Eastern Ontario 2016

[Lespetras]

Hi all,

Just looking to see how everyone is feeling in Eastern Ontario with the weather being so mild. I'm thinking not gonna be a super duper maple season?
Being a novice tapper, I'm looking for opinions on this from the more seasoned folks. Gonna try to squeeze what I can from our sugar bush regardless, prob won't be another 2015 though😂
Regards,
Lesley

[Ontario Ian]

one thing about maple syrup is you never know what kind of season it will be till its over! We are still working away with adding 1500 taps and addition to the sugar house.

Keep the faith!!

Ian

[jmayerl]

90% of maple yield is dependent on the weather only during the maple season.....everything else is irrelevant.

[ennismaple]

90% of maple yield is dependent on the weather only during the maple season.....everything else is irrelevant.

Agreed! Remember 2014? We boiled once before March 31 and figured we were screwed. The next 2 weeks were crazy and we ended up with slightly better than an average crop.

All you can do is be ready to tap and boil if the weather dictates it is time. No sense worrying about things we cannot change.

[Lespetras]

That's very good news then, I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens late February early March. Good luck everyone, hope it's a great year!

[Galena]

Hey Lesley, you little keener you :-)

Have NOOOOO idea at all what to expect this year. But fwiw I'm not expecting another 2014/2015 season when ridiculous cold and vast amounts of snow meant a ton o' sap. Will set my taps probably early March and go from there.

[BrutemanAl]

Can't wait for the season the begin, not sure what it will be like this year, hopefully its good, because I'm out of syrup !!!!

[Run Forest Run!]

Thought I'd check in to see who's pushing the panic button. Lesley, you win the prize. :lol: I'm looking forward to another great season. Hang in there everyone. Enjoy the peace and quiet while you've got it!

P.S. Hope you had a great holiday with your new, and instant, little family Al. :)

[BrutemanAl]

Thanks Karen , it was definitely different this year having them here. Had a few small issue's but in the end the smile's on their faces made it all worth it.It has definitely been a learning curve for all of us and a struggle. The older boy has some major issue's that we were not told about, so the older boy, mom and dad are in therapy. Ok enough about that.... lets talk tap'em and sap'em :)

[Galena]

Went and looked at last year's spile holes, esp the smaller ones cause I tried those awful plastic spiles last year. As so many of those little blue bastards just fell out of the hole I had to replace all of them eventually. Anyway, absolutely no noticeable difference with regards to how well the hole healed up. Some of my trees' holes have already healed up at least halfway, regardless of spile size, and other trees have holes from the last 2-3 years that are barely closed up. So for my bush it's all about the tree, not the spile.

[Clinkis]

Went and looked at last year's spile holes, esp the smaller ones cause I tried those awful plastic spiles last year. As so many of those little blue bastards just fell out of the hole I had to replace all of them eventually. Anyway, absolutely no noticeable difference with regards to how well the hole healed up. Some of my trees' holes have already healed up at least halfway, regardless of spile size, and other trees have holes from the last 2-3 years that are barely closed up. So for my bush it's all about the tree, not the spile.

There have been tons of study's done on the health spiles and one of their big benefits is much less staining of the sap wood around the tap hole (which you cannot see). The stained wood is no longer conducive to sap flow. Therefore, by using the health spiles, you have more tapable area on the tree and decrease your chance of hitting stained wood.

As far as them falling out.....I had the same issue when I first started using them. After talking to my maple supplier, he sold me a 19/64 tapping bit and I haven't had one fall out since. I have about 50 I used last year with no problems. I have a very limited number of trees so I'm trying to do everything to keep them as healthy as possible. That said, there are lots of 7/16 taps still being used.

[Galena]

There have been tons of study's done on the health spiles and one of their big benefits is much less staining of the sap wood around the tap hole (which you cannot see). The stained wood is no longer conducive to sap flow. Therefore, by using the health spiles, you have more tapable area on the tree and decrease your chance of hitting stained wood.

As far as them falling out.....I had the same issue when I first started using them. After talking to my maple supplier, he sold me a 19/64 tapping bit and I haven't had one fall out since. I have about 50 I used last year with no problems. I have a very limited number of trees so I'm trying to do everything to keep them as healthy as possible. That said, there are lots of 7/16 taps still being used.

I've heard that too about them being healthier for the tree. Which is why I wasted good $$ on about 30 of them. I did use a small tapping bit, and they still fell out. I can understand if it's a 50k wind, but a lot of times just a light tug would be all it took to get them out and a bucket of sap on the ground.

[Clinkis]

Not really sure what else to suggest to you then. Are you sure it's a 19/64" bit and not a 5/16" you are using? I've switched all my spiles (both pipeline and buckets) to the health spiles. I did a little experiment with the buckets last year comparing the old spiles to the new health spiles and found no noticeable difference in flow between them which I was happy about. That said, they don't do you much good if you can't keep them in the tree.

[ennismaple]

Galena,

Every tree has a different growth rate - big old trees grow slower than young vigorous trees and will take longer to compartmentalize a taphole. A 5/16" taphole will always close up faster than a 7/16" taphole. Some of our trees take several years to grow over a 5/16" hole and some are completely closed in 6 months.

[67HEAVEN]

I'll be out in the backyard waiting for someone to tap (no pun intended) me on the shoulder and say, "Go!" http://i39.tinypic.com/123nqcn.jpg

[Lespetras]

What me panic? In my vast experience.. Never! Lol! Yes, unfortunately my family (extended and friends alike) aquired a taste for all u can eat pure maple syrup and maple fudge last year and now we are down to only a few litres from 44 so the heat is on to replenish our dwindled syrup stock!
Unlike last year though, I'll be sure to save the first few batches for us ( as I came to realize it's the best syrup of the season)!
Really happy to see all the regulars chiming in! Can't wait! It has become our favourite time of year!

[ennismaple]

Unlike last year though, I'll be sure to save the first few batches for us ( as I came to realize it's the best syrup of the season)!

That depends. I've made some not so great first run syrup and we've made the lightest syrup ever to come from our woods on the first boil. If I bring home XL syrup from our first run my kids turn up their noses and refuse to touch it - they want amber! To each his own.

[WI Sugarpop]

I'm not too thrilled about the light stuff either, no flavor. We mix the light with some darker stuff. Like you say, to each his own!!:)

[Clinkis]

Our dark Amber syrup is always the first to sell. We usually have a tough time selling the light syrup. I kinda prefer the amber too but the wife and mother in law like the light so it really doesn't matter what I think.

[JeffB]

Hello
I m very new here and love the site,I have been using this site and its threads to help me in every way.
This is second yr tapping and have ramped up my hobby operation BIG TIME (i think) from a oil tank arch to a full evaporator with a proper sugaring pan from jugs to mainlines and even a 16x3 three sided lean too.
Only 1 small problem I have no idea when to start tapping to early or to late , i know the ideal temp from minus 5 to plus 5 range but weather here changes from week to week My question for the veterans and hobbyist is "What month should i really start to think about tapping ,middle of Feb ,late Feb or even March.
My family thinks I m nuts because i have the sugaring dieases that there seems to be no cure for.
Maybe a little insight to this problem of WHEN TO TAP will talk me off the ledge i goning to jump from !!!!!!! LOL:o
Any input would be great .

[JeffB]

One more question how do you get the small bio about taps and equipment to post along with any questions or reply"
' i make here on maple trader:o

[BrutemanAl]

Hi JeffB welcome to the wonderful world of Maple Trader !! If you click on " Setting's " in the top right hand corner area, then click go to " My Setting's" and click on "edit Signature". When done putting in what you want click" save" , and wallah your done.

As for your other question's about when to tap, keep an eye on this page and everyone seems to start in around the same time, you can also keep an eye on Acuweather and the long range forecast to help. Don't do what I did my second year and start to early, it turned into a pain in the rear end. Spent more time dealing with frozen taps being pushed out of the holes and loosing what sap was running. I keep an eye on this forum and it pretty much lets me know the date that I will start, or pretty close to it.

[67HEAVEN]

One more question how do you get the small bio about taps and equipment to post along with any questions or reply"
' i make here on maple trader:o

Jeff,

To add a "signature" of your taps and equipment, you can click on SETTINGS (top right) and then on the left margin, click on EDIT SIGNATURE.

To include the person's post that you wish to reply to, click on REPLY WITH QUOTE.

As for when to begin tapping here in Eastern and South Central Ontario, I'm on the ledge with you. Hold my hand, because someone with a lot more experience will be along soon. :lol:

[BrutemanAl]

I need to up my production this year, ran out of syrup a few weeks ago, and the trees I tap are on someone Else's property, the property was owned by an older greek couple and they didn't mind that I used the tree's, well in late fall they sold their house and moved and the new owner doesn't mind if I use the tree's but wants syrup in exchange. So with the help of 2 little boys we went back in the forest in the fall and marked more trees to tap this spring. Then the new property owner saw I marked more trees and made sure there was trails cleared and I had good access to them lol, I think he wants syrup in a bad kinda way lol. We also had freezing rain a few weeks ago, and the day after, he went back to check the trees and came right over to my place to tell me all my trees are fine and not to worry .

[67HEAVEN]

www.geco.ca


By the way, BrutemanAl, I'm one of your customers running a whole-home Honeywell (Generec) natural gas generator. During the big ice storm a few years ago, it kept us warm and in lights for 54 hours straight.
http://i57.tinypic.com/xwrrd.jpg

[Big_Eddy]

My question for the veterans and hobbyist is "What month should i really start to think about tapping ,middle of Feb ,late Feb or even March.
....
Maybe a little insight to this problem of WHEN TO TAP will talk me off the ledge i goning to jump from !!!!!!! LOL:o
Any input would be great .

Depending on where you are, typically late Feb to early March. The larger your operation the earlier just because it takes longer to get tapped. Pipeline sometimes ahead of buckets. If you have more trees than you can boil the sap from you can tap early then add more trees later if sap yields drop off.

Tell us more about where you are and how many trees you are planning for this year.

[JeffB]

Feb 2016
Well did my first test boil today on my homemade evaporator with Patrick Phenuef 2x4 hybrid pan. I think I need more volume of air under fire for my air tight couldn't get stack temperature above 500 degrees till I cracked open the door a few inches then jumped to 800. I am using a furnace direct vent blower with about 90cfm plumbed into 1"ID piping that branches off into 5 foot long pipes with 6 5/8th holes drilled into each one of them. Any ideas how I can increase volume of air with a cheap higher CFM blower, I even tried the shop vac exhaust but this was noise and to much it blew the heat out the 10 foott high 8 inch diameter stack. Other then that the pans work awesome, sure beats flat a bottom boil. The boil in the drop flues will really decrease evaporation time a lot, not to mention my GPH will increase greatly I hope.
To answer your question I am located east of Peterborough and have gone from 50 taps first year to just over 100 this year with a max of about 150 for next yr,

[Ontario Ian]

you may need to up your pipe size, sounds like a lot of restriction there. I have a 2.5'x12', there is one 3"x24" rectangle duct feeding under the fire and three 3" round ducts feeding over the fire.

[Galena]

I need to up my production this year, ran out of syrup a few weeks ago, and the trees I tap are on someone Else's property, the property was owned by an older greek couple and they didn't mind that I used the tree's, well in late fall they sold their house and moved and the new owner doesn't mind if I use the tree's but wants syrup in exchange. So with the help of 2 little boys we went back in the forest in the fall and marked more trees to tap this spring. Then the new property owner saw I marked more trees and made sure there was trails cleared and I had good access to them lol, I think he wants syrup in a bad kinda way lol. We also had freezing rain a few weeks ago, and the day after, he went back to check the trees and came right over to my place to tell me all my trees are fine and not to worry .


Hehe, I would say that the new neighbours definitely want syrup in a REAL bad way!! Hope the new trees are big enough to help accomodate the increase in demand :-) Maybe you can also get this neighbour trained up a little bit, so if you have to go away, they can reliably collect sap for you ;-)

Oh and fwiw...last year I tapped a friend's trees, in addition to my own (I refer to it as the virgin bush). I supplied all the equipment, checked all the buckets 2x a day at least, picked up all the dropped buckets *fR$&*(T# plastic spiles*, brought all the sap home, boiled it up on my equipment, all at my cost. I asked for nothing in return and sure enough, got nothing back for all my hard work.

At the end of season I gave her her share of the syrup. And she said, 'Well gee, that was fun, let's do it again next year!' And this from someone who never so much as even walked out to check the trees once; I was there 2-3x a day during the season. And I was often up til early morning working on this extra sap.

So. Should she ask if we can tap her trees again this year, I'll smile brightly, say 'SURE! I'll bring over the equipment, drill new holes, set the spiles and buckets...then the rest is up to you. You have to find the time each and every day to collect the sap, bring it in and boil it down. I'll be happy to help out when it's at nearup stage. Have fun!' :-)

[Newbie18]

Hi: I,m over in Warkworth and in somewhat of a dilemma with this warm weather. When do you think we might be able to tap this year? Last year I had about 45-55 taps and only used an old barrel burner outside. This year am working on a new evaporator and have a 2x4 pan. Would like to put about 30 trees on vacuum (natural) and hang about 40 buckets.

[Big_Eddy]

Late February. Let the next cold snap pass and then watch the weather.

[leaky bucket]

Hey Jeff. Nice to see the fever spreading. The bio stuff I won't comment on too techy for me. But when to tap! It's a big guessing game . was at a seminar in Perth on Sat and some of the big guys fig end of Feb this year. It always different but over an average of many years most of my syrup is made in April. Now I am not saying that will be the case this year or any year but just a average. This could very well be a early season given little snow and no frost. I plan to be all washed and lines flushed by last weekend in Feb. I have 600 taps so we can do that in a day if it comes on in a hurry. Watch your 14 day weather . watch your other local producers for activity in the bush . tapping too early can be worse than missing a day of the run! Good luck you will be fine.

[Lespetras]

Hi: I,m over in Warkworth and in somewhat of a dilemma with this warm weather. When do you think we might be able to tap this year? Last year I had about 45-55 taps and only used an old barrel burner outside. This year am working on a new evaporator and have a 2x4 pan. Would like to put about 30 trees on vacuum (natural) and hang about 40 buckets.

So last year I tapped on February 9th. Mind you I'm just north of Kingston and our weather always seems quite a bit more mild than folks even 30 km north of us.. Nevertheless, it was too early as we found out at the end of the season when we were pulling our spiles the sap started flowing like crazy out of the seasons non-productive trees.. We chalked it up to premature tapping, a mistake I don't want to recreate this time around.
According to the forecast we have another cold spell coming with temps in neg teens.. I'll prob hold off until another couple of weeks. I'll post my first tap though, super excited for it!

[Big_Eddy]

For those of you getting anxious. Historical dates from the Frankford Area for tapping, and pulling spiles.

2011 Mar 20 - April 10 - Very good season even though short. More syrup made the last week than the rest of the season.
2012 Mar 4 - Mar 15 - Terrible year!! Too cold to too hot in a week
2013 Feb 24 - April 8 - almost made up for 2012
2014 Mar 7 - April 12 - slow start, finished strong
2015 Mar 9 - April 13 - slow and steady

[Bruce L]

Putting up some new laterals in the warm weather yesterday,no frost whatsoever in the bush,sink right down into the mud and leaves wherever there was no snowcover

[MaxJ]

Yesterday was feeling like something one would expect for late part of March, gets a person thinking about everything that has to done. With the 15+mm of rain and the 9-10C tempt. tomorrow it'll pretty well take what snow is around away. It looks like it'll be minus temperatures for the next two weeks with the night time going to double digits so the frost will be driven down pretty good.

[ennismaple]

This warm snap is making me nervous but I'm not ready to get the drills charged just yet! Our historical first and last boils since 2003 are:

Year 1st Boil Last Boil
2003 21-Mar 14-Apr
2004 7-Mar 15-Apr
2005 22-Mar 13-Apr
2006 12-Mar 11-Apr
2007 14-Mar 18-Apr
2008 28-Mar 16-Apr
2009 11-Mar 13-Apr
2010 8-Mar 2-Apr
2011 13-Mar 10-Apr
2012 8-Mar 18-Mar
2013 8-Mar 13-Apr
2014 22-Mar 20-Apr
2015 16-Mar 16-Apr

[Maplerock]

Hi All,

Glad to see that everyone's coming out of hibernation.

Last year we tapped on March 8 (near Morton, Ontario) and I used snowshoes to get to the trees. I went to our shack last Sunday to check things out and we have far less snow so far this year. It got up to +7C there.

I've attached a couple of photos of our shack taken last weekend for those who might be interested, and shot of our interior set-up taken during a boil last year. This was a big departure from sugaring outside in the cold with my barrel evaporator!

Good luck to everyone this season.

Cheers,

Jon






127861278712788

[leaky bucket]

I am hoping for mid march tapping ! My new evap is not arriving until Feb 26 and sold the old one already.
Cutting it close I know . the old farmers almanac says there is a lot of winter in front of us yet!
Hope they are on !

Mike

[MaxJ]

Hi All,

Glad to see that everyone's coming out of hibernation.

Last year we tapped on March 8 (near Morton, Ontario) and I used snowshoes to get to the trees. I went to our shack last Sunday to check things out and we have far less snow so far this year. It got up to +7C there.

I've attached a couple of photos of our shack taken last weekend for those who might be interested, and shot of our interior set-up taken during a boil last year. This was a big departure from sugaring outside in the cold with my barrel evaporator!

Good luck to everyone this season.

Cheers,

Jon






127861278712788

Hi Neighbour

I see the local woodpecker has been busy on your trees also Jon.:lol: You're so right about the deep snow the past few years compared to this year. That's a fine looking shack, and there's a lot of the snow gone these past few days. I tapped a couple of trees on the west side of my field, buckets were over half full this afternoon so it'll give us some drinking sap anyways.

[Lespetras]

Hi Neighbour

I see the local woodpecker has been busy on your trees also Jon.:lol: You're so right about the deep snow the past few years compared to this year. That's a fine looking shack, and there's a lot of the snow gone these past few days. I tapped a couple of trees on the west side of my field, buckets were over half full this afternoon so it'll give us some drinking sap anyways.

Maxj,
Where are you located?
Lesley

[MaxJ]

Maxj,
Where are you located?
Lesley

I'm in the hamlet of Morton

[Maplerock]

Hi MaxJ,

Good to know you're right in Morton ... thanks for asking Lesley. Our shack is in Rideauwood off Thomas Road. Judging by your photo with the bottles, you're in a really nice spot that I know well.

Cheers,

Jon

[Lespetras]

I'm in the hamlet of Morton

Oh wow! Your just up Hwy 15 from us. We are joyceville area.. I'm asking as you said you tapped already and buckets were filling!! That makes me very excited!

[MaxJ]

We bought the properties in 2013, and the syrup equipment also which included shack, 2'x4' back pan, 2'x3'divided front pan, fired by wood, pipelines, buckets, testers, and all the other misc. items to make syrup. Previous owner stated that there was 350 trees to tap on the property. I haven't done a count yet of the actual number spread over the 40 acres. I did 16 gallons in 2014, and a little bit over 6 gallons in 2015 as I was out of the country for 3 weeks of the season. This year I plan on 150 taps-115 on pipeline and 35 on buckets. Still just in the very green stages of this latest addiction.

[TurkeyJohn]

Both Max and Lespetras just up the road from me on 15 too....I'm couple doors up from Rideau Acres campground same side of road...

Lots of friends in the neighbourhood...all with the same itch...

TurkeyJohn

[MaxJ]

WOW! It seems that there's a whole lot of us in the area with the same passion, must be something in the sap. :) After getting 3 gallons of sap over a couple of days from the two taps today there was just a couple of cups, can taste the sweetness.

[Lespetras]

Both Max and Lespetras just up the road from me on 15 too....I'm couple doors up from Rideau Acres campground same side of road...

Lots of friends in the neighbourhood...all with the same itch...

TurkeyJohn

This is true.. Must be a good area, lots of maples anyways

[Bruce L]

Robins back here today.Heard geese the other day,not expecting a bumper crop.Everyone keeps asking me what the season will be like,rather not to expect much and be pleased if we get lots

[Quabbin Hill Farms]

This week i finished all my repairs and am ready to go, just need to clean up the camp a bit. Colder weather next weekend in eastern Ont. but it looks milder after that think we will start tapping near the end of the third week of Feb.

[DrewCP]

Double ready for this season. Spent most of last season at CHEO with my son. We didn't tap a single tree.

It'll be interesting to see what the weather holds after the cold spell coming up. With little to no snow coverage I think when it starts we'd better be ready. If I see a few sunny warm days at the end of February I might be tempted.

[MaxJ]

Splitting up the wood and slowly getting it together, just try to decide what to do about running a couple of new lines, do it in the cold snap and be ready for the next up swing in the weather, or wait and see if we get the predicted snow on the weekend of the 21st and trudge around through it if we get dumped on?

Had a couple of buckets out and they were half full of frozen sap, I noticed some unfrozen sap pouring out of the bucket in to the other so tested the sugar content 29%. Just about 4 ounces total after a little more melted and it was then at 25% so it was a sweet treat. :)

[Quabbin Hill Farms]

Think you had better re-check your sugar content 29% out of the tree is not possible or was that left after you removed the ice either way I have been making syrup for 50 years and have never seen 29%sap.

[Big_Eddy]

I think Max had sap that had been concentrated by freezing and was enjoying the dribble of super sweet left in the bottom.

[MaxJ]

I think Max had sap that had been concentrated by freezing and was enjoying the dribble of super sweet left in the bottom.

That's exactly what it was Eddy, not much but a sweet bonus. It really didn't take a lot of melting to go 12% then to 5 % then it melted some more and the wife said it had no taste. :)

[MaxJ]

Think you had better re-check your sugar content 29% out of the tree is not possible or was that left after you removed the ice either way I have been making syrup for 50 years and have never seen 29%sap.

Quite right on the not possible, just a natural freeze up over a few days. The sap was running at 2.5% before it froze up. Looks like the end of next week things should be running well, can't wait!

[Quabbin Hill Farms]

Bruce i bet the robins aren't to active this morning, it was -32 here in Mallorytown at 08:00 don't think i will be heading to the bush today. More like turning on the heat in the sugar house and having a few to stay warm. Maybe next week.

[MaxJ]

There wasn't much of anything flying around yesterday, at least this morning there's more birds of feeding again as the breeze died off. Still looks like a roller coaster of weather temps. looking at the longterm, though it seems that the weather forecasting hasn't been as reliable over this winter as it seems to change too often to get any sense of when a person should get serious about anything.

[Bushfrosh]

Here's a couple of graphs if anyone is interested. These are stats from our efforts the past 2 years (2014 and 2015). The weather data are an average of 3 weather stations (namely Peterborough, Trent University, and Trenton A). Also, please note that negative sap totals for a given day represent that I did not check the bush on that day. Enjoy!

[Bushfrosh]

And two more graphs if anyone is interested. The graphs show the relationship (or lack of relationship) between tree diameter, spile orientation, and sap production of the trees in my bush during the 2015 season. Note that I use the term estimated sap in the graph as I have estimated values for the odd occasion when wind blew a bucket off a spile or precipitation discoloured the sap (I directly measured 3034L of sap which was actually collected and boiled and estimated an additional 53L of sap for the purposes of these 2 graphs). Also please note that for the 2015 season, I only installed one spile per tree. Enjoy!

[Galena]

Okay, that info is just a little too complicated for my pea-sized brain to absorb. I just stick 3 spiles in each of my 6 trees (all are really big muthas so they can handle it) in the south, west, and east sides of each tree. Look at my stats for last year at the home bush (6 trees, 18 spiles, 424 l sap, approx 21l syrup) and you can see why I don't overcomplicate things! Either I get sap (buckets only, thankyamuch) from my trees, or I don't. It's that simple.

[MaxJ]

Cool charts Bushfrosh, it's always a good thing to keep a record of how the different years compare. The record i think I have this year was yesterday's snow, there's nothing like getting it all in one dumping. :(

[BrutemanAl]

Decision is made !!! I'm starting this Saturday, can't wait any longer and I need syrup !!! Should be an interesting year by the looks of it, and to add to the uncertainty of this years sap run, my wife goes in for neck surgery next Thursday, and I will be off work for just over 3 weeks to be a stay at home mom and help her and deal with the kiddlets.

[Big_Eddy]

Too soon Al. Looks like another 2 weeks of waiting at least.

Good luck with the surgery!!

[BrutemanAl]

FINE !!! I'll wait lol. Guess I will go over everything again this weekend and make sure I have enough supplies, I have to get more buckets and taps, that I know

[67HEAVEN]

Too soon Al. Looks like another 2 weeks of waiting at least.


This will only be my second year tapping. What are the signs/indicators that I should be looking for? I would have thought that this weekend's warm-up was a green light? I'm confused. http://i58.tinypic.com/23m4lko.jpg

[Big_Eddy]

No hard and fast rule - but I watch the long term forecast looking for the end of extended periods without a thaw, and runs of 3-4 days in a row with highs above freezing. One or 2 warm days interspersed with cold spells don't allow the trees to thaw enough to make it worthwhile.

If I look at the 14 day forecast today (Trenton) I don't see myself tapping in the next 2 weeks.
5 5 -4 -2 1 1 -2 -1 -2 -3 -1 -1 -1

Of course - when I look at the forecast tomorrow - it might be different.

[Bushfrosh]

Look at my stats for last year at the home bush (6 trees, 18 spiles, 424 l sap, approx 21l syrup) and you can see why I don't overcomplicate things!

I like those stats! In 2015 at your home bush, your sap:syrup ratio was 20.434:1 which implies a sugar content of roughly 4.21 for your sap. In 2014, your sap:syrup ratio was 21.421 which implies a sugar content of 4.01. By contrast my 2015 ratio was 40.481:1 (implied sugar content of 2.12) while in 2014 it was 41.903:1 (implied sugar content of 2.05). You've got some sweet muthas!!!

[ennismaple]

We are starting to tap tomorrow morning. It will take us 4 full days to get everything tapped over 2 weekends so we need to start ASAP to be ready for March 1st. We don't try to time it perfectly anymore because we are using CV's and other disposable spouts.

[Galena]

I like those stats! In 2015 at your home bush, your sap:syrup ratio was 20.434:1 which implies a sugar content of roughly 4.21 for your sap. In 2014, your sap:syrup ratio was 21.421 which implies a sugar content of 4.01. By contrast my 2015 ratio was 40.481:1 (implied sugar content of 2.12) while in 2014 it was 41.903:1 (implied sugar content of 2.05). You've got some sweet muthas!!!

Aw thanks, I always knew my trees wuz special, glad someone has better math skills than me to tell me how special!! But then I did buy the property in part because of the mature maples. And I believe in Karma, so each time I go to collect or even just check, I always give them words of encouragement and a pat on the trunk. Sometimes a hug too....doesn't hurt! :-)

ETA: Just checked the EnviroCan forecast and it's exactly like the one Big Eddy mentioned...couple warmish days followed by colder temps. So though I would have liked to tap today, will hold off til the temps are more consistent. Normally I wait til the first week of March anyway.

[wobbletop]

8 trees tapped today. Flowing very well.

I'm thinking of tapping more this year in anticipation of short season. Opinions?

Also, due to lack of snow on the ground to keep any stored sap cold, I think I'll be boiling more frequently.

[marlmucker]

Did Patrick say he was delivering your evaporator in late Feb? Just curious because I just purchased a steam hood and pre-heater. Would be awesome if he brought it all at the same time, since we are just north of Napanee

[MaxJ]

Just around 500 millilitres in each bucket today so it was a nice refreshing drink.

[Galena]

Heard the forecast, so probably not going to bother for at least another week.

[Yellzee]

feeling the need to tap trees and missing my sugarbush....

I have 1 bottle of my syrup left from 2014 and then I'm going to have to buy it in a store out here on Vancouver Island (depressing)

Big Eddy maybe I'll fly to visit the in laws at Easter and stop by to at least get some maple steam in my lungs!

Hope you folks have a great season, it's sure been a weird winter in your area.

[Big_Eddy]

feeling the need to tap trees and missing my sugarbush....

I have 1 bottle of my syrup left from 2014 and then I'm going to have to buy it in a store out here on Vancouver Island (depressing)

Big Eddy maybe I'll fly to visit the in laws at Easter and stop by to at least get some maple steam in my lungs!

Hope you folks have a great season, it's sure been a weird winter in your area.
You're welcome - you know where we are. I'll even send you back with some 2016 syrup if you drop by, although it probably won't be enough to last until your next trip east.

[MaxJ]

Really hoping that this freezing rain turns into straight rain now instead of snow, the trees are getting really heavy looking with the build up with ice. The one thing we don't need is damaged trees, they're just getting back these past few years from the devastating storm in /98. The former owners didn't tap for years, just leaving the trees recover.

[Galena]

Have to admit that I am still really on the fence about tapping this year. Normally I tap the first weekend of March, but forecast not sounding promising (according to EnviroCan) and I have to pull spiles by mid-April.

If I DO tap, and my spileholes bleed cause I have to pull earlier than normal then I'll hate myself cause sap's going to waste and I don't want infections setting in, and the syrup I make may only be a small amount due to the crazy winter we had.
But if I DON'T tap, it would be my first year of NOT tapping in 8 years...but I still have about a gallon or so leftover from last season in the fridge which would tide me over til next season...but I will have very little extra to share with friends, family, clients as I usually do.

What to do, what to do.....seems I'm screwed either way*sigh*

[Run Forest Run!]

Galena, what do you do?? I'll tell you what you do. Put taps in. Tomorrow. There. Problem solved. You're welcome. :)

[Quabbin Hill Farms]

Just do it, sap never runs much past the mid April point anyways

[Galena]

*eyeroll* Ok, ok stop twisting my arm, I'll tap then!!! :) I have to admit that last night I dug around in the Maple Log and saw that Greg is right, not much sap gathered past mid-April. And also that in the winter most comparable to the one we've just had I tapped for only 1 month and still got enough to make 3 batches or so. I'll probably still wait til next weekend though, don't think the time is still quite right yet.

[Lespetras]

So I finally tapped! Too early? Maybe, but the suspense got the better of me. It's supposed to be positive temperatures all day tomorrow and I'm sick of waiting. So far 22 taps went in and we are going to put another 28 in tomorrow. We are on our last litre of 2015 syrup, and are getting too anxious to hold off any longer.
Only 2 of the taps were already wet when we drilled. Will keep posting progress..
Lesley 😉

[JeffB]

Hey all
Well spent the day putting in my taps I couldnt wait any longer.
98 in total on the lateteral and main lines only about 25 to go on drop lines and jugs.
Thank goodness to very little snow in the bush this year but my sugar bush looks like a war zone
with sll the downed limbs and branches blocking my paths .Lol
Heres to a great season

[Run Forest Run!]

Put 9 in yesterday and 4 more today. Things are looking good so far but I'm still waiting for the forest trees to thaw out.

[MarkReynolds]

I put in 51 drop lines and another 22 on buckets by week's end, I just need to grab some rope so I can tie some buckets to the trees really windy out.

[Run Forest Run!]

Mark, I tied mine down too. Even though the thermometer said +2 out there I thought I was going to freeze to death. Sooooo windy.

[MarkReynolds]

ya i have all road side sap cows that their isn't much in the way of wind breakers with open fields on both sides i thought i was going to freeze. but a few of the sugar's were dripping.

[Lespetras]

I'm looking from the kitchen window and see some buckets 1/3 full !!! If this keeps up we could have a boil down tonight!! Just too exciting!

[Quabbin Hill Farms]

yes going to be warm in Eastern Ont. calling for plus 7 in the Brockville area starting to tap today.

[Vandy]

Not that warm here in Portland yet.. -4 right now.. I would normally be tapped, but haven't finished the new arch yet!! Hope to test boil this week and tap next weekend.

Have a great season all.

[BrutemanAl]

Just put 18 taps in, all were running but 1, I tap this 1 tree every year in hopes that one year it will give me sap.... yet again this year drilled it and it was bone dry.

[Bushfrosh]

I have tapped my 50 trees as of 13:45 this afternoon. Most were damp but they don't appear to be dripping very fast. It's a bit of an odd weather day, at least compared to the forecast. It was +6C south of Peterborough this morning at about 10:00 so I rushed to tap near Stirling. But, when I got here at 11:45, it was only +1C. The forecast still was +8C for Stirling so I did the deed and tapped. But, as of 14:00, the temp still sits at +2 here. There's not usually much of a temperature difference between Peterborough and here but today is not a usual day. Oh well, taps are in and let's see what happens, maybe it will run into the night as the forecast shows the temperature staying above 0C. A happy start-of-season to everyone!

[Bruce L]

Didn't warm up too much today.Drilled one tree just to put an anchor in for the end of a sap transfer line,didn't even wet up,not surprising though as the snow is frozen hard holding us up,as well as the ice we crossed was rock solid.

[Bushfrosh]

It's now 18:00 and the temperature has now plunged to -4C (10 degrees colder than the hourly forecast). I actually think weather forecasts are pretty good for the short-term but they really really missed it today. It currently appears I could have waited a week to tap. C'est la vie!

[TexTheDog]

We had 5 degrees today. Have 285 taps and collected over 500 litres of sap.

It is supposed to be +3 and warming overnight. Hoping to collect 300 litres tomorrow and I will start our first boil of 2016!

[MaxJ]

I really have to hand it to the AccuWeather station it was calling for +7c today, and the warmest it got was +3c in the middle of the night. By 6:30 this morning it dropped below and it just kept going down throughout the day, at one point AccuWeather was claiming it was +4 and it was -3 so much for their reporting. Nothing moved all day but it's going to get warmer again over night. SO we get a one day bump followed by another 8 days of minus weather. They keep hanging the warm carrot out for the warm up but they've got score card like the Leafs. Seems like a little closer to the lake folks are it's paying off for the sap running, well done!

[Big_Eddy]

https://vimeo.com/157072299
Running well here, just east of Frankford. 50 gals collected from ~150 trees.

[Galena]

I really have to hand it to the AccuWeather station it was calling for +7c today, and the warmest it got was +3c in the middle of the night.They keep hanging the warm carrot out for the warm up but they've got score card like the Leafs...

Hehehe glad someone else said it! I've got everything all set to go, but no way am I tapping til next weekend. Frustrating but it helps that I've taken up yoga now, that helps me be more patient....slightly :-)

[leaky bucket]

Relax. I sold my evap cause my new one was due last week !no show !! I hope it snows and freezes till April !!!! Lol

Mike

[Lespetras]

Yes today was certainly a disappointment given the predicted weather.. I'm not sure it ever got above 2+ in Inverary. And that was only before noon.. The rest of the day freezing! We collected 38 litres from 43 taps made nearup with that and are keeping our fingers crossed for the next 24 hours of more sap flow so we can cash in before another deep freeze is upon us.. Will continue to post progress.. Good luck to all!

[DrewCP]

Just checked the forecast. Looks like we are going to be bang on schedule with a March 9 tap date. Temps start to do the +3-5 daytime to -2 to -5 night time swing. Can't wait.

[Vandy]

https://vimeo.com/157072299
Running well here, just east of Frankford. 50 gals collected from ~150 trees.

Lookin Good!!

[argohauler]

Didn't warm up too much today.Drilled one tree just to put an anchor in for the end of a sap transfer line,didn't even wet up,not surprising though as the snow is frozen hard holding us up,as well as the ice we crossed was rock solid.

Hear in the banana belt, I had to take off my long underwear and tapped in my shirt yesterday. We were above +10. Can't trust our ice anymore and its getting really muddy.

[ennismaple]

We got another 1200 taps in on Saturday which means we have only 500 left to go - a short morning's work. We had to wait until late morning to start tapping because it was too cold. It barely got above freezing all day and there was not a drip out of a single tap. Yesterday while areas close to Lake Ontario were +10 C or better we were frozen solid at -5 C! Fine with me - we need another day to be completely ready.

Tapping on Saturday was a real challenge. The ice storm from Wednesday had up to a 1/2" of ice on everything! There were lots of small branches down but all appeared to be already dead and the weight just dropped them to the forest floor - which meant a lot of lines frozen into the crust! It was debatable if it was more of a pain to tap with snowshoes on or just wade through it.

Whomever is sending us the extra 20cm-30cm of snow tomorrow can keep it - we've got more than enough thank you.

[Galena]

*scratching head* I just posted a pic to member gallery but not turning up...so may as well put it here...it came 12th place in a recent photo challenge where the subject was Obsession...13428

[TurkeyJohn]

Hey Folks,

Little closer to Kingston on 15 than Les, but we saw the same thing. Weather forecasted +7 but I think we may have reached +1 and then it dropped, actually warmed up through the night..

Found a relatively easy solution to my blow-about-the-yard-sap-bucket issue. I have hundreds of pucks, too much time in rinks as a player and now that my boy skates, but I digress...Anyway, I gorilla taped a puck to the lid of my offending buckets and guess what? Not a one has blown off yet...Yet, operative word, may need to reapply tape midway of the season, but we'll see, at least I'm not chasing them now...

Happy tapping everyone!

TurkeyJohn

[MaxJ]

Wind, snow, blow, blow, blow. That's Ontario In a hand basket. Test buckets were flowing at a rate of a drop every 10 seconds.

[Lespetras]

*scratching head* I just posted a pic to member gallery but not turning up...so may as well put it here...it came 12th place in a recent photo challenge where the subject was Obsession...13428

Susan, this is the funniest photo ever!! I love it😉
Turkey John, great idea on the pucks! Will probably follow your lead on that as we suffer from the constant bucket casualty syndrome also.

As for the syrup making.. We are currently doing our first boil down of 87 litres.. The weather is nuts - blowin' a gale! Will keep posting progress,
Les

[Galena]

Susan, this is the funniest photo ever!! I love it
Turkey John, great idea on the pucks! Will probably follow your lead on that as we suffer from the constant bucket casualty syndrome also

Thanks Les, I had fun putting that shot together...if I didn't I wouldn't do it! And hopefully this wind will be gone by the time I finally get spiles in, if not I may try to get some pucks too and strap em down :)

[BrutemanAl]

I went and collected yesterday afternoon, collected 45 ltr's from my loving tree's, a few buckets were over flowing. I was surprised to say the least that I got that much. All the taps were frozen with sapsicles hanging off them, but when I knocked off the sapsicles they started dripping again.

Will have to go back over today and see if my buckets are still on the tree's, the wind around 4-5 pm was crazy around here for quite sometime last-night

[Lespetras]

13448

So we cashed in our 87 litres of sap for a yield of 3050ml of syrup.. Sugar content 3.01%!
Looks like a deep freeze for now .. Then next week all positive temps! Hopefully maple season is not nearing the end! Otherwise we'll be hoarding our 3 litres of syrup with our lives!

[Kyle Baker]

well, weather is looking promising which pushes me to log back onto the maple trader! haha Tapping this sunday to be ready for next week. Looking forward to it like a little kid waiting for Christmas morning just like every year ;)

[Run Forest Run!]

Nice work in Inverary! Kind of like cover art for Canadian Living magazine.

[Galena]

well, weather is looking promising which pushes me to log back onto the maple trader! haha Tapping this sunday to be ready for next week. Looking forward to it like a little kid waiting for Christmas morning just like every year ;)

*waving* Hey there neighbour! Yeah looks like I'll be tapping Sunday too...should be over this stoopid cold by then and temps finally sound decent. And everyone, buckle down for the storm this evening...stay warm.

[Lespetras]

Nice work in Inverary! Kind of like cover art for Canadian Living magazine.
Thx Karen,
Just like riding a bike second year around, looking forward to seeing your syrup pics also 😊

[Run Forest Run!]

Lesley, looks like it will be at least five or six days before I can boil. I've got 61L in my storage tank but I think I'll wait until the weather calms down before I try to boil anything. Have you checked out the new forecast for next week? Looks like a sap tsunami to start off followed by a train wreck if the evening temps don't drop.

[Lespetras]

Lesley, looks like it will be at least five or six days before I can boil. I've got 61L in my storage tank but I think I'll wait until the weather calms down before I try to boil anything. Have you checked out the new forecast for next week? Looks like a sap tsunami to start off followed by a train wreck if the evening temps don't drop.
Yes, that's exactly what we think too. I mean the taps should be running strong for a few days, but what happens if no negative temps occur? I don't have the experience behind me but I thought the sap flow was completely dependent on the cold negative nights and warmer days... Can anyone shed some light on this subject? Like perhaps it'll just be a lull in flow until the temp goes below zero again ( however long that takes) because really unless the moths show up or frogs are croaking there wouldn't be any imminent buddy sap would there? Or am I getting ahead of myself?

[Run Forest Run!]

Lesley, in 2012 the season began abruptly here and we didn't have a single evening when the temps dropped below freezing. Ever. Without the freezing nights to recharge the trees the sap stopped flowing entirely after about ten days. Sure, we got some sap but it was a mere fraction of what an average season would yield. Let's not hope for a repeat of that.

[Lespetras]

Thx Karen,
Well let's keep our fingers crossed that it's not a 2012 repeat!

[Quabbin Hill Farms]

Your right we need the freezing at night. When it freezes at night the tress actually come under vacuum and pull the moisture into the tree through the roots. There have been some experiments where they have placed vacuum gauges into the sapwood and the trees draw about about a -2 vacuum. So when that stop happening there is no sap in the tree.

[ennismaple]

We will be ready for a tsumani next week! Tapping will be done in a few more hours on Sunday, lines walked, vacuum pumps humming and tanks washed and ready to rock! I want 1/3 of our season's syrup in drums by the end of next week!

[Lespetras]

Your right we need the freezing at night. When it freezes at night the tress actually come under vacuum and pull the moisture into the tree through the roots. There have been some experiments where they have placed vacuum gauges into the sapwood and the trees draw about about a -2 vacuum. So when that stop happening there is no sap in the tree.

Great info! Thx for sharing! Good thing I'm off next week for the tsunami!

[MarkReynolds]

I'm off next week aswell I'm so thankfull I got it off I think I'll be busy as all of us will.

[Galena]

*groan* I'm off right now but can't tap, and back to work next week so I'll be working some long days...and night...ahh the life!

[MaxJ]

I worked at cleaning up the pans and general wash down of the sugar shack. Took the pans off to discover a winter visitor stuffed a couple of pairs of knee high socks in the fire box, and half way up the arch. Now the weird thing is these socks aren't the wife's, so what ever brought them up to the stove had to drag them a 1000ft from the nearest house. Last year it had stuffed the chimney full, and I gagged when I lit everything up and got smoked out. I was lucky I didn't have the pans full of sap at the time, as everything had to be taken apart again to fill a couple of pails full of crap. I'm happy to see finally we get to put in some long hours, and replenish the dwindling stock pile of syrup.
Oh the trees are going to flow big time this next week with the 11 & 12's mid week, a little cooler at night would be good but I'll take what's coming. Good luck to everyone, may you have many boils.

[Lespetras]

I worked at cleaning up the pans and general wash down of the sugar shack. Took the pans off to discover a winter visitor stuffed a couple of pairs of knee high socks in the fire box, and half way up the arch. Now the weird thing is these socks aren't the wife's, so what ever brought them up to the stove had to drag them a 1000ft from the nearest house.
Well, the mice have certainly got a hold of your shack but thank goodness it's time to reclaim! We have the same issue in our winter garage.. Buggers they r! I'm sure you'll get your sap boiling regardless!
😉

[Kyle Baker]

We will be ready for a tsumani next week! Tapping will be done in a few more hours on Sunday, lines walked, vacuum pumps humming and tanks washed and ready to rock! I want 1/3 of our season's syrup in drums by the end of next week!

Hey Ennis, what do you think of that forecast with mostly positive temps through the nights next week? Still gonna work out, or do you think it'll be better the following week if it cools down a bit?

[Big_Eddy]

Hey Ennis, what do you think of that forecast with mostly positive temps through the nights next week? Still gonna work out, or do you think it'll be better the following week if it cools down a bit?

If I've learned anything about maple syruping over the years, it's the following.

If you like the what you see in the weather forecast - it will change before it arrives.
If you don't like what you see in the weather forecast - it too will change.
If you take a week off when the kids are home for March break, sap won't run - but it will Monday when you go back to work.
If you have to go out of town for a day - sap will run like crazy.
When you finally get so much sap you boil all night to get caught up - cause it's going to be another great day tomorrow - all your trees will stop flowing and you'll be sitting looking at empty tanks.


I've given up trying to predict the season. Make syrup while the sap flows.

[Galena]

Well put, Big Eddy! I'm just gonna stick the spiles in Sunday and let the sap come. And stay up til 1am knowing full well I have to be out of bed by 7am...etc...

[ennismaple]

Hey Ennis, what do you think of that forecast with mostly positive temps through the nights next week? Still gonna work out, or do you think it'll be better the following week if it cools down a bit?

Kyle,

We can make 50% of our crop for the season in a week so if you miss next week's run I think you'll be sorry. Even if you go by the old rule of thumb that bucket taps are good for 6 weeks that gets you to April 17 if you tap on Sunday. Chances are pretty good that by the 3rd week of April we'll be finished or close to it so get what sap you can now.

[Kyle Baker]

Oh no worries there, im tapping this weekend regardless. Fingers crossed for a good week!


Kyle,

We can make 50% of our crop for the season in a week so if you miss next week's run I think you'll be sorry. Even if you go by the old rule of thumb that bucket taps are good for 6 weeks that gets you to April 17 if you tap on Sunday. Chances are pretty good that by the 3rd week of April we'll be finished or close to it so get what sap you can now.

[Galena]

When I used to teach riding, I often told my students - eps adult beginners used to planning and analyzing too much - to 'Stop thinking about riding, and just ride.' That was usually when they rode their best in a lesson :-)

[Galena]

Ok it's nice and sunny out but still too cold to tap...would like to tap tomorrow but willing (barely) to wait til Sunday...all but pawing at the ground in frustration!

[67HEAVEN]

Caught the perfect weather condition this afternoon. A few really cold days recently but it's now sunny and warming up. To save boiling time, I pulled ice out of some buckets. Sure doesn't leave a whole lot of sap.

It hurts to throw that much away, but I keep telling myself it's only water. :lol:

http://i64.tinypic.com/2jdq844.jpg

A corkscrew is the perfect way of lifting the ice out of the 5 gallon pail.

http://i63.tinypic.com/2vaz1ox.jpg

Let the serious flowing begin.

[BrutemanAl]

If I've learned anything about maple syruping over the years, it's the following.

If you like the what you see in the weather forecast - it will change before it arrives.
If you don't like what you see in the weather forecast - it too will change.
If you take a week off when the kids are home for March break, sap won't run - but it will Monday when you go back to work.
If you have to go out of town for a day - sap will run like crazy.
When you finally get so much sap you boil all night to get caught up - cause it's going to be another great day tomorrow - all your trees will stop flowing and you'll be sitting looking at empty tanks.


I've given up trying to predict the season. Make syrup while the sap flows.

This is awesome Eddy !! and so true

[Run Forest Run!]

Hey there 67Heaven, hate to say anything, but in my opinion those ice blocks are too solid to be just water. Flakey ice is just(ish) water. Slushy ice is just(ish) water. Hard ice has enough sugar locked inside that I'd melt those blocks and catch the 'melt off' until the blocks are half the size. Then I'd be confident in chucking the rest.

[Bruce L]

Knocked down with the flu bug for two days,batteries on the charger tonight,if it gets above freezing tomorrow, we'll see if we can get a bush or two tapped this weekend

[67HEAVEN]

Hey there 67Heaven, hate to say anything, but in my opinion those ice blocks are too solid to be just water. Flakey ice is just(ish) water. Slushy ice is just(ish) water. Hard ice has enough sugar locked inside that I'd melt those blocks and catch the 'melt off' until the blocks are half the size. Then I'd be confident in chucking the rest.

Thanks for the advice, Karen. I guess this is how we learn. ;-)

[Run Forest Run!]

You're welcome 67. You and I are small time sugarers and I'd hate to see any of our hard work and sugar get wasted. BTW, I measured the sugar content in my flakey ice the other day. It was at .4%. Definitely not something I'd spend my time on. This is where my handy dandy little $28 sap refractometer off ebay becomes indispensable. It takes all the guesswork out of my decisions.

[JeffB]

Good morning
Well I have to say I'm a little stressed with over a 100 trees tapped last weekend but only
a little drizzle of SAP in my collection barrels.
Now I'm looking at the weather forecast and wondering how the double digit temps this week will effect the flow without the freezing temps at night.
Does anyone else feel my pain LOL:lol:

[Galena]

If I were you I'd be ready for some late nights!! :-)

[marlmucker]

I share your concerns. I'm hanging buckets this morning, wondering why. Doesn't seem like it's gonna be worth the effort.

[Galena]

I share your concerns. I'm hanging buckets this morning, wondering why. Doesn't seem like it's gonna be worth the effort.

Hehe, just you wait...

[67HEAVEN]

Count me among those freaking out. :lol: I haven't got enough to even think about boiling yet, and along comes this thread in the New Jersey section where they're high-fiving about the end of a great season.

WAIT A MINUTE. Is the season that different in New Jersey?

http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?27827-Newbee-Done-amp-Happy!

[Run Forest Run!]

The forecast for the week after this coming one has been changing to look more favourable for us up here. I'm a lot more optimistic now than I have been.

[67HEAVEN]

If night-time temperatures rarely fall below freezing from now on, surely that doesn't mean that the sap stops flowing, does it? My completely inexperienced, newbie self says, "Doesn't the sap have to keep flowing up to provide nourishment to grow the leaves?".

If the sap stops flowing, how does the canopy develop? A little edu-ma-cation would be greatly appreciated....or just tell me I'm an idiot and I'll shut up. :lol:

[Galena]

I think tapping trees takes only 10% of a tree's sap, so there's plenty left over for leaves, growth etc. I always keep a close eye on my canopies. If anything, the canopies on my best trees look better each year! Certainly if any of them looked anything less than robust, I would stop tapping that tree. The sap doesn't stop flowing, but it will turn buddy, ie sour etc and nobuddy *grin* wants that.

Very simply put, we're just taking sap before all the good stuff that helps growth go up. I'm sure there are some posts by Dr Tim Perkins kickin around here, look in sub-forums like tree management. He's the expert.

Oh and re NJ...fuhgeddaboutit. So if their season's come to an end, it's because it was probably meant to (haven't been following them). Hey, two years ago I was flooded with 400+l of sap, but in Osgoode, only 35km away, they got virtually nothing. There are so many variables involved - soil and drainage, wind, temperature, sunshine, age and health of trees, microclimates - there's no point worrying about what's happening in other parts of North America.

[67HEAVEN]

Thanks Galena,

I remember hearing about the "buddy" thing last year (my first year) but had forgotten.
http://i66.tinypic.com/2us7ma0.jpg

I'll go back to watching for buds to develop and hope for some decent flow from my spiles before they show up.

[maple75]

The cold snap here finally broke. Saw a high of 0 today, got 25 taps in, sap flowing from the road side ones. Still average 35 inches of snow in the bush. Temps looking good this week.

[Run Forest Run!]

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines. :D

[Bruce L]

One bush tapped this afternoon,not a lot running yet,snow still frozen hard up the sides of the trees

[MaxJ]

Put in 95 taps this afternoon, and out of that I saw a half dozen dripping and two gushers as soon as I drilled. Over all things were pretty quiet still today, it gave me a chance to do some repairs and tweaking of the lines.

[Galena]

Thanks Galena,

I remember hearing about the "buddy" thing last year (my first year) but had forgotten.
http://i66.tinypic.com/2us7ma0.jpg

I'll go back to watching for buds to develop and hope for some decent flow from my spiles before they show up.

Relax, buds probably won't show up til about mid-April or so. If you have reds they will stop producing sap (meaning good, clear, usable sap) and bud first, in my bush they pop out at least 2 weeks before the sugars bud. My best tree will keep on producing til the very last day, when it's getting too warm and moths and flies are in the sap. Watch for sap that looks cloudy and/or smells off especially as you start to boil. Last year the final batch from the virgin bush soured on me overnight, but didn't realize it til I started to boil the next day. My house suddenly smelled like a hot muggy swamp full of frogs! I chucked it immediately - unless of course you WANT your syrup to taste like a frog's butt... >:-p
Meanwhile...stop thinking and worrying so much, and go tap, collect, make syrup, rinse, repeat!!!!!

[Lespetras]

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines. :D
Yay!! Worked today and the CEO of operations called me to say the Taps started dripping again! Yay! My engines are started!

[Run Forest Run!]

Lesley I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep tonight. It's like Santa is coming and my buckets are hung on the trees with care! The first run of the season is always so exciting! All the best for a killer run in Inverary. :D

[Ontario Ian]

we finished tapping all 2000 Saturday afternoon, took about 2 1/2 days, trees where running a bit when we drilled them. Just got to wash some tanks and hook up the vacuum pump today.

[Galena]

LOL it's barely 7am on a Sunday morning and look at how busy this place is! Tapping today, at last. Have to get my snowpants on and go stomp paths to the trees...once I actually wake up, shower etc :-)

[TurkeyJohn]

Just waiting for the day to warm up.....
It's coming.....

TurkeyJohn

[Run Forest Run!]

I can hardy stand the excitement. The sunshine is really going to kick start things out there soon!

[Galena]

Woohoo!!! So happy! Just finished setting the spiles, happy to be punching through the snowcrust which only 20 min earlier was still solid enough to walk on...and guess what...the south spile on #5 is already dripping! That same spile has been the first one to produce the last two years, so let's hope it's a good sign! Walking around with an idiotic smile on my face, at least the neighbours are used to it :-)

[BrutemanAl]

every one of my taps are leaking :(, not much happening as of right now with my stuff other than Leaky MC Leaksters

[Galena]

That sucks, Al. What kind of spiles are you using?

[MaxJ]

Seems like there is something good happening out there now, out 35 taps this morning 30 were running out of the hole as soon as I pulled the drill. It seems the smaller sugars are flowing better than the big ones right at the moment.

[Bushfrosh]

Not much here. Absolutely none of my 50 trees were dripping yet when I checked just before noon. I just rechecked a few and many are dripping but incredibly slowly. If I collect today, I strongly doubt I'll get 1L per spile. But I continue to channel my voice from the movie, Field of Dreams: If I tap it, it will come.

[Run Forest Run!]

Same here Bushfrosh. Spiles are dripping but they don't seem to be in any hurry.

[Galena]

My trees ain't in no stinkin hurry...they never are :-) Not at all unusual for #5 and #7 to start on the first day, but both #2 and now #1 have all decided to get going. So far, #2's the star, looks like a half-litre between the two pails currently going :-) Meanwhile, #9 and the might #6 Sap Machine are sitting chilly. I know my trees, so not worried!

[Bruce L]

Tapped until dark tonight,almost finished second bush,seems like there is always distractions,other things pressing come sugarmaking time. Temperature only got up to 36 here today,could warm up just a bit more

[67HEAVEN]

38F all afternoon. Nothing but dribbles from the spiles. I'm going to have a one-on-one with these trees if things don't pick up soon. :lol:

[MaxJ]

Hit a high of 3c at noon then it dropped off and was below zero again by 5pm. Only one bucket produced 3 litres, all the others seemed to be a litre or less. The pipelines seemed to be just waking up when the temps dropped off so they really didn't get far before the day ended. Had to replace part of a line today and it had to be the steepest 45+ degree drop on the property, because of a furry tree rat. So that makes two lines that they've destroyed sections of now, I'm starting to take this as a sign that they might have to be moved or culled. Though in a low area out of the breeze I had just put a dozen buckets in and I stood there listening of the drips landing in the empty buckets-pure music to the ears. :)

[Clinkis]

Rather disappointing day. Certainly not what most of us were expecting. About half of my taps dribbled for a few hours this afternoon. Here's hoping tomorrow is better before weather warms up too much!

[Run Forest Run!]

I have 19 taps in at the moment, got 6L total. What the heck??? Colour me disappointed today.

[BrutemanAl]

That sucks, Al. What kind of spiles are you using?

I'm using a mixture of spiles, some are the 7/16th with buckets hanging on them, but most are 5/16 plastic spiles with 5/16th tubing running down to pails on the ground. I think I know my mistake, definetly won't do it again, I don't know what I was thinking when I did it.....yes I put them in to far !!!! I think I was worried that after putting them in the cold snap we had last week pushed them out so I tapped them in a bit more just in case.

[Galena]

*scratching head* 6l off of 19 taps on the first day? Why so disappointed? I'd be delighted to get that much on day one. Hey I'm happy with less than 1l on the first day! So long as the taps are active or at least showing signs of waking up.

[Big_Eddy]

We tapped a week ago and collected last Sunday and Monday before the freeze. Yesterday my stoker boiled off about 50 gallons of sap while my wife and I went for a long walk- that was everything he could get out of the main tank. It started with ~80 gallons, but the last 30 are still solid.:( At least we will have ice to keep sap fresh through the upcoming warm spell. :)

Nothing running on Saturday and nothing on Sunday. Both days were so nice though, we had to spend them in the bush. What are sugarmakers to do when there is no sap running? Tap more trees! So now I have another 45 trees tapped. :lol: When the flood starts, I'll be swamped.

[Big_Eddy]

I'm using a mixture of spiles, some are the 7/16th with buckets hanging on them, but most are 5/16 plastic spiles with 5/16th tubing running down to pails on the ground. I think I know my mistake, definetly won't do it again, I don't know what I was thinking when I did it.....yes I put them in to far !!!! I think I was worried that after putting them in the cold snap we had last week pushed them out so I tapped them in a bit more just in case.

Al - don't worry about it - a bit of damp on the bark around the hole is normal and nothing to worry about, especially in the cold. Lots of mine are "leaking" a bit too. They will seal up on their own as soon as it warms up a bit. Leave them alone for now - if you have a persistent leaker later, give it a couple of gentle taps. Occasionally sap behind the tap will freeze and expand, pushing the tap out.

[BrutemanAl]

Al - don't worry about it - a bit of damp on the bark around the hole is normal and nothing to worry about, especially in the cold. Lots of mine are "leaking" a bit too. They will seal up on their own as soon as it warms up a bit. Leave them alone for now - if you have a persistent leaker later, give it a couple of gentle taps. Occasionally sap behind the tap will freeze and expand, pushing the tap out.

That's the plan Eddy, I'm just going to leave them,it's not just wet bark though on most, its actually leaking out and running down the tree, or in some cases leaking out and dripping to the ground.

[Lespetras]

That's the plan Eddy, I'm just going to leave them,it's not just wet bark though on most, its actually leaking out and running down the tree, or in some cases leaking out and dripping to the ground.
Same here! We've got lots of leaky taps. My husband went out today and reset many if them.. some of the taps (mostly ones I had done) had wood shavings at the end of the hole and so were even blocking the sap flow. But it's really good to hear that some leakage is normal.

[DrewCP]

Started tapping around 13:00 yesterday. Had to pack down the trail through the bush on snowshoes first. Still lots of snow there compared to home. Only tapped a dozen. Family was all there and my wife wanted pictures. Tapped the ones that I knew would be running.

1358713588

Picked up a dozen 5/16 plastic spiles the other day. Wanted to give them a try. We'll see how they hold. I like the smaller hole but need to know they will hold a full 2 gallon bucket before I am convinced. I also have a huge skeptic, my dad. He's been doing it since the mid 70's. Why change, everything has worked just fine for 40 years........

Heading out to tap the rest this afternoon before work tonight. Not in any sort of rush. Rain and a NE wind for the next few days will certainly turn off the taps completely until Friday. I have no real choice but to tap though. I work this weekend.

[MaxJ]

Started tapping around 13:00 yesterday. Had to pack down the trail through the bush on snowshoes first. Still lots of snow there compared to home. Only tapped a dozen. Family was all there and my wife wanted pictures. Tapped the ones that I knew would be running.

1358713588

Picked up a dozen 5/16 plastic spiles the other day. Wanted to give them a try. We'll see how they hold. I like the smaller hole but need to know they will hold a full 2 gallon bucket before I am convinced. I also have a huge skeptic, my dad. He's been doing it since the mid 70's. Why change, everything has worked just fine for 40 years........

Heading out to tap the rest this afternoon before work tonight. Not in any sort of rush. Rain and a NE wind for the next few days will certainly turn off the taps completely until Friday. I have no real choice but to tap though. I work this weekend.

I've switched completely over to the 5/16" plastic Health spiels from 7/16" stainless ones. I see no difference in hanging a 2 gallon pail off the 5/16" ones, even when it gets windy the buckets hang on.

[ennismaple]

We ran the vacuum pumps yesterday, washed the tanks and got all the releasers re-washed. It barely ran despite being sunny. All we got was some slime coming out of the lines. Unless it pours today I doubt we'll have enough sap to fire up tomorrow. Wednesday looks like we'll be able to fire up.

We got the last 450 taps in yesterday morning. I need to be on the lookout for the ****ing deer that loves to chew tubing! It will taste good on the BBQ when I find it! Took me 2 hours to get 100 taps drilled because I spent most of my time replacing a dozen or more droplines, several laterals cut in half and buried beneath the crust plus a few trees over the lines. Sooooooo frustrating!!!

[Galena]

Just finished looking at my records and figuring out which trees did best during which years...very telling to see upward, downward or hold-steady trends for each individual tree. No surprise that #6 is my rock star, it outperforms all the others...but in 2011, when I didn't tap it, #2 produced 146l all on its own, more than the other 3 trees I tapped then! So although #6 gave me 104l last year, I'd love to see it beat #2's record. Even though #6 is about 40% smaller than #2, I think it could do it :-)

[67HEAVEN]

Got less than 1/4 litre per bucket today. 12C

Colour me confused. With these temperatures, shouldn't sap be really flowing?

[Quabbin Hill Farms]

Probably not deer its those fuzzy cute little squirrels. i had just finished replacing a section of laterals today and had moved up the line 200' and I looked backed and the little bastard was back chewing on the new line had just installed. Must have been the salt on my hands he was after.to bad I didn't have my rifle with me.

[Quabbin Hill Farms]

Sometimes in the first part of the year the trees are still frozen pretty deep and it may take a couple of warm days to thaw them out.

[JeffB]

WOOOOOO ! IT'S RUNNING ITS RUNNING WOOOOOOO! ! :)
Just went out and did my first collection of the year 149 liters.
BRING IT ON ! ! !WOOOOOO !!
(does my maple sap happy dance)
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ! ! !
:lol:

[67HEAVEN]

Sometimes in the first part of the year the trees are still frozen pretty deep and it may take a couple of warm days to thaw them out.

Thanks for that information. I'm still on 2nd year jitters, but enjoy learning from those with experience.

[Galena]

Attaboy Jeff! Buckle down now for when the real sap tsunami starts, muwahahahaaa....

67Heaven, what Greg said. I bet anything most trees are still pretty well froze in the middle and thus just teasing us with little dribbles. I collected just under 2l sap today from only 2 of my 6 trees, and I'm not worried.

Has everyone forgotten what the most telltale sign of a tsunami is? It's watching the ocean vanish. Exposes shorelines, leaving boats, fish etc stranded on where the ocean floor just was. But don't worry, all that ocean and then some will be back in a big ol hurry and everyone will get slammed and be complaining about being unable to keep up! So relax, and enjoy watching the ocean vanish, while you still can.

[Run Forest Run!]

Same small collection today as I did yesterday. Galena, I'm thinking about spreading out a towel on the beach while watching the ocean recede. I hope to be running for cover soon.

[js4fn]

Lake Erie still has ice on it trees where slow to wake up pumped up 125+ gallons today should run through the night I need 300 for days boil
13597

Geese came to the pond today first time this year
13598


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Galena]

Same small collection today as I did yesterday. Galena, I'm thinking about spreading out a towel on the beach while watching the ocean recede. I hope to be running for cover soon.

Oh nononono....you don't want to run for cover, you want to head for the hills!! I have my towel on the sand too, but also a go-bag of survival gear right close by and good running shoes. I predict that in a week's time, we'll be swimming. Get yer floaties on!

Oh and just a random thought...FoodChem 101....was watching MasterChef or something similar and was reminded that water comes to the boil faster when it's covered. Sap is approx 98% water. So in order to get my measly 1.78l to come to the boil quickly so I can reduce it down to 500ml or so, I covered the pot, and once it was boiling - cover off. Steam is just hot water, once you haz it, you need to get rid of it!

[MaxJ]

Did my first collection at the end of the day, total of 47 gallons. Things are starting to wake up, and I was thinking that it was a pretty nice day out.

[Lespetras]

Did my first collection at the end of the day, total of 47 gallons. Things are starting to wake up, and I was thinking that it was a pretty nice day out.

Hey Maxj,

Your just up the road from me.. How many taps do you have? 47 gallons is nothing to shy away from! We in Inverary have collected 85 litres today from 42 taps! Currently on our second boil down.. Totalling 120litres.. Will keep posting progress!

As for beach blankets.. I agree some of the trees are frozen as some of our taps have zero drops of sap yet!! It does suck.. Waiting while being so excited can be very hard.. Like Karen mentioned before it like Christmas time .. But still waiting for Santa Claus 😉

[DrewCP]

I've switched completely over to the 5/16" plastic Health spiels from 7/16" stainless ones. I see no difference in hanging a 2 gallon pail off the 5/16" ones, even when it gets windy the buckets hang on.

Good to know MaxJ. The dozen I put in will be under high scrutiny for sure. We'll see where we're at in another 3 weeks.

[Run Forest Run!]

Have fun with the second boiling Lesley. I'm going to get things cooking tomorrow with the little bit that I've collected so far. Can't wait until I'm being carried out to sea by the tidal wave. Fingers crossed.

[DrewCP]

Tapped the last 50+ today for a total of 65. Most trees were running a little which was very surprising based on the weather. Was able to pillage yesterday's buckets and come up with enough sap to make the first pot of sap coffee this season. Always a family favorite. Set up our collection tanks and inventoried filters and bottles. I think we're pretty much ready.

[MaxJ]

I did a count this afternoon and it's now 65 buckets, 30 being tapped this afternoon. I only tapped 6 trees from the previous two years, everything else is on new trees as an experiment to see how they'll run, if good I'll do pipelines next year on them.
95 taps are on pipeline still have three lines to repair and that should bring it up to 190 total taps. 6 of the lines are north facing so they're slow starters but they seem to like the later season. I'm probably going to regret having this many taps as I remember getting 95 gallons off 65 taps last year. :)

[Lespetras]

Have fun with the second boiling Lesley. I'm going to get things cooking tomorrow with the little bit that I've collected so far. Can't wait until I'm being carried out to sea by the tidal wave. Fingers crossed.

I honestly wouldn't fret at this point.. I don't have much experience, but I do remember once the season really started last year.. We were all pretty overwhelmed with sap!! Including you! I agree it's been very hard to have to wait so long.. But I do think trees are still a bit frozen yet.

[MaxJ]

Tapped the last 50+ today for a total of 65. Most trees were running a little which was very surprising based on the weather. Was able to pillage yesterday's buckets and come up with enough sap to make the first pot of sap coffee this season. Always a family favorite. Set up our collection tanks and inventoried filters and bottles. I think we're pretty much ready.

OK you got me interested in this "SAP COFFEE" tell us more? I thought your trees would be running pretty good as well Drew your not that far away. I'm still cleaning dried sap off my eye glasses as I got splattered a few time hammering in the spouts. :)

[DrewCP]

OK you got me interested in this "SAP COFFEE" tell us more? I thought your trees would be running pretty good as well Drew your not that far away. I'm still cleaning dried sap off my eye glasses as I got splattered a few time hammering in the spouts. :)

Our trees are usually pretty stubborn. On top of a hill and not too far off Mississippi Lake. Wind is always a factor for us early.

Sap coffee has been something my parents have been doing since I can remember. Spring starts with sap coffee around here. Simply boil sap in a pot for about 6 or 7 minutes then pour it over coffee grinds instead of water. I hate sugar in my coffee but can't imagine spring without this coffee! Probably wouldn't try it with a Keurig....

[Lespetras]

Our trees are usually pretty stubborn. On top of a hill and not too far off Mississippi Lake. Wind is always a factor for us early.

Sap coffee has been something my parents have been doing since I can remember. Spring starts with sap coffee around here. Simply boil sap in a pot for about 6 or 7 minutes then pour it over coffee grinds instead of water. I hate sugar in my coffee but can't imagine spring without this coffee! Probably wouldn't try it with a Keurig....

Wow! That sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing!

[Bushfrosh]

I'm not a coffee drinker so my seasonal drink is orange sap. I take a cup of boiling sap and mix in some orange juice concentrate. Yum!

[MaxJ]

Our trees are usually pretty stubborn. On top of a hill and not too far off Mississippi Lake. Wind is always a factor for us early.

Sap coffee has been something my parents have been doing since I can remember. Spring starts with sap coffee around here. Simply boil sap in a pot for about 6 or 7 minutes then pour it over coffee grinds instead of water. I hate sugar in my coffee but can't imagine spring without this coffee! Probably wouldn't try it with a Keurig....

Thanks for the receipt and saving the coffee maker. :lol:

[Lespetras]

Batch number 2.. 120 litres of sap made 3425 ml if syrup. Sugar content of 2.45%, sap/syrup ratio is 35:1

[SPM in King]

Well, here we go...tapped 85 on tubing that are gravity fed, on Sunday. There was not much happening as of noon yesterday. They are on the north slope. So, I hooked up a Shureflo RV pump to the line and wow! All of a sudden, I was getting sap. I though it might just be the lines emptying out, so I waited 10 minutes and it just kept coming. 200L by last night. 200L more by this morning and it's still running!

For those of you on tubing, this is a game changer.

The weather looks bad for the next week or 2, this might be it for a while. I hope it runs for a few days....

[marlmucker]

When I left for work this morning the sap was running well, not sure how long that is going to last. I need about 150 gallons to fire up my evaporator. I only gathered about 30 gallons last night and I'm guessing there was approx 40 gallons in the buckets this morning when I left. If that's all I'm going to get for the next few days then it doesn't seem like it's going to be worth it. I may end up seeing if the guy up the road wants my sap.

[Run Forest Run!]

Wow Steve, that sure makes the difference! It certainly sounds like you've got the correct method for coaxing sap out of the trees in our area. Not much has happened here with my buckets on gravity.

[Maplesapper]

Well, here we go...tapped 85 on tubing that are gravity fed, on Sunday. There was not much happening as of noon yesterday. They are on the north slope. So, I hooked up a Shureflo RV pump to the line and wow! All of a sudden, I was getting sap. I though it might just be the lines emptying out, so I waited 10 minutes and it just kept coming. 200L by last night. 200L more by this morning and it's still running!

For those of you on tubing, this is a game changer.

The weather looks bad for the next week or 2, this might be it for a while. I hope it runs for a few days....

I see you are in King-
Were you able to source your pump locally ? I am trying to find one in that general area as well.

[Vandy]

Collected 140L from 109 taps yesterday eve. Broke in my new home made arch last night down to nearup.

Figure about 7GPH on my new baby with an 1/8 of wood it used to take me. I am super stoked and proceeded to tap all my neighbour's trees this am. lol :) Bring on the tsunami, then plans for bigger evap, repeat. lol

[Galena]

All trees and all spiles are going, #2 and #5 in a horse race already...#1, #7, and #9 crowding in the middle of the pack and #6 sitting chilly in the rear...all as expected! Looks like a 1-2g right now, may wait til 5ish to collect. Or not, see if I can beat my sap-collecting OCD this time round :-)

[BrutemanAl]

All mine were running today, not as well as I thought they would, but i still collected another 27 ltrs , probably another 20 ltrs or so still in buckets in the forest. Probably going to run back over around 4 pm and gather that up.

[SPM in King]

I see you are in King-
Were you able to source your pump locally ? I am trying to find one in that general area as well.

Canadian Water Warehouse Ltd.
17075 Leslie Street Unit 19
Newmarket, Ontario
L3Y 8E1 Canada

[Galena]

Collected 11l at 3pm. Don't think I've ever had such a strong start to the season. Only one leaky spile, and it's my fault cause for some reason I thought it might be good to tap above a burl....anyway should go re-drill in a more promising location :-/

[Newbie18]

unning into one large bucket, do I need a slope downward between each tree. Do I then have to leave an airlock above the highest tap or it a sealed system to the collection barrel?

[MaxJ]

94 gallons collected today, so everything is now full as full can get. So the only way I can free some space up is to do a boil in the morning. :)

I figured since I had a couple of large 250 gallon totes everything would be fine, no, suckers are sitting in 5 inches of solid ice behind everything else, one large brain fart forgetting to get them out. Called to buy a tote and I could almost see the guy laughing on the other end of the phone "Don't you know it's maple syrup season?" DAH!

[Lespetras]

Collected a total of 111 litres of sap today.. Boil #3 in progress..

[Run Forest Run!]

Wow Lesley, you are killing it! Way to go.

[Clinkis]

Been a busy couple days. Collected around 250 gallons in the last 2 days. Has been running slow but steady for the last 36 hours. Unfortunately sugar content is a little low.....around 2.4% yesterday and 2.1% today (I'm usually sound 3%). Just came in and it's still running. Got the RO all fired up yesterday, sweetened the evaporator and made about a gallon of syrup so far but stills lots to RO and boil. Will have another busy day tomorrow. I will take it because if weatherman is right this ain't gonna last long and it may be over before it really gets started.

[Lespetras]

Wow Lesley, you are killing it! Way to go.

Thx Karen, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for your trees! Have you started collecting much sap yet?
I'm a bit confused at the delay in sap flow your way. Like I do remember last year I finished a lot earlier than most..I'm starting to think that my season in the Rideau area is a bit earlier than much of Ontario due to the Great Lake exposure, I could totally be wrong in saying that but then I remember last year boiling buddy sap when many were still getting beautiful maple syrup... Can't be a coincidence that my trees are thawed out and ready sooner.. Right?

[Run Forest Run!]

Lesley, I collected 61L during those two warm days we had over a week ago. Things froze up and now during this thaw I've collected a total of 20L from Saturday through to today. That's from 19 taps. Usually my trees really give an A+ performance. Looks like summer school's in their future for this year. ;) I'm at the top of a "mountain" here so my spring is always delayed. I'm hoping that's the reason for my late arrival to the fun. Also, I always tap down the street at a friend's place to get access to some sugar maples, but the laneway is still snowed in and I don't want to get stuck part way up. By tomorrow I should be able to consider tapping those trees without spinning my car out.

However, today I boiled what I had and got about 2L of nearup. (There's still a massive ice ball in my storage tank that didn't melt down all the way. It's probably 20L's worth.) I'll finish off the nearup to syrup another day. It was nice to finally be boiling, even if it was a quick one. It was such a beautiful day out today. Looking forward to whatever comes my way.

[Galena]

...Can't be a coincidence that my trees are thawed out and ready sooner.. Right?

Heh, Lesley, your trees are a young bush of mostly 1- and 2-spilers, so smaller trees would probably thaw out a lot faster! :-) I don't know Karen's trees but I would think her elevation and proximity to the Great Lakes probably affect each other.

At this end, a nice promising start to the season, no overflowing pails. But when I put the trees to bed last night about 10pm, making sure that they got the memo that it was time to quit for the day, #5 and #6 were still plinkin steadily away...while #2 must be a union tree, won't produce too much after 5pm!

ETA: I hear geese....and just brought in 15.5l. Will have to wait til after work to collect again, then time to start foggin up the windows!!

[SPM in King]

unning into one large bucket, do I need a slope downward between each tree. Do I then have to leave an airlock above the highest tap or it a sealed system to the collection barrel?

Here's how I do it: If the whole system is sealed, you need a way for the air to escape at the bottom of the run, not at the top. I use an upside down "T" on the main line, before the barrels. Cap the end of the T (that is pointing straight up) and drill a few holes sideways through the cap. This will let the air out of the barrels as they fill. A seasoned pro once told me that you do not let air in or out at the top of the run.

Hope that helps. PM me if this is unclear.

[Lespetras]

Heh, Lesley, your trees are a young bush of mostly 1- and 2-spilers, so smaller trees would probably thaw out a lot faster! :-) I don't know Karen's trees but I would think her elevation and proximity to the Great Lakes probably affect each other.

That's true Susan, my trees would thaw out quicker, even though seemingly large, they are still young in tree years😆

Finished batch number three, 111 litres of sap made 3625ml of syrup. Sugar content of 2.8%, sap/syrup ratio of 30:1

Collected another 50 litres this morning, started batch 4. And to my despair, I found a MOTH!!! Yes a moth in one of my buckets.. I was disheartened! From my recollection this signals a nearing end to maple madness, though I do not blame the moth for relishing it's time with maple sap.. A sweet way to perish!

[MaxJ]

I had a moth two nights ago, and my heart did a little flutter as well, yesterday was a few flies as well. But that's expected as it reached 50f so things are waking up. The SAP was boiling at 7am this morning, so things are going well.

[BrutemanAl]

I had 2 moths yesterday, and a few fly's this morning when I collected. I Collected 25 ltrs.... if the sun would just make an appearance it would really help.

[TurkeyJohn]

You guys are all making me jealous, I'm in a low spot, so seems things are still cold, getting dribs and drabs from my few silvers, but not enough to boil yet. Especially you Les, just up the road and doing so well....:o

I agree with Bruteman, wish the sun would come out to play....:cool:

TurkeyJohn

[Kyle Baker]

My trees are slow to get going too TurkeyJohn, I feel your pain :p friends around me have boiled their first batches already. I have probably around 25 gallons or so, I'll have to boil it before it spoils if its going to stay warm for a couple of days. Small batch it is...


You guys are all making me jealous, I'm in a low spot, so seems things are still cold, getting dribs and drabs from my few silvers, but not enough to boil yet. Especially you Les, just up the road and doing so well....:o

I agree with Bruteman, wish the sun would come out to play....:cool:

TurkeyJohn

[ennismaple]

We got some sap yesterday (1/3 gallon per tap) but not enough to boil. The pumps ran all night so we'll fire up tomorrow. My cousins boiled down 800 gallons last night but didn't even get a runoff.

[Clinkis]

My sap hasn't stop flowing in the last 50 hours. Not running really fast but steady. Collect over 350 gallons in that time. The vacume definitely helps but my buckets are flowing reasonably well too. Also saw some moths yesterday. I'm kinda scared though because my trees usually run really well right before they turn buddy so I'm hoping that's not the case.

[Galena]

Seen some moths but not in my sap, I think they're in my firewood which is mixed hardwood...and a little po'd cause I checked my trees when I got home, all looking good, planning to collect again about 5pm. Then not 5 minutes, I'm in the house, heard a pail crash to the ground. I only lifted the lids to peek in, so I know it wasn't my doing. Of course it was a pail off of #6...no sign of any human perp so I'm thinking a fluffy-tailed tree rat is to blame. Bad squirrel!

[JeffB]

Panic button is pushed.
Collected 150 liters on Monday in a 24 hour period. I just went and collected after being away for work Tuesday night. I barely got 75 liters in 48hours
My trees have shut off not even dripping at all now with this warm weather! ! ! ! !!
I really expected the drums on my main lines to be over half full wth a great first 24 hours my jugs didn't have enough in them to even get off the 4 wheeler to check.
I'm not super new at this and what to expect but this seems like bad news for my sugar season. Should I be worried?

[Run Forest Run!]

Jeff, I think you are in decent shape to get some sap over the next few days. You have several below freezing nights starting tomorrow night and that should get the sap flowing for you. I wish I could say the same for here.

[JeffB]

Hey Karen
Just looked at the weather network mnus 1 and minus 2 for next 2 nights I sure hope it falls a little more and it flows good .I don't have enough SAP to even fire up the new evaporator I chomping at the bit to try before the SAP I have collected starts to spoil.
My fingers are crossed

[Run Forest Run!]

Jeff, I think your long range forecast looks really good. It's full steam ahead for you later this week and after the weekend. Catch up on your sleep now. :)

[JeffB]

I sure hope the weather works to wonder and it makes the SAP flow like a small river lol .if not I going to have to post a ad
"FREE SAP WANTED" to save my season lol
Will check back later and see how others trees are flowing .

[Bruce L]

Killdeers arrived back here today,lots of geese flying around,soft maple look like they're blowing out.Going to try running the vacuum pumps to see if enough will haul in to boil

[Big_Eddy]

We collected 55 gals Monday, 70 Tuesday and only 35 today. The larger trees were still flowing but the smaller ones not. That's on top of ~80 gals of ice that was in the tank from a week ago.

My youngest had sweetened the evaporator Saturday and then I boiled yesterday and made 10l of Light (aka Amber now). The boys have been boiling since they got home from school tonight and still had 80 gals left to go when I went out to check on them at 10. Not sure how long they will keep going. We still have a nice berg in the storage tank so whatever they don't finish will stay cold. Fingers crossed for a few cold nights. 13694

[maple75]

Still a slow start around here. Put 40 taps in last weekend and only collected 30 liters of sap so far. Temps have been 5 to 7 degrees daytime and around 0 to -2 at night. Hoping for a good run in the next two days so I can boil this weekend. Of my 30 liters of sap, 24 liters came from one tree along the driveway, I wish they all produced like that.

[Run Forest Run!]

That's a really nice photo of your syrup Big_Eddy. I hope your boys kick into overdrive tonight for you.

[MaxJ]

Well today was going great, got my SAP boiling early, got the tote out of the ice, moved in 3 stainless steel tables into the sugar shack, and it all ended in 5 minutes. Burnt the pan, 110 gallon boil down turned into something. Collected 67 gallons, and a mess to reckon with tommorow.::)13695

[BrutemanAl]

I had moths and fly's around the taps on a few of my trees yesterday.... stealing my sap before it got to the bucket lol !!! Really didn't get much of a flow yesterday, really made me bummed out. While I was in the bush the sun poked out a few times and the taps started dripping and then the clouds came back and they turned off. I will use today to boil down what I collected yesterday... fingers and toes are crossed that the next few nights have cooler temps and I get some more to boil. I have only have 3 liters of finished syrup right now and 2 litres of that has to go to the property owners for letting me use their tree's.

[Galena]

Glad to see the pails dry on the union trees this morning, though of course the keeners had some for me. Not enough to collect though, thank gawd, less than a gallon. May have enough by this evening to make it worth making batch #1.

[Bushfrosh]

Made it to my bush yesterday for the first time since Sunday night and I was kept busy. Collected 517L of sap from 49 taps (1 bucket had fallen off) around noon. Then gathered an additional 64L from the same 50 taps as dusk became dark. Got a small start on boiling but nothing finished yet, my revised boiling set-up was not nearly as effective as I had hoped as my back pan did not reach a boil, just steamed a bit. Will try to improve this when boiling recommences!

As for moths, I saw none during my mid-day gather but I saw several during my gather in the dark. One tree had at least 10 of them fluttering around the spile and in the bucket. I don't like to see them on my first day of gathering but it's so crazy warm for early March!!!

[SPM in King]

It has slowed down to a trickle here. Turned the pump off and installed a bypass. We need some cold nights to recharge the trees. Perhaps in a week or so.

Talk of moths must be premature. The ground is still frozen and it's only mid March...we could yet get some snow after this mild spell. Nice weather tomorrow for boiling though! I should have 700L.

[Galena]

Well I've got 45l of sap and a fearsome itch, so I collected a little over a gallon this afternoon and plan to finish off my first batch this evening. This year I am trying to NOT use filters and use instead the olde-fashioned method of simply letting the nitre settle to the bottom of a nice big jar then pour it off, and reheat when ready to store. Just fed up with filters sopping up a lot of syrup in particular, even though those same cloth filters can be saved and boiled out.

Oh and last year I had a buddy pick up some of those stainless steel funnels with detachable spouts and filters in em from Princess Auto...they work great for getting out bark etc when bringing sap in from the bush!

[Run Forest Run!]

Have fun with that first batch Galena. Hopefully the first of many more to come. :)

My trees did zero again today, but was able to get into the sugar maple bush down the street that I also tap. The snow and ice had finally receded. I brought along enough supplies to put in ten taps and buckets. I'm so glad I did. They were running big time. Plink. Plink. Plink.

[woodburner]

Glad to see the pails dry on the union trees this morning, though of course the keeners had some for me. Not enough to collect though, thank gawd, less than a gallon. May have enough by this evening to make it worth making batch #1. Help a Yankee producer from Ohio who spends most of his summers in the north country and loves the ahsayers , what are Union trees and keeners?

[Galena]

Hehe, in my never humble opinion, Union trees are the ones that won't give a drop before 8am or after 5pm....and the keeners will just keep on dripping no matter what all the others are doing. It was my two keeners that produced most of the gallon I collected today! Bet anything I could go out there right now and check, and they'd be going or at least have enough sap in their pails to prove that they've only just decided to call it a night :-0

[Lespetras]

So last evening we finished batch number four... 101 litres made 3100 ml. Sap/syrup ratio 33:1, and sugar content of 2.6%
Collected a total of 54 litres of sap today.. Holding off on boil #5 until tomorrow (taking a break). But I do have to say that the other 2 moths accompanied by the robins are sure making me shake in my boots for buddy sap! Lol, I actually think I'm traumatized by our experience with 'buddy the sap' last year..
Susan, I love your unions and keeners talk! We do become attached to our trees 

[67HEAVEN]

No below freezing temperatures are forecast for me a week and a half out. I've hardly collected enough to bother boiling so I'll probably dump the few litres of sap I have before it goes bad.

I'm sad to say that I think my 2nd year is going to be a washout. I wish others a better harvest.

[MaxJ]

The trees are taking a break for the time being, I replaced a couple of 5 gallon containers on the pipelines, I couldn't justify the time to even dump the buckets as most were appearing nearly empty at the end of the day. it looks like it a -1c for the next few nights and sunny days so things will wake up again. In the meantime I shall continue cleaning up my pan mess from last night. :(