Tree" bud" question

[tbear]

Hi Everyone,
Okay, usually when my silver maple flower buds started opening up I would call it quits and pull my taps. Not wanting buddy syrup and all. This year I thought, "What the heck?". The trees were all flowered out and most trees had flowers that were all but done. With the strange weather we've had I decided to run a little test. This past week I've collected sap, some a little cloudy, I think from the warm days, that still had a slightly sweet taste, and didn't taste nasty by any means. The day after the one cold night we had I was collecting nice clear sap again. I collected and boiled 30 gals. some clear and some cloudy. Over the next couple of days I collected 25 more gal.,again, some clear and some cloudy, which I added to the batch and boiled down yesterday. The whole time I figured I'd end up tossing the syrup. Well, I finished it this morning on the stove and ended up with 1 3/4 gal. syrup! GOOD SYRUP! AND the syrup was lighter than the previous batch! So, I had one batch of very light amber, the next batch was dark, then, when I thought it was probably over I ended up with a batch of medium amber!
So, when people speak of tree buds swelling and running the risk of buddy syrup, are they speaking about the flower buds or the leaf buds? When is it time to call it quits for the year? Thanks, good luck and have fun! Ted

[littleTapper]

Tbear, I'm finding out the same as you. Good syrup. Sap is nice and clear yet. Seems like leaf buds matter most, at least for silvers. But, I'm all for learning more from those more experienced.

[GeneralStark]

The only way to know when a tree has turned "buddy" is by the syrup flavor. Red and Silver maple buds may appear swollen during winter, but that does not mean they have budded. Just keep on making syrup until you don't like the flavor, and don't worry about what the buds look like.

[TreeTapper2]

Our silvers have partially opened buds. They started about a week ago then stopped when the temps dropped back down. Just finished 1 1/2 gals from them. Flavor a little stronger but very good. Today with a high of 32 sap was running, collecting and cooking now. Smells fine.

[Ed R]

General stark is right on the spot. If you don't want to contaminate near syrup in your evaporator or waste fuel,boil some of the fresh sap (a couple of cups) on your stove in a sauce pan for a while, smell the steam and taste the sap after it starts to color, you'll know when its buddy. Flower buds and flowers on soft maples are not a good indicator of buddy syrup. Typically if they are still running chances are the sap is still good, they seem to stop running at the same time syrup turns buddy. Just my observations.

[tbear]

Thank you all for the responces. Good information and just what I was hoping to hear! Good luck and have fun! Ted

[littleTapper]

Ted, quick follow up. I've had open flower buds for a week. Just did a quick boil of sap collected today. Beautiful light amber color and heavenly flavor. Going to keep watching the leaf buds and testing as I go. Good learning experience.

[4010]

Tbear Did you continue making more syrup if so how is it. I am still going the syrup is very light I still don't know about the flavor maybe my preference is dark syrup.

[tbear]

We are still boiling. Today will be our last outside boil. I will finish todays batch on the stove tomorrow. I'm beat and my grandson goes home tomorrow. The last few days syrup has been in the DARK range and good though I prefer AMBER. It'll make good sugar. I'm going to collect tonight, pull buckets (I hope), and either give the sap to a buddy or dump it. Have fun, Ted.