T2 diabetes, and that was causing my symptoms. Something I hadn't taken too seriously all of a sudden became front and center. Did a 180 on eating habits. Dropped over 55 pounds in the last 12 months, and more importantly in the last three months my A1C went from 11.2 to 5.6! Currently on zero meds, which is how I wanted to tackle this issue. No bread, no pasta, no rice, no potatoes and no sweets (including maple) of any kind. I will be telling people that even though my product isn't good for me personally, the process is. lol

Anyway, just sitting here bored on a Sunday morning and thought I'd share that.

Go Bills!!

[pathfinder22]

Congrates Bassman on getting healthy. That"s a project all in itself.
I am starting to gear up, Had to move my whole but small operation to my brothers house this season,
My maple stuff is about all the ex wife didn't take.
Wont be any big runs for us, hoping just to make a couple 3 gallons for friends and family.
Looking at the long range forecast on accuweather for my area I am not seeing any good string of 40/20, 40/20 temps until mid march.
but that changes daily.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Did a 180 on eating habits. Dropped over 55 pounds in the last 12 months, and more importantly in the last three months my A1C went from 11.2 to 5.6! Currently on zero meds, which is how I wanted to tackle this issue.

This is amazing. Congrats! Not easy to do. I bet you feel great and your doctor is shocked. Keep it up.

[debatts]

Has anyone tapped in the fingerlakes region?

[YBSean]

We might go early next week near Ithaca. The big operations we know in CNY and north country are tapping now.

[TEC]

Ready to go in southwestern NY.

[82cabby]

I’m holding off a bit. Looking more at February 16th ish….

[wnybassman]

I got everything 100% ready to go yesterday, I'm down to just flushing the RO and drilling holes. Next Tuesday/Wednesday next week is looking great for starting. The entire first week of February is looking like upper 30's by day, and 20's by night. We'll see what the long range forecast looks like early next week though.

[pathfinder22]

Gotta run to the cabin get a load of firewood due to change of location..
Added a 45 cup coffee urn this year to keep the finished/filtered syrup hot and for easier bottling...I hope...it heats water to 182-185 in testing. fingers crossed.
Everything else is ready to go, will flush the ro bucket before the first collection.
Think I am drilling holes this weekend, the trees thawed with the rain and the forecast where I am looks very favorable for the next 2 weeks or so.
then hit or miss til March. The beginning of march looks really good. yeah I know the forecast changes everyday but you have to look at the averages.
If it doesn't pan out I will run some taps at the cabin mid march. its a drive but
the buckets would be over flowing after a week of sitting.
Good luck all!

[wnybassman]

Tapped my 160 tubing taps yesterday as the rain switched to snow. Too early? Maybe. I'll let you know towards the end of March. lol I tapped Feb 5th last year so this is only one week earlier and I easily made it to the end then. I'll hold off on the buckets I put out for another week or two though.

[Nyredfox]

About 400 taps in over the weekend in Steuben County. Earliest we’ve ever tapped. The weather forecast changes every day. Yesterday it looked like we went too early. Today looks like we should have a great week…. Who knows….

[wnybassman]

360 gallons for the first boil today. Not bad for only about 160 taps in so far.

[Framerjeff]

Not bad at all!! I best get to tapping!

[82cabby]

Tapped 2/3rds of the trees today and will put the rest in tomorrow morning. Looks like quite a week ahead!

[pathfinder22]

tapped Wednesday...
65 gallons collected 2% as of this afternoon off 15 buckets.
I am good with that for starters.

[concord maple]

Everything is tapped and sugarshack all set. Should be good weekend hopefully. Most guys here in Southern Erie County are tapped.

[82cabby]

Everything is tapped and sugarshack all set. Should be good weekend hopefully. Most guys here in Southern Erie County are tapped.

I’m just north of you in West Falls. It’s been an underwhelming week so far with just about a gallon of sap per tap total. Running pretty good this evening though. Hopefully tomorrow should be a really good day, just in time for the weekend.

[Masnart]

Tapped last weekend. Runs are good. Boiling Sunday after church. Seems early but the forecast might slow things down? Either way, loving this time of year for what it brings. It's still a lot of fun. Enjoy the weekend!

[plattmaple]

4200 gallons of sap yesterday is a new one day high for us. Looks like a couple more days of runs before the cool down.

[Mrk59rsk]

Bassman,off topic but I had a question after reading your shack construction thread. Did you use the Selkirk Supervent for your stack
and if so how’s it holding up for you? Thanks.

[wnybassman]

Bassman,off topic but I had a question after reading your shack construction thread. Did you use the Selkirk Supervent for your stack
and if so how’s it holding up for you? Thanks.

I really don't recall what brand it was, but that sounds familiar. I know it was reclaimed out of my Aunt's house, it was used as a chimney for all the gas appliances (water heater, furnace, etc). It is double wall, with a galvanized exterior and stainless interior. It is holding up VERY well.

[wnybassman]

Had enough sap between yesterday and today for a small boil tonight. Syrup definitely went dark, probably pushing out the sap from the tail end of the warmup we had. Likely the lower end of robust.

[Mrk59rsk]

Thank you Bassman.

[Framerjeff]

crossing fingers for a good run this week It will be my 1st of the year 🤞🏻

[wnybassman]

crossing fingers for a good run this week It will be my 1st of the year ����

Should be a good week, I'm ready to get back at it! Put out all my buckets today, didn't want to put them out three weeks ago when I got the tubing going.

[TEC]

It sure looks pretty good here in the southern tier. We’re on a north facing hill so it takes time for sap to start flowing. Rain always helps speed things up. It looks like we’ll be busy for the next several days.

[concord maple]

Vacuum was put on last evening but not much came in and then 25 this morning. Few have started running this afternoon but trees are probably froze again after this past week and I know frost is back in the ground

[wnybassman]

Tossing around the idea of pulling the plug after these next two runs. I'll likely have plenty enough syrup for the year by then, and hate trying to wait out a warm spell for cold weather again. Never seems to work out in my favor. We'll see, maybe the forecast will change.........

[rasento]

We tapped Feb 14 in Orleans county, all hard maples. I haven't seen sap above 1.25 percent. Was wondering what others are seeing...

[YBSean]

It's been low in our bush at 1.4-1.6%. We have 60:40 reds to sugars and usually run 1.6-1.8%. No winter dormancy a likely cause.

[wnybassman]

We tapped Feb 14 in Orleans county, all hard maples. I haven't seen sap above 1.25 percent. Was wondering what others are seeing...

Tapped the last week of January and have seen everything from 1.5 to 2.1 depending on what part of the run I was getting it from.

[wnybassman]

No longer tossing around the idea of being done after this run, I will be done boiling by Monday/Tuesday next week. Will be well over full crop and more than enough syrup. I actually kinda like the short and sweet season. lol

[concord maple]

Not much coming in since it got to above freezing yesterday afternoon. Trying to get enough for one more boil.

[plattmaple]

Finally started to run better this afternoon. Drizzled a little overnight plus today for a little over a 1/2 gpt. Was hoping for more but its better than nothing. Made about 30 gal of dark. Which puts us over 3/4 crop. First dark of the year for us.

[TEC]

I had a couple of days when sap was around 1.75%. That’s good for us. Today we are a little under 1.5%. We have made nothing but dark this year. We usually make some amber but not this year. Even our dark gas a mild flavor. I think it might be because we tap a fair number or reds.

[YBSean]

Same here all dark syrup even late January run. We made some
amber last year that was low 50s on the Hanna meter.
Have not made any light syrup during these mild winters and its been 5 years since we made golden.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I started January 31 and finished what was in the pans today. At least 75 gallons. I’m so glad I started early. Now I have plenty of time to clean up on vacation. This is the earliest I’ve ever finished.

[wnybassman]

I started January 31 and finished what was in the pans today. At least 75 gallons. I’m so glad I started early. Now I have plenty of time to clean up on vacation. This is the earliest I’ve ever finished.

To be honest, I wish we could make all the syrup we need/want in a little over 4 weeks every year. lol The only other year I remember finishing this early was 2012.

[pathfinder22]

I guess we are going to call it a season...way to warm, trees are budding...
Made 5.5 gallons from our 16 buckets..
that's plenty to share with friends and family.

[wnybassman]

Finished up the season with 3,830 gallons of sap and 68 gallons of syrup. Never got "golden" this year, but got very close at 71%. And oppositely, never got "very dark" but got very close at 31%.

[TEC]

All done in south western NY. We tapped 150 trees and made 30 gallons of syrup on a Mason Welding 2x3 with a divided pan. I’m planning on purchasing something a little larger for the 2025 season. To many long nights in 2024.

[77maple]

Dumb question..Assuming sugar maples have budded, then we have a wintry day in the 20's - can the maples rebound and run good sap?

[johnallin]

There are no dumb questions…
If the sugars have truly broken buds, you’re finished.
If they’re still tight, you should have some time left.
See if you can get up close and take a good look.

[77maple]

Thanks for you insight

[ADK_XJ]

Dumb question..Assuming sugar maples have budded, then we have a wintry day in the 20's - can the maples rebound and run good sap? check those trees close to make sure they're really sugars...those buds break at the very bitter end.

[DrTimPerkins]

There are no dumb questions…
If the sugars have truly broken buds, you’re finished.
If they’re still tight, you should have some time left.
See if you can get up close and take a good look.

That’s the correct answer.

[220 maple]

Dr. Tim,
We had this discussion before, tight buds last year in February, so buddy the syrup could have driven to Proctor if it wanted to by itself. West Virginia trees I’m convinced are completely different than Vermont trees, case in point my trees don’t run a lot of sap because for eons they have grown in a area where it can be extremely dry, so they don’t move sap like a trees that for eons been in an area that has access to abundance of moisture! I’m not a researcher just my opinion.
Mark220maple

[Framerjeff]

well I tapped my trees Feb 12 silvers ,Freeman's ,and a few reds 70 taps to be exact . Collected 290 gallons ,of that I made 3 gallons 46 ounces By far my worst season Some of the trees nearer to the lake didn't drip at all , and some that did were less than 1brix .. I've never had sap that low, and I've never had a tree not drip Looks like all be moving operations to the southern tier next year Was going to wait til I retired but this season changed that I have plenty of sugar maples down there and also elevation to keep things a bit colder That's my report for season 2024 The 1st batch was Dark Amber with more of an Amber flavor The 2nd was very dark with a Dark Amber flavor another 1st