2015 season getting close

[Hungry Beaver Sugar Camp]

Been taking advantage of the "no snow" in central Minnesota, trimming out trails and brush around the Sugarbush. Last year got 27 gallons from 300 taps. Built a new boiling house this last summer and can't wait to try it out. Seems what started as a fun thing to do has turned into a full time job for a retired guy and a lot of $$$ spent. Still don't sell any but sure enjoy giving it away to friends and family. Nobody has ever said they didn't want it. We are hoping to start tapping about March 15th or so. With no snow yet season may come early this year. Of course if anything like last 2 years, it will all come end of March and April messing everything up!

[Birddog]

Been taking advantage of the "no snow" in central Minnesota, trimming out trails and brush around the Sugarbush. Last year got 27 gallons from 300 taps. Built a new boiling house this last summer and can't wait to try it out. Seems what started as a fun thing to do has turned into a full time job for a retired guy and a lot of $$$ spent. Still don't sell any but sure enjoy giving it away to friends and family. Nobody has ever said they didn't want it. We are hoping to start tapping about March 15th or so. With no snow yet season may come early this year. Of course if anything like last 2 years, it will all come end of March and April messing everything up!
It really is amazing how much time and money a person can pour into this hobby. I am similar to you but I tap less than a hundred trees and made about 9 gallons last year and I give it all away. I seem to spend almost all of my free time on "maple related" ativities but I'm not retired yet. Have a great season!

[Mudcat_21]

Took the time last weekend to cut some more wood for the cooker since the temps have been so nice. Probably meet up with everyone in the sugar shack in the next couple weeks and get an inventory of everything and make sure things are accounted for. I think this the first year where no large purchases have to made! Feel pretty good about that. Enjoy ramping up for the season everyone!

[North!]

We are making steady progress having tapped about 80% of our 25,000 tap sugarbush here in Lutsen. The snow depth is mid calf, so getting around is about as easy as we've had it for some time. We had a warmup around the 20th of January that raised the temperature into the low 30's and brought the trees to life. This May be a good indication that with the lack of frost depth, and the high moisture content of the soil, we may see a fairly strong start to the season. We expect to be finished tapping within the next week. Good luck to all.

[Birddog]

We are making steady progress having tapped about 80% of our 25,000 tap sugarbush here in Lutsen. The snow depth is mid calf, so getting around is about as easy as we've had it for some time. We had a warmup around the 20th of January that raised the temperature into the low 30's and brought the trees to life. This May be a good indication that with the lack of frost depth, and the high moisture content of the soil, we may see a fairly strong start to the season. We expect to be finished tapping within the next week. Good luck to all.
It sure is a lot different than last season for sure. If I remember right you tapped in mid January last season too. Do you warm up earlier along the shore or something? How do you keep your taps from drying up too early?

[North!]

Over the years we have found that tapping early does not negatively affect sap yields for us. We start tapping In mid January each season, and as long as no unusual warmups occur during tapping or the normal start of the sap season we expect the sap to flow into the 2nd week of May. Last year we began pulling taps the 13th of May, surprisingly the trees were still producing plenty of sap, be it of the commercial quality. We generally don't see the start of sap flow until the last week of March. I have seen a number of years where we will begin bringing sap in before producers in the central part of the state do. Being within 6 miles of Lake Superior provides a bit of warmth, and the mountainous rocky terrain seems to prevent a deep frost from occurring and slowing us down. A fellow producer that sits within 4 miles of the lake literally has no frost issues, and his trees flow hard from any warmup that occurs. This seems to hurt his yields by sometimes fouling his lines before the real good flows occur. Last year he tapped a month later than us, yet was completely dried up a week and a half before we began pulling our taps which were still producing. It is Interesting how just a couple of miles affects us so differently. Cold bush vs. warm bush.
We take plenty precautions to maintain as "sterile" an environment as possible when tapping. Clean tubing is an absolute must. Tap in weather that is below freezing, which allows for drier gloves and less chance of water trapped in the droplines to reach the spout and tap hole. Concentrate on keeping one of your gloved hands as clean and dry as possible and using the other hand to do any dirty work. Sharp bits. Seasonal spouts. During sap flow make sure vacuum is on, reducing the chance of sap from backing up into the tap hole. When shutting off vacuum, let the vacuum draw down on its own. Keeping the tap hole as clean as possible from start to finish is everything, otherwise you have no chance.

[SDdave]

This weather is killing me. First that beautiful January thaw that we had and now this. Feburary is starting to look like early March. I am going to give in and put a few taps out there to see what is happening tomorrow. I just don't know if I should go "all in" or not, still seems too early for the season to begin. But with little snow cover left, frost being weak this year, who knows? ( I think I have just been rationalizing to myself, so thanks for bearing with me). I'll report later.

SDdave

[SDdave]

So I threw in a few taps this afternoon with a friend of mine that is interested in starting making some maple syrup. I put taps in trees that have always run early, those taps were dripping about a drop to a drop and a half a second. The slower trees have not dripped a drop yet.

Have a good year everyone!

SDdave

[SilverLeaf]

I haven't put in any taps yet but on Saturday with that beautiful sun and low 40s we had, the tree in my front yard was dripping super good from a woodpecker hole.

I think nature's gonna put the brakes on us the next couple weeks though - temps dipping back down. After that, the long-term forecast, per NOAA ( http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/ ) seems to be favoring avg to slightly above avg temps.

My prediction (which is worth very little!): it'll be an early spring, but not crazy early. I'm mentally prepping for tapping about 2 wks ahead of "normal". Good luck all!

[SDdave]

Well the sap flowed. Not overly abundant, but at a gallon/tap/day. Came in at 3.5ish %. Sure glad I didn't tap them all with the cold weather returning.

Spring is on the way,
SDdave

[tonka]

How much snow do you have in the woods SDdave? I think so far we have only 5 inches or so of snow all winter, 3 of those inches melted earlier with a couple inches that we got a couple days ago that is still there. My thinking is that since we never did get the snow to help insulate the ground the trees will be slower then average in waking up for the sap to flow. A few years ago when we had one of the mildest winters on record I had trees tapped first half of March and the sap did not flow till the beginning of April and it came all at once, I think this year it will be almost the same story as that year, only difference from that winter to this winter is we had more colder periods then the winter from a few years ago, I want to say it was 2012 that was the mild winter, milder then this one.

[SDdave]

We got around 18 to 24" of snow so far and a fair amount of rain. Only snow left on the ground is in the ditches, fence lines, and groves. 2012 was much much milder down here. My youngest was born on the 2-18 that year. I tapped shortly after that and had everything in storage by March 20. I actually think I was landscaping in early to mid March, which is about a month early. Hard to say what this year will bring.

Good luck to all,

SDdave

[Birddog]

It's starting to look like a warmup after the first week or so of March. It's looking pretty cold until then! But I'm getting the itch. Bought more sap sack holders, got the taps all inventoried and cleaned up. Batteries for the drill are being charged. Going to check to make sure the evaporator is still level. Firewood is ready.

[SZimm]

If the extended forecast holds true at all for St. Cloud area - should be able to get started in a couple weeks!!

[TooManyIrons...]

I do not see the weather breaking here until the second half of March at the earliest, and when it breaks it will be fast as always. I see the likelihood of processing into April again, not that this is a problem. I have not had to fire up the snowblower at all this winter to open up the farm road but we have been getting snow in small amounts on a fairly steady schedule. Currently have around 4-6 inches on the ground.

Getting ready for the season here as well. Purchased a maple syrup hydrometer and stainless cup, hopefully will make things a little easier this year. I also purchased more taps and tubes. Have been getting the equipment out of storage and been doing inventory. A short warmup is due this weekend and I hope to use those two days to get my little shed roof built over the outdoor arch. I do not like having inclement weather dictate my processing schedule, that was a little bit frustrating last year.

I am shooting for a little less production than last year's 13 gallons total of syrup, but I also plan on tapping walnut trees to give that a try.

I need the canning jars for the upcoming season so last weekend I processed 40 pints of 2014 syrup into 33 pounds of granulated sugar. The last 25 pints of 2014 syrup remaining in the larder are a small insurance policy in case of failure this year. I gave away around 5 gallons in pints and quarts over the last year, people seemed to like the stuff I made.

[SZimm]

Has anyone tried tapping Birch? I know it takes a lot more Sap, and you have to evaporate at a lower temperature. I have also heard the taste is outstanding, I have also heard it's not all that great...I have access to hundreds of Birch trees and thought it might be worth a try.

[212Maple]

I am hoping to get out to tap on the 8th

[SDdave]

I am hoping to get out to tap on the 8th

About the same for me if the weather forecasts still hold out.

SDdave

[dlucas]

If my work schedule allows I am hoping to finish setting up so we can tap the 6th or 7th.

[Kilroy]

Anoka - I'm putting holes in trees the 7th or 8th.
Accuweather showing consistent thaw/freeze cycle starting this weekend.
Looks like 17 taps on silver maples.

[SDdave]

knock knock...Spring is knocking are you READY?

SDdave

[Gissert]

Tapped 135 trees Monday, getting the rest of my stuff ready to go Sunday or Monday. forecast is looking promising.

[mnguy]

Tapped 135 trees Monday, getting the rest of my stuff ready to go Sunday or Monday. forecast is looking promising.

Gissert any of the taps dripping yet?

[craig101]

I'll be tapping today and tomorrow.

[dufftj]

Looks tempting to tap this weekend, but just yesterday morning it was 13 below zero....Not to be a downer but the last two years most of my sap came in late march till almost the end of April.

Tim

[Minnesota Acer]

I'm tapping this evening and this weekend. The weather looks promising.

[warners point]

What a difference from last year. It only took 5 hours to put out 350 taps versus 2 days last season. Love the low snow pack. Everything is ready a d waiting for the trees to start running.

[Sugar Bush INC]

We will be taping later this week. As for now we are taking our time with the beautiful weather to actually put a roof over our heads and improve our operation. After last year we upgraded to a Polaris 900 with tracks....but it doesn't look like we are going to be using the tracks!

[SDdave]

Friday and Saturday got up to near 50 degrees. I've been stuck inside at a trade show convention bouncing off the walls thinking that my buckets are over flowing. I got to check them this morning and only 1 tap has started to drip.

SDdave

[Minnesota Acer]

Tapped 5 trees Friday (3/6) and the wood was damp but no dripping. Tapped 7 trees on Saturday and same thing except for one tree that was dripping sap but a slow drip. Excited for this season!

[212Maple]

230 taps out today... only a handful or so were dripping.

[SZimm]

I got about 35 taps done yesterday. Looking to set 15 more this week on my neighbors property. I had a few damp trees, and 1 tree dripped a little, otherwise rather uneventful.

[bhill]

13 taps set Saturday near Biwabik, MN, 13 taps set yesterday near Twig, MN. None of the trees were flowing.

[Tapping Gold]

40 Taps in the Wealthwood, MN area (the most ever) about half were wet. One tree next to the driveway had about 1" in the bag as I left. About 5" snow on ground yet.

[SDdave]

0.5 gpt today. Little worried about the forecast this week, one more night below freezing and pushing 70 now for a couple of days.

SDdave

[Birddog]

Hopefully this warm weather will thaw things out and then cool down after that!


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[Gissert]

Checked my 135 today. Nothing really moving yet in central Ottertail county. Most of the snow is gone but the ground and trunks are still pretty frozen. Thing should start soon, and next week the freeze/thaw forecast looks promising.

[SilverLeaf]

Got all my taps in this weekend. I too was amazed at how easy & quick it was to get 'em all in, with the lack of snow! Took half as much time as last year.

62 and sunny in my neck of the woods (er, prairie...) today. Gorgeous! Lots of taps still bone dry but it does appear that those that were wet are picking up a bit. I have a few buckets 1/3 full or so. So things are moving in the right direction!

[212Maple]

Silverleaf & SDDave do your silver maples have buds already?

[SilverLeaf]

Silverleaf & SDDave do your silver maples have buds already? depends upon the tree. some have visible buds; some do not. none of the ones with buds though are in any danger of opening (yet).

[Leinie]

I put 8 taps in my 4 silver maple yard trees at 4;30 this afternoon. 6 dripping in Scott County

[Birddog]

I've got one red maple dripping fast in Ham Lake today so it's getting close here.


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[SDdave]

depends upon the tree. some have visible buds; some do not. none of the ones with buds though are in any danger of opening (yet).

Ditto. Frost is still in the ground, though its getting weaker. I'll check tomorrow a little more in-depth.

SDdave

PS. little less than 0.5 gpt today.

[Gissert]

Tapped two silvers in my yard today. One is dry, the other put out a couple cups. I have 135 sugars tapped 4 miles from the house. Still nothing much at all from them. Snow is pretty much gone in the woods but all the standing water on the trails say there is still a lot of frost in the ground. They should bust loose any day soon. Hope I time it right - I have 9 days off starting Monday.

[jeffeich]

I live in NE Iowa 50 miles south of Rochester, we have 500 taps out and looks like Thursday and beyond we are going to get real busy. Lots of water, no snow left and need to get going. Temps were in the mid 50's here today, just afraid it might be a short season with all the warm weather coming. Talking mid 60's next week. Right from winter to summer. Good Luck to all.

[Baker]

I got 80 taps out last 2 days and they were all dry.not even damp.starting to get a lil nervous looking at the up coming forcast.night's in the 30's.looking like maybe one week of freeze thaw next week.if it holds true.good luck to you all .and may your buckets run full.

[craig101]

i got 1.5 gallons from 4 taps yesterday. the thermometer at my house said 26* this morning, accuweather said the same. so very pleased it dipped below freezing last night. should be a good day on those 4 taps and hopefully my other 4 taps turn on as well.

[ThiefCatcher]

I put in 37 taps yesterday in silver maples a little SW of Hutchinson, MN. There were about 3 trees that were starting to drip. My 4 year old and I had a great time tapping the trees. She has officially tapped her first tree, helping use a hand brace and hammering in the tap. Absolutely beautiful weather out. We're looking forward to the rest of the season.

[Tapping Gold]

I have one observation and two questions: Tapped two silver maples in my yard (by airport) but no sign of drips, although I see a mulberry tree on the corner has started to drip onto the street, must be getting close? Hey, has anyone seen a robin yet? not me.Lastly, who in the metro area has the full fire bricks for a reasonable price? appreciate the help. Thanks

[buck3m]

Put out my taps yesterday, March 10, in east central. Most are dripping a little today, some not at all, a very few will have produced at least two gallons by the end of the day. I expect to do the first boil tomorrow. We are in it for the fun of it so we'll be satisfied with whatever we get.

[SilverLeaf]

Lastly, who in the metro area has the full fire bricks for a reasonable price? appreciate the help. Thanks
Have you checked Smith-Sharpe?
http://ssfbs.com/
Also - i have seen firebrick at Menards before. Not sure if they have what you're looking for though.

[Gissert]

I have also found fire bricks at Fleet Farm.

[212Maple]

Acme Brick in Edina has fire brick

11011

Silver's just starting to run

[SZimm]

So of my current 36 taps, I had about 8 trees drip out a total of maybe a gallon yesterday. Another person tapping about 5 miles east of me had a lot of FULL bags...Im thinking I might get 4 or 5 gallons today...

[Tapping Gold]

Thank you for the information on the bricks, I'll give them a try. Still haven't seen a robin yet which usually indicates spring, right?
Nice to see several new reports of flowage, maybe I'm over anxious I guess.

[Hungry Beaver Sugar Camp]

Motley AREA: We got all 300 taps in Sunday with help of 4 friends. Have only several dripping real slow so far. Camp is all ready and checking everything daily waiting for the flood gates to open. That however can be like watching grass grow. Hope it is flowing good in next couple days as I have a bunch of people wanting to come to camp for the weekend and help. My luck it will start Monday and I'll be running crazy trying to do it all.

[SDdave]

Good to hear that some are flowing, how's the sugar content? I've only collected 30 or so gallons thus far, but its right at 3%. Now a couple more days of the heat wave until a return of "normal" temps.

Keep posting those reports!!

SDdave

[chad]

put four "test" taps out yesterday went out tonight and they had a little in the buckets put six more out and all but one started dripping while I was out in the woods lets hope accuweather is right on there forecast for the next few weeks

[BigPine]

Monday and Tuesday set 84 taps. Most dry, some wet, some dripping.Had one tap with 1/2 gallon.
Will be tapping a few more - shooting for 100. That's all I can do myself - with drop lines and buckets.
We have some giant hills, so collection is a workout!!!!

Located off the NW Corner of Mille Lacs - NW corner of Big Pine Lake.

[4010]

I have all silver maples sugar is at 2% not much sap yet 25 gallons large tress or not flowing.Too many irons how is it going.

[SZimm]

36 trees, 2.5 total gallons of sap on Wednesday. 2% sugar...and again the guy east of me had buckets overflowing. Any day now!!

[craig101]

i got 4 gallons from 4 taps on silvers yesterday. my 4 taps on sugars had some but not much (couple cups worth).

[hokey1499]

40 Taps put out on Sunday (3/8) near Moose Lake. So far, when checked this morning, they've only yielded a couple of gallons in total (1 or 2 cups from each tap).

[SDdave]

So out collecting tonight and heard a thump. Squirrel dropped a corn cob and just so happened hit my bucket. I looked up to see him and saw beautiful half to full inch antennaes sticking out of the buds. Glassed the rest of the silvers and so far that's the only one. Need cold weather to return to slow this budding epidemic.

SDdave

[SilverLeaf]

I looked up to see him and saw beautiful half to full inch antennaes sticking out of the buds.
SDdave

Noooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

Hang in there. Although next week's forecast keeps trending more toward disappointing, at least in our vicinity.

[Hungry Beaver Sugar Camp]

got about 10 gallons yesterday from 5 trees. I expect the other 290 will get the hint in the next couple days........

[Baker]

Looks like up here starting Monday night it will be back to freezing good at night for next week for sure.had good hard freeze here last night.but next 2 night in mid 30's .so hopefully by Tuesday Mother Nature will change her mind and help us out.still frost in the ground up here.and buds are not a problem yet.good luck.

[Joeyhowe]

So far I've collected just over 30 gallons on my 2.5 acres in oak grove mn. I have 13 trees tapped mostly sugar maples and a few silvers. Hoping this next week with the cooler temps helps get things flowing again

[Hungry Beaver Sugar Camp]

2 gallons today from 300 trees. At least getting lot of other things done in the woods with this weather.

[Gissert]

10 gallons of of 135 taps. We bottomed out about 27 degrees on the overnight. Starting Monday, I have 9 days off, home I can time the run if it starts.

[SDdave]

Noooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

Hang in there. Although next week's forecast keeps trending more toward disappointing, at least in our vicinity.

Well, had to pull 18 of the 27 taps. Left the other 9 in just to "stick" it to the weather man. But with a forecasted record high tomorrow, I think I'll have to pull those as well. Season total so far...46 gallons of 3 to 3.5% sap. It's kinda funny though, I RO'd all the sap up to today anticipating the full bucket runs, and now I'll have less time boiling than cleaning.

May all your buckets over run with 4% sap,

SDdave

[SilverLeaf]

Total bummer, SDDave!

Well the end is near for me too. First bud break on silver maples at my place today. I have two with feelers about 1/4 inch out (the rest are still looking ok but I'm sure will follow suit over the course of the next week). That went fast! A few days ago nothing looked even close.

So far this year I've collected about 1/2 gal per tap on silver maples and 1 gallon per tap on boxelders. Pretty meager. I do have enough to boil tomorrow though. Totally looking forward to that - first boil in my new sugar shack! :D

[buck3m]

So far this season we've gotten about 1 1/4 gallons of sap per tap. Friday night it froze but not hard enough and long enough to trigger a run of any consequence. Looks like the low for Saturday night/Sunday morning will be about 40 degrees.

For the next week, starting tomorrow, they are calling for highs between 42-55 and lows 24-30. Hopefully there will be some good runs. We have all sugar maples.

[EdC]

This is my first post, although I've gleaned MUCH info from the threads for the past two years. Thanks to all for that knowledge. Yesterday I checked 73 taps on south of Mille Lacs, two taps produced a couple gallons each and the rest had not started yet. Put another 23 out, so 97 total this year. Hopefully this next week freeze thaw will get it going. Last year my first boil was on April 5, this early warmup and no snow is quite a change.

[Newbie]

Just getting started on this new venture in life. I am on the far western edge of maple tree territory so I have limited access to maple trees. So far I haven't had a drop on any of my taps. Any advice\suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[Gissert]

Just hang in there. It seems like most of us are getting similar results. Freeze/Thaw cycle starting Monday and the rest of the week looks promising. We could get a solid run yet.

[maplemichael]

I collected about 300 gal sap cooking today on home made arch and pans

[Sugar Bush INC]

300 taps out and pulled 61 gallons of sap yesterday! Not counting on it running today but the weather looks promising!

[TooManyIrons...]

42 taps, 23 trees (17 silver maple and 6 black walnut). Have harvested only 45 gallons of sap as of today (Sunday 03.15). Several trees have not produced so much as a single drop yet. Much different than last year. Processed yesterday for first time, ended up at 30:1 maple and 40:1 walnut. This first batch of maple syrup turned out light/medium color, very similar to first batch last year. Flavor is excellent, much better than last year. Black Walnut syrup is interesting regarding how it finishes, a bit different in that it appears to have a significantly lower finish temperature than maple. Medium/dark color, very thick consistency. Tastes differently, tastes fine, but doesn't "wow" me. At this point I do not see any significant reason to ever do walnut again, but I have had fun experimenting with it and was worth a try.

All the syrup processors and hobbyists who I know in my area are having a similarly poor season (so far).

Good luck to all.
-Tom

[lindnova]

Slow over here also. I have about 1 gallon from one big silver maple and dry on all the others. The one high production tree last year is dry right now. I hope the temp swings this weeks produce some. I have 9 taps and was hoping to end up with at least a gallon of syrup.

Last year was my first year and had 3 taps. It overflowed the buckets when it did run and those 3 taps got me close to 30 gallons in 3 days of sap running and I ended up with 3 quarts of the best tasting syrup ever. I was hoping for more this year. I have a 2x3 evaporator I am dying to try out.

[SDdave]

All buckets cleaned and sanitized, doing a final clean on the little RO right now. Haven't even boiled yet... Only got 19 gallons of concentrate in the freezer so maybe next weekend I'll boil.

No matter what the duration of your season make it a great one,

SDdave

[Schnep's]

Edc I'm in Cove Bay on the south end of Mille Lacs. We must be close. have 65 taps and only collected 20 gallons sap. Hoping this week will be good.

[SilverLeaf]

TooManyIrons - how are the buds in the Redwood Falls area?
(As of this morning my trees near Marshall are close to 50% budded out)

[4010]

Here at Olivia I only have silvers to tap buds on large trees very close to opening. Yesterday was my best flow of the season the syrup tastes good so far.SilverLeaf are you still collecting sap from all your trees when do you decide to stop how the buds are or by the taste.

[TooManyIrons...]

Well this morning I went out and checked all the trees with binoculars, although I really didn't need them because it was obvious that 15 out of 17 maples are already in full bloom after that 70 degree day we had yesterday. My maple syrup season is done.

I am pulling the maple taps today and may tap a few more walnuts with some of that equipment. I will boil down what is in the buckets at least far enough so I can see if it tastes buddy or not.

What a dismal season. I am very disappointed after looking forward to the syruping season for the last three months, but Mother Nature does her own thing and I accept it. Time to finish up, clean up, put stuff away, and focus on gardening and getting my starter plants seeded. Hopefully the gardening season will not disappoint, but I have had two rough years in a row so I am not very hopeful.

What I need is an explanation for why I have so many trees in full bloom now but did not get so much as a single drop in the collecting buckets of at least 8 trees the entire time they were tapped. Tap holes are wounds, they should seep even in a bad collecting season like this. Does not make sense to me unless I screwed up drilling the holes and/or installing the taps (which I know did not happen).

-Tom

[Gissert]

What an odd season so far. Pulled a tad over 30 gallons from 135 sugars this morning for a season total of 40. Boiling that down now. 2 silvers in my yard have fat buds. The sugars are no where close to buds yet. Hoping the overnight freezes jump starts them.

[EdC]

Edc I'm in Cove Bay on the south end of Mille Lacs. We must be close. have 65 taps and only collected 20 gallons sap. Hoping this week will be good.

Yes sir Mr Schnep...I am south of Lake Mille Lacs near the WMA. Let me know if a good run starts this week, I'll do the same!

[Newbie]

Keeping my fingers crossed with this cooler weather moving in.

[SilverLeaf]

SilverLeaf are you still collecting sap from all your trees when do you decide to stop how the buds are or by the taste.
I go by taste/smell.
I'm not pulling my taps yet, FWIW. With tonight's freeze the trees that aren't fully flowered out just might squeeze out a bit more before giving up the ghost (a guy can hope, right?). Gotta try to salvage this year somehow.


What I need is an explanation for why I have so many trees in full bloom now but did not get so much as a single drop in the collecting buckets of at least 8 trees the entire time they were tapped.
Wish I had one for you! I'm in the same boat. I've heard old timers say that silver maples can be just a bit finicky when the weather is off, and this year is probably just a good example of that.

[Gissert]

Its 19 degrees out this morning. Just what the Doctor ordered. It will be interesting to see what the sugars do later today.

[4010]

Thank you for the reply SilverLeaf. Flowers came out in older trees yesterday not much sap but syrup was good this is my third year did get some off flavor at the end last year. My 3 largest trees have not produced much sap at all seems like the fast warm up is not good for large trees. Going to keep at it tell taste is bad.

[lastwoodsman]

We had 15 above this morning--- 25 miles east of Millacs lake---Lets see what happens later today.

[Newbie]

Nice and cool here in western MN also. I have only Silvers and no buds yet. I am not sure what is going on being I haven't got a drop yet. First time doing this and thinking I picked a bad year to start. We will see what happens.

[lastwoodsman]

Its started. Heavy runs in the cities and across the River in River Falls and Green wood WI. Many reports from the area in Central MN and WI. The next week is looking good!!

[Islander]

Lake Minnetonka reporting: Of 6, 1 was drippng, 2 were wet, set 6 more - 1 more dripping, one giant old tree starting to bud already looks questionable, other 11 look fine still

[Sugar Bush INC]

Monday the sap did not run due to the warm and windy temps on Sunday. We collected 70 gallons on Tuesday so Hopefully with the temps back to normal we will have a good year.

[4010]

Trees really produced yesterday with the 20 degree morning temps. Syrup still tastes good even with flowers coming out of buds.

[Newbie]

Tiny little buds now and still not a drop on 10 taps. Looking dismal the way it's been. Praying for a miracle so I can try boiling my first ever batch.

[Joeyhowe]

North centeral mn. Trees ran good yesterday but all my maples are fully flowered. Sap was really cloudy and smelt funny the seasons over for me. Ended up with two gallons of syrup from 16 taps. Hopefully next years better. For my first year tapping I'm still impressed with the way things went. Lots of good help on this forum!

[Tapping Gold]

Trees are running better than before in my area. Collected 50 gallons on 40 taps over the past 6 days. Ground is squishy but still feels solid under that in most areas. I do not have a hydrometer, but hands were sticky after empting collection bags, that's a good sign :) Hopefully things should bust loose soon, pray for a low pressure event.

[maplemichael]

cooking today about 8 gals syrup made so far 60 taps not all trees running but were getting sap at 3%

[North!]

Sap has been running for over a week up here on the North shore of Lake Superior. The frost and snow have been hindering sap flow a bit, and the sugar content started a bit weak at 1%. But today we are running at 3%, and have been averaging about 150 gallons of syrup daily on our 24,000 taps. Hopeful the thaw starts soon so we can start to crank it up. I am pleased with the early start considering we generally don't make a lot of syrup in March. A brief cool down over the weekend will allow for some much needed rest. Snow pac generally in the ankle to mid calf depth. I am hoping for more snow to help prolong the season. Good luck to all.

[dufftj]

Wow this season came a lot earlier then the last two years! I was out of town when it started and after I got back all of the silvers I usually tap had already budded.......I wasn't going to tap this year, but the reds were still tight so I put out a few taps on Tuesday afternoon after a had freeze the night before. Its really amazing what some smaller reds will squirt out...It finally froze hard again last night and am hoping for another good run today into tomorrow...I don't have enough sap to fire up the arch but will boil it off on the propane burner..

Tim

[buck3m]

Very good run this afternoon. Tomorrow will be the first long boil of the season.

[SZimm]

This year I have a total of 50 taps. I am averaging about 20 gallons sap each day. I am measuring 3% sugar. So far I have 17 pints syrup. However, I quickly made the discovery that my new hydrometer is not working...no matter what it keeps dropping to the bottom of the cup. So long story short I am using temperature, taste, sheeting, and visual - so I may be just under / just over 66%. Still have 25 gallons sap to boil with the next couple days looking good for flow. I have small buds forming on the trees; they do not appear to be close to breaking open yet.

[Islander]

I sure hope the snow my area got yesterday helps get things running. 12 taps out on 11 trees, 2 trees producing but i wouldn't call it run. I'm not getting enough sap to consider firing up the wood burner so what little i'm getting is going bad in buckets. :(

[Crystal]

Here near Detroit Lakes, we've had 40 sugar maples tapped for almost 2 weeks. Many are not dripping at all yet and some very minimally. This past Friday we boiled down about 14 gallons and got just under 2 quarts of syrup. Tastes great and has good color. Not sure on sugar content. This weekend there was hardly any flow. Any ideas on why this years tappin' season is so slow?

[Gissert]

Im down near Fergus, and have 140 sugars tapped. I pulled 100 gallons between Monday and Saturday and boiled that down to 3 gallons of Medium Amber. Why so slow? My thoughts are low snow year and pretty deep frost. I took a hay fork and can only get down 2-3 inches. Mon March 5 it was -18 degrees yet. They are running slowly today, and it 34 degrees here. I think they will bust loose soon. Probably this weekend.

[Newbie]

I am not far from Fergus and DL also and dripping very slowly. This past weekend just about shut off and a few trees haven't even started. Very tiny blooms started when it warmed up but didn't open. Sap that has dripped is nice and clear. I sure hope you are right and that they might break loose soon. First time ever doing this and hoping to get enough to boil. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[Crystal]

Nice to know that there are others in the area are experiencing the same as I. Hoping for a good run these next few weeks! Temps look promising.

[chad]

here on the south side of Mille Lacs Lake the sap has been slow also only about 110 gallons of sap on 135 taps, went out and checked yesterday and gathered 20 or so and only had six dry holes hopefully next week does something but hey its farming some years are good some not so much.

Happy Sappin everybody

[Islander]

lake minnetonka let loose after the snow, first boil tomorrow!

[SilverLeaf]

What a wierd year. All my taps (or at least the ones still left in) opened up yesterday and have been pumping it out big time through today. Sap looks & smells impeccable, despite being a week and a half after budding. Won't know for sure 'til I boil it but crossing my fingers... may salvage the season yet!

[lastwoodsman]

Running hard this week, collected about 800 gallons since Sunday. Another 200 in the woods. Will RO tomorrow and boil tomorrow evening.

[Schnep's]

Brother-in-law went and collected last night and it was running good on the south end of Mille lacs.

[SYRUP FREAK]

South of motley, sap running hard. Boiling every day. I wonder how long it will last?

[4010]

I have continued making syrup after buds opened did get some off tasting syrup. Last night back to good syrup. One interesting thing is I have some young trees planted in 1998 I started keeping the sap separate because not as many open buds on the young trees but the off flavor showed up in them first and still is bad. The flow of sap was very good the last 2 days.

[680Apple]

In the Mound/Minnetrista area and have about 120 gallons since Sunday afternoon when things took off.

[Minnesota Acer]

What I need is an explanation for why I have so many trees in full bloom now but did not get so much as a single drop in the collecting buckets of at least 8 trees the entire time they were tapped. Tap holes are wounds, they should seep even in a bad collecting season like this. Does not make sense to me unless I screwed up drilling the holes and/or installing the taps (which I know did not happen).

-Tom

Tom, I work in the same building as some tree trimmer guys and have talked to them about my maple syruping and have asked a similar question, although, not exactly like yours. I asked why it was some trees gave more sap than others. They said it has to do with the health of the tree. The more healthy the tree the more sap it gives. So, that might have something to do with it. I know I've experienced like you, but it's interesting b/c I know the tree will give sap, because there are years it does, but usually very little, but others it doesn't at all. I figure it's not the healthiest of trees for whatever reason or that I hit a dead spot in the tree. One thing I've noticed since talking with those guys. I tap silver maples and they like lowlands, like river bottoms, etc and the ones I have do well usually are watered well or have a source of water. The ones that don't do well don't get watered much and/or don't have regular water source. I theorize and this is just my theory, that the closer to ideal situations you can get for a maple (moist areas for silvers) the better their health and the better the production.

[Minnesota Acer]

I go by taste/smell.
I'm not pulling my taps yet, FWIW. With tonight's freeze the trees that aren't fully flowered out just might squeeze out a bit more before giving up the ghost (a guy can hope, right?). Gotta try to salvage this year somehow.




Dan, I'm going with your wisdom from now on. Keep taps in until it tastes too buddy. I've pulled all but one tap because the trees were either mostly or fully budded and I was worried I'd get buddy sap. Although in retrospect, I could have just tossed it out, but didn't want to do that, especially in front of the people whose trees I've tapped. I've gone by previous wisdom from this website that said to pull taps when buds are 30% or better, but I'm tossing that practice out the window and going strictly by taste. Now I did taste the sap before I pulled the taps and although it had somewhat of a buddy taste, what I call, "on edge", I still boiled it and I'm here to tell you, the syrup has been good. In fact, the last batch had a lighter colored than all but one previous batches. So, I too am baffled how a tree mostly or fully budded can kick out good sap. I'm really regretting pulling most of the taps. I could always throw them back in but it seems like a waste of time. Good to hear things are running well for you.

[chad]

gathered 110 gallons on 135 buckets Wednesday sugar went down a little but I have fresh syrup bottled the year isn't a bust yet

[Tapping Gold]

Had a brief run and my father collected 63 gallons off 40 bags yesterday in the Wealthwood area. Looks like I have some work to do. My first batch tasted amazing good. A lot of good conversations going on, keep it up.

[680Apple]

Boiled off somewhere between 120-150 gallons over the weekend. Made somewhere between 4 and 5 gallons of dark amber. Thinking about taking tomorrow off from work and start a boil tonight. Looks like with the temps here in Hennepin county, this will be about it. I really need to get a better grasp on the filtering process. Ran hot syrup through Orlon and seems like it got stuck after a quart or so.

[lastwoodsman]

Collected 220 Sunday and ran it through the RO which took it down to a little less than 100 gallons of 4.5%. Boiled that off in a few hours. Will pull taps now as the weather is changing fast for the week. Back to work.

[SZimm]

Overall from 50 taps I got about 160 gallons of sap - almost 4 gallons syrup!

I am dissapointed that I did not get much from my own trees. Thankfully my neighbor let me tap some of his, otherwise this season would not have been successful at all. Overall the season was a success. Still not sure what I am doing wrong with filtering. The first two batches were awesome. On my third batch the filter "backed up." I rinsed it out a couple times, but then I got a lot of sediment in my last batch. I got one more batch to finish this evening, and I have a new filter - so figure I would run it all through again.

With the weather warming up and work comittments I will be pulling my taps this afternoon. My neighbor is putting his place up on auction this summer so now I need to find some Maple trees for next season!

[maplemichael]

SZimm I normally let mine sit for a day or so after prefiltering before I do my finish so the sediment can settle that helps my final filtering

[craig101]

i typically pull my sap off the outdoor boiler at 215 degrees and finish inside. i filter this thru the paper filters to get some stuff out of the sweet sap. then this year this sweet sap had to sit in my fridge for a few days before I had time to finish into syrup. i poured the sweet sap into a different steel pot and noticed a nice layer of nitre on the bottom of the pot i stored the sweet sap in. i finished and filtered thru paper and orlon and it filtered great. I really think letting it settle some before finishing helped with the final filter.

next year i'll probably keep going outside until 216 or so. took until 221/222 before my hydrometer said syrup. i'll let the sweet sap settle for a few days and then finish. worked real well for me, why stop? LOL

[RileySugarbush]

We collected 240 gallons Sunday, 75 yesterday morning and another 40 late yesterday. All good and still making pretty light syrup. No hint of buddies yet. Still have about 80 gallons to boil tonight.

[SZimm]

If I let it sit before completing the final filter - do I need to heat the syrup back up or can I just filter and bottle it?

[doop]

You need to heat it first. Itll filter easier and it should be at least 180* when bottled to kill any bacteria, to prevent mold.

[warners point]

This season has sure been frustrating. 350 taps have only produced 450 gallons of sap. The lack of snow cover really drove the frost deep. I went out in the woods today and could only drive a metal rod five inches before hitting frost. Hoping the next 5 days produce some decent runs.

[dufftj]

Considering the fact that I didn't tap any silvers this year because by the time I got around to it they were budded, and I only tapped 8 reds that were still tight I'm happy with the 15 pints that I wound up with. Looking forward to next season.

Tim

[Gissert]

Finished another 6.5 gallons this morning. 18.5 gallons off of 600 gallons so far. (140 taps). Pulled another 100 gallons this afternoon and most were dripping at a good rate about 4pm. I have never had a yield this good before. No buds to speak of on the sugars and no peepers yet. There is still frost about 5 or six inches down. Shooting for 30 gallons this year

[Sugar Bush INC]

Collected over 290 gallons of sap today! It looks like the trees and weather are cooperating!

[SilverLeaf]

Glad the sap is still running for those of you up north!

Monday of this past week my trees gave their last drop, and I heard my first peeper on Thursday night, so I've packed it up for the year. The week prior to that they had run excellent. I never got the return to light syrup that some reported. Instead, mine ended up turning pretty ropey towards the end. So that was a bummer. All in all it was a down year for me. Can't wait for next year!

[Gissert]

Still looking good here. pulled another 210 gallons the last 2 days, no buds no peepers on the sugars.

[680Apple]

Finished 2.5 gallons last night. Boiled down most of it last week and then on Friday morning removed the good stuff from the boiling pan and threw out all the niter on the bottom of the pan. When we got home from Easter weekend yesterday, I put the good stuff back in the pan and finished it, ran it through an Orlon filter and it was great! Nothing on the bottom of the jars. Thinking that may be it for the season....

[chad]

Is anybody still getting any sap I went out Sunday afternoon and gathered about 80 more gallons which allowed me to finish of just over 2 more gallons hope the season goes for a bit longer would like to get more syrup

[moondog]

I collected 130 gallons in Wealthwood last night. Last collected on Saturday. I'm thinking (and hoping) that with the projected temps and the low pressure coming in that the rest of this week will be good also.

[buck3m]

Pulled the buckets yesterday in east central. Today the frogs were calling. Never did get any buddiness. It was an average season, which means it was a good one!

[680Apple]

I collected close to ten gallons of sap last night so currently boiling somewhere between 60-70 gallons off. This will be it and plan on pulling the taps tomorrow.

[Gissert]

I pulled the plug today. Trees stalled out after a decent run last weekend. Ended up with 24 gallons off 140 taps. Got a 36 to 1 ratio which I've never even come close to before. Still not much budding on the sugars and no frogs yet. Odd season, but I'll take it.

[warners point]

Still going in Mcgregor. Collected 70 gallons today. 200 so far this week. The red maples have hardly started to swell so no need to worry about the sap being bad yet. Hopefully the forcast holds true and we get a freeze tonight. The trees aren't done yet.

[chad]

I am going out today to cook off the last of what I have on hand, then going to start the clean up process just like gissert the trees basically dried up only 25 gallons out of 140 taps the last time I gathered and with work on Monday I am done for the year will let you all know my totals when done.
Best of luck

[Newbie]

Finishing up what I have collected this year. Pulled taps yesterday and got approx 20 gallons on 12 taps. First year trying this so taking baby steps. Loving it so far. Some trees of mine were dry all year so hopefully next year is better.

[Newbie]

11682

Ended with about 75 ounces. VERY light color. Not sure if that means anything.

[buck3m]

11682

Ended with about 75 ounces. VERY light color. Not sure if that means anything.

Very light! All things being equal, that's usually considered to be a good thing. Did you use a hydrometer?

[Newbie]

Sorry. Haven't checked in awhile. I did use a hydrometer and bottled it when the hydrometer said it was done.