Collection totals & average Sap % so far for 2016

[Peeper]

With last night's lightning (the first I've seen including last summer!) and rain, the sap has indeed been flowing!
My collection for the first run in the last week of January was about 82 gallons of sap (95 taps), and boiled down to a nice light amber of 1 3/4 gallons. The second collection after the snowfall of early Feb was 71 gallons of sap (119 taps), yielding a little over 1 3/4 gallons of light-medium amber. And today's AM collection of yesterday's PM and evening run of 51 gallons (119 taps), currently boiling. It's still dripping but so is the rain.

Sap % the first run averaged 2 75%, with a high tree of 3.75%. Second collection averaged 2%, with the high tree being 3.25%. This AM's collection averaged 2% with the high tree at 3.25%.

How's everyone else doing?

[West Sumner Sugar]

I just did a quick check on my lunch break and one of my 55 Gallon drums was reading right on 2% and flowing in at a good rate. Should have 3-400 gallons for the weekend boil

[Cider Hill Maple Farm]

First boil was Feb. 5th with 300 gals., second boil Feb. 14th with 500 gals., third boil Feb.21st with 1,000 gals., all was running 2%. We bottled night before last for a grand total of 19 gals + one quart. All came out light.

[Rangdale]

Sugar content is LOW this year. Been getting 2% at best and often a hair under. Almost always get 3 and a few of the trees typically run 3.5. Not this year. Thank god for RO

[boondocker]

My first boil was Feb 22nd, I had 490 gallons of 1 to 1.5% content. Ended up with 5.5 gallons of golden delicate. I'm sitting in front of the evaporator right now boiling off another 310 gallons of 1.5 to 2.0% from yesterday's run. I agree the sugar content this year in my area is horrible, but it is making some nice color and great tasting syrup.

[seclark]

My first collection for this year and the sap % was 2.25.I will boll tomorrow but was wondering if anyone can tell me what that % of sugar will equal in syrup,is there a formula for this information on this site as I could not find any.At 2.25 % will it be 50 to one or less.Thanks for any information and hope all have a great year.

[CampHamp]

You boil until you have 66% sugar. So with your respectable 2.25, I think you boil 29 gallons (66/2.25) to make one. And, since boondocker made 5.5G from 490G sap, his sap was 1.1% (5.5/490).

[I stand corrected. It is not a simple ratio. See later posts for correct answer!]

[highlandcattle]

First sap 1-27-2016. Earliest ever. So far about 1,000 gallons at 2%. 16 gallons syrup. So cold today and real high winds. Our windmills are screaming! Solar panels had sun all day, so battery bank all charged up. Ron has enough sap to boil again tom. Warm up on Sunday, so should have a good run. Interesting to see how the next few weeks will be. Waiting on new Hanna meter. Should be here Monday.

[bowhunter]

The magic number is 87. You divide the sugar content into 87. That gives you the number of gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. So you should be able to make 1 gallon of syrup from 38.7 gallons of 2.25% sap.

[highlandcattle]

Jones rule of 86. Divide 86 by sugar content %, that will give you the approximate gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup

[seclark]

Thanks everyone for your reply's,I guess I will get more syrup from what I collected than I thought!

[cpmaple]

Rule of thumb 86/sugar percent so 2% sugar content would be 43 gals of raw sap so u will boil 42 gallons of water to get one gallon of syrup.

[crashmjsapman]

First boil last night for us 21 gallons season is on its way. very happy here Micheal

[Cider Hill Maple Farm]

2,500 gallons boiled down to date. We bottled 20 gallons of delicate, with another 25 gallons to bottle today. So far so good!! Hopefully we'll see a run today, I just hooked up a new Guzzler down back on a 400 tap bush, anxious to see how it works.

Best to all!!!

[Peeper]

Sounds very lucrative with good stuff! Mine was flowing harder today but is wimping out a bit with the cloud cover. However, for some reason sugar content is higher today with most trees showing 3%. Got another gallon of light amber from the last little run earlier this week of 50 gallons, bringing the total to date (with my small setup) to 4.25 gallons. We'll see what today and the next few will bring.

[scottdevine]

First timer here. I dove into this head first and it's been an awesome experience. Since Jan 21st I have collected 611 gallons and processed 10 gallons of syrup. I am having a blast and am so appreciative of so much more this year! Incredible experience and trees were runnin again today!


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[Revi]

Probably around 250 gallons of sap so far, and we are still sweetening the pan!

All 2% so far.

We'll turn out some syrup soon.

[West Sumner Sugar]

We boiled down 150 gallons yesterday and no sign of syrup yet.

Same as most, 2% sugar content.

[DMF]

Probably around 250 gallons of sap so far, and we are still sweetening the pan!

All 2% so far.

We'll turn out some syrup soon.


We boiled down 150 gallons yesterday and no sign of syrup yet.

Same as most, 2% sugar content.

New and confused here....boiled all that sap and no syrup? What is "sweetening the pan"?

[abbott]

New and confused here....boiled all that sap and no syrup? What is "sweetening the pan"?

Assuming you have an evaporator with channels that allow sap to come in one end and syrup out the other, it takes quite a bit of sap before you get thick enough at the syrup end. My evaporator, for example, needs about 350-400 gallons of sap before I see syrup on the other side. But the good news is, at the end of the season I get 8-10 gallons of syrup out of the pans without adding any more sap!

Even if you are boiling on a flat pan that holds about 5 gallons, you will need approximately 5*40=200 gallons of sap to have 5 gallons of syrup. Of course, in that situation you'll probably take what you have at the end of the day inside to finish. Those of us working on a large scale just leave the "sweet" in the pans until next time.

Find some folks near you and watch what they're doing.

[Atgreene]

Lowest tested was 2 1/2%, most is 3%. Boil tomorrow, ran good today, still tapping.

[maineboiler]

The flood gates opened yesterday, 250 gallons of crystal clear sap. Many of the buckets over flowing. Boiled last night to make space for sap (holding tank is 150 gallons). We now have about 5 gallons ready for the finishing process, a full tank and evaporator. It was hard to keep up with the sap run , but it looks like it will slow down today. The season is off to a good start.

[Peeper]

Today the rain is flowing, and so is the sap! I don't know why it always has to coincide but the sunny days, like the last two where one hoped to collect but couldn't due to the cold, get replaced by windy warm hard rain spells where your buckets are blowing everywhere. Then the trees say "let's run now and watch 'em chase the buckets for the sap". At least that's the way it is for us old time exercising bucketeers who are too cheap to spend $$$ on miles of tubing and vacuum electricity and sit in a chair.

None-the-less I added another gallon and a half to bring my finished boiling total up to 5 3/4 before today's run. Now the big question... let today's sit in the buckets for the BIG freeze in the next 2 days, or collect like a die hard fool and boil? Decisions, decisions.

[bees1st]

". At least that's the way it is for us old time exercising bucketeers who are too cheap to spend $$$ on miles of tubing and vacuum electricity and sit in a chair

I've got miles of tubing and vacuum . Sure wish I had a moment to sit in a chair !

[Peeper]

[QUOTE. Sure wish I had a moment to sit in a chair ![/QUOTE]

I wish my chair had 4 wheels (or a tread), a motor, and a trailer with the tank instead of my two arms (with tendonitis) carrying a pair of full 5 gallon buckets solo to and from 120 taps), and two legs (with bad knees) tripping over themselves up and down rocky wet hills. Ahh, but that's the "good" exercise that earns the syrup.

[abbott]

I wish my chair had 4 wheels (or a tread), a motor, and a trailer with the tank instead of my two arms (with tendonitis) carrying a pair of full 5 gallon buckets solo to and from 120 taps), and two legs (with bad knees) tripping over themselves up and down rocky wet hills. Ahh, but that's the "good" exercise that earns the syrup.

Your grandpa would be proud. Except in his day he didn't go up and down the rocky hills... it was up both ways!

[Mini_Maple_Men]

My sap is cr@p! We just tapped a new little bush of 40 sugar maples and sap is running at a wicked 1%! We have boiled over 90 gallons and have gotten around 3 quarts so far. What would cause the sugar content to be so low? The bush is north facing and very cold. Could/ should this change as it warms up some? Thanks Lee

[Sugarmaker]

My sap is cr@p! We just tapped a new little bush of 40 sugar maples and sap is running at a wicked 1%! We have boiled over 90 gallons and have gotten around 3 quarts so far. What would cause the sugar content to be so low? The bush is north facing and very cold. Could/ should this change as it warms up some? Thanks Lee

Lee,
Are they sugar maples? Did you calibrate your sap inspection tool? Sounds like your about right amount of syrup for 90 gallons boiled. Warming will not help your sugar content.
Regards,
Chris

[Mini_Maple_Men]

Yup sugars for sure, all 12"+ trees. I have the other trees we tapped on buckets in the last 2 years that are running 2%+ but they are not tubable and scattered all over 6 acres so not really an option. I have a sap hydrometer that is brand new. How do I calibrate it? Thanks Lee

[bees1st]

No way to calibrate a hydrometer. But it can be checked with one that is known to be accurate. Big runs such as we have had tend to reduce sugar content . It may get sweeter for you as the season progresses.

[Mitchman]

Wow!! bees1st if I could only get one big run, I'd be happy !! With 70+ tree's tapped, my best so far is 15 gallons one day. Sure easy to take care of especially with turkey burners !! In the past I would have collected close to 70 gallons one day. Maybe this week coming, one can only hope !!

[bees1st]

We have no frost in the ground here so every warm up the sap pours forth . Kinda caught me off guard , I'm not used to the season starting with such an explosion. I've had three nice runs , two lasting 36 hours or so . 2 + gallons a tap each time .

[abbott]

We have no frost in the ground here so every warm up the sap pours forth . Kinda caught me off guard , I'm not used to the season starting with such an explosion. I've had three nice runs , two lasting 36 hours or so . 2 + gallons a tap each time .

You're over near the coast. Over here in the hills it has been a bit slower to warm up so the runs haven't been as long... but once the sap gets flowing it has run well. I'm at about 4.5 gallons sap/tap total... I figure 18 is "average" on my setup. What is a normal total for you?

[bees1st]

I seem to average about .34 gallons syrup per tap . My woods on my property here run low on the sugar content. Down the road where it has been selectively harvested it's much better .

[abbott]

Sounds like you must be well on your way to your average total. The way the forecast looks right now, I think we'll all know in about two weeks whether its going to be a good season or not. I figure I average something like 43:1 sap to syrup, with that number being dragged down at the end of the year with the late vacuum induced runs having a lower sugar content. So far its been a solid 2.5% brix this year, but I wouldn't expect it to go up much without some good cold nights to offset the warmth in the forecast.

[bees1st]

After boiling Wednesday's sap today , I'm at about 25% of a normal crop .

[maineboiler]

Finished and bottled close to 8 gallons of Golden Delicate on Wednesday. Good start to the season, the sap is crystal clear and cold. Things are froze up now, but I am looking ahead to a busy week as it looks like the sap will be running hard. It's frustrating when the collecting tanks are full of frozen sap and can't be pumped up to the holding tank but there are worse problems to have.
Hopefully things will thaw out tomorrow for more collecting and boiling13535

[Mitchman]

Great looking syrup maineboiler, I have 1 pint of that. Looking forward to a big run this week and i'll take anything the tree's have to offer !!!!!

[bagpiper]

We have been frozen up since the front came through last Wednesday. I just came in from walking the dog and the trees along the driveway, which were in full sun today, are finally giving up a little sap. A few buckets are 1/4 to 1/2 full. Forecast for tonight is 19 and a high of 45 tomorrow, so I'm hoping we'll have the start of a decent run. A friend in York, just 15 miles east of here, brought his sap over yesterday for a boil. He has 10 taps in 10 - 12 to 16" diameter sugars. His trees have produced 12 gals/tap average so far. My reds are averaging 2 gals/tap. Sap envy is a horrible thing.

[West Sumner Sugar]

We have been froze up as well but pulled almost a 24 hour boil this weekend to get every bit of sap through the evaporator. This included almost 200 gallons of solid ice. Came out with about 16 gallons all bottled up. Looks like we have the potential for some decent runs this week with the warmth if we get below freezing at night.
13559

[Run Forest Run!]

What a pretty bottle, full of gorgeous looking syrup. Nice job! :D

[maineboiler]

Don't be envious. The reds will produce later. If you have neighbors with nice sugars you may want to see if they will let you tap them. I do this a lot where I live. Most are willing to let their trees be tapped, especially if there is some fresh syrup in it for them.

[Peeper]

What a crappy day! Just when you think the weather forecast is "good", ie - last two days, we get this cloud cover with the nice above freeze temps. The lack of sun sure isn't helping for what could've been two great days. Tomorrow says great as well... We'll see. Glad I tapped when I did in late January. At least I got some decent runs with that sun. At the moment I'm playing musical trees, hobnobbing buckets with other trees that are "sort of" producing when others don't.

[Mitchman]

Your so right Peeper, this great day turned into a 2" inch snow event for us in the Mts, I to am glad I started early and have what I have right now. We will see how great tomorrow is, and maybe one of their predictions will hit the mark.

[derekp]

Mitchman,
How has your season been going up there? Did anything really open up yet? Hoping the season will start here this week. Only picked up 200 gallons over the past 2 weeks on 318 taps. Hope it's not over before we know it!!

[eagle lake sugar]

We're still waiting for our first run up here. We have about 2 ft. of snow in the woods, so that should prolong things a little. They always seem to forecast temps a few degrees warmer than it actually gets on any given day, just to get our hopes up I guess!

[Mitchman]

Going very slow derekp, I thought today I would be swimming in sap, NOT!! I have collected around 150 gallons starting Jan. 28th. Made 3 gallons of syrup, a real finicky season for sure !!!

[boondocker]

Only had @ 100 gallons today from 500 taps.....I figured I would have to make two trips to dump off lol. I didn't even pump anything tonight, left it right in the woods. I left one vac pump running it seemed to be flowing good so my dad said he would check it in awhile and shut it down if need be. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a sweet day!

[Peeper]

Ditto here. Not the banner day I thought would've happened with the nice sunshine. Waiting to see what tomorrow may bring before collecting any. Still playing musical trees with buckets, as some run and some don't.

[Ryan August]

weres the sap??? Good to hear that I was not the only one disappointed on Monday. Thought I would have major work to do. Just over 20 gals on 100+ taps. The kids spilled some on collection so maybe 25 if I had an efficient opperation. Did have some ice on the ground last nite on a refreeze so hoping for better today.

[RuralBrewer]

Tapped 26 this year and a number of them haven't run well at all. Got going on 2/21 and through yesterday had collected 95 gallons and have made just shy of 2 gallons of syrup. Sap was running ~4% for the first few collections but is running around 2% now.

[abbott]

Took a while yesterday, but the flow really picked up mid-afternoon. No freeze overnight and the vacuum kept pulling the sap out all day today. About 1.5 gallons sap/tap so far this run. Sugar content hanging around 2.5%. Sap total at 5000 gallons... 6 gallons per tap. 1/3 of the way there. Need some more cold nights!

[Peeper]

Too warm here today. Still at 54 degrees at 8:04PM. About 30 gallons today and 30 yesterday (boiling it off before the moths breed in the buckets). Would've expected it to be at least average. January was much better. Tomorrow looks like crap. Friday supposedly much better. Hmmm...

[Mitchman]

I guess I'm getting a night run finally, took the flashlight and checked a couple tree's and they still be dripping, and it's 58 above !!! I don't expect it to last to long though. I still have an 8" inch snow pack so I believe that helps. I will take what I can.

[Peeper]

Finished the last two days light run down to 1.5 gallons of light amber, bringing my season total up to 7.25 gallons thus far. With today's 60 degree temperature, we could be near the end for me. Not pulling out taps yet but we'll see what the next few days bring (or don't).

[GotSap?]

Brought in 200 gallons in the last 2 days for a total of just over 500 gallons. Finished off 5 gallons so far of medium and dark. Nothing light this year.

[bees1st]

Vacuum has been on since ??? One day runs into another . Woke up at 1:30 am and went down to check the main tank . It was about to overflow , everything else I had was full . So I fired up the RO and went up to make coffee . R O Ed for two hours started sending it to the head tank at 8% at 3:30 . Lit the fire , finished at 10:30 . Put up 22 gallons today . At about 1/3 of a normal crop now . Starting to slow up on vacuum now .

[Peeper]

Now 43 degrees from a high of 61 and raining. Got 8.5 gallons of sap for the "big" day! Wheeeee!

[hambone]

Yeah! 21 degrees at 5 am, sun rising at 6:00, maybe we are still in the game!

[abbott]

Yeah! 21 degrees at 5 am, sun rising at 6:00, maybe we are still in the game!

Nice! Only down to 30* here on the hill, maybe a couple degrees colder down the hill where the trees are. But I'll take it!

[abbott]

Get ready for big sap! Records will fall!

[maineboiler]

I'm ready. Hope to boiling tonight.

[bees1st]

My belief is that we are still certainly in the game . We may have a couple warm nights this coming week . But it ain't over yet !

[Mitchman]

Best run this season at 30 gallons of sap and still running. I should have about a 3 day stint of good runs, according to weather underground. That's fine with me !!

[bees1st]

In the last 12 hours I've pulled in 1.5 gallons / tap . 39 degrees @ 7 PM still coming in good . Sugar content is low . 1.6 May run through the night. Forecast is for a low 33 here .

[abbott]

I'm just over a gallon a tap on the day at 2.1%. I'm quite certain it will run pretty well all night and I'll probably have about 1.5 gallons a tap by sunrise. Will easily be my best daily total of the year (i count sunrise to sunrise as one day)

[abbott]

In the last 12 hours I've pulled in 1.5 gallons / tap . 39 degrees @ 7 PM still coming in good . Sugar content is low . 1.6 May run through the night. Forecast is for a low 33 here .

That's just crazy. My 860 taps were running at 90 gallons/hr for a while and I thought that was really good. But i'd get tired of 1.6% sap real quick. Though I'll probably be there too in a few more days.

[maineboiler]

Second best run of the season today. 155 gallons. I know that does'nt sound like a lot for 250 taps, but a lot of those are on reds in the shade that don't put out much. I am boiling as I enter this post and it looks like a light Amber grade. No complaints about the season so far. There's good sap and easy to collect with no snow. Very different from last year at this time

[Peeper]

Small run for me on the coast. 23 gallons at 4:45. We'll see if it keeps up through the night. Boiling it off as I type.

[bees1st]

That's just crazy. My 860 taps were running at 90 gallons/hr for a while and I thought that was really good. But i'd get tired of 1.6% sap real quick. Though I'll probably be there too in a few more days.
My average 24 her run was 2.15 gpt. I used to get real tired of 1.6 sap too .... But I have this new machine this year , what was in the past going to be a 12 hour day boiling was 3 . I spent just as much time in the sugar house , but it was doing things that would have been put off till a day I wasn't boiling .

[Mitchman]

Have you hit your mark for totals Peeper ?? I have to push back into the woods now, as the tree's on the lawn are drying up. What taps that are in the bush, are shaded, but coming to life with the warm temps. I still have 6 to 8" inch's of snow cover there also. I don't know if I can tolerate how easy it is to get around !!!!

[Peeper]

Have you hit your mark for totals Peeper ?? I have to push back into the woods now, as the tree's on the lawn are drying up. What taps that are in the bush, are shaded, but coming to life with the warm temps. I still have 6 to 8" inch's of snow cover there also. I don't know if I can tolerate how easy it is to get around !!!!

About 1/3 are drying, with most slowing down (even the ones that are most recently tapped). Today should produce a little run to add to yesterday's drizzle. I'm about 2 gallons behind 2013's total, but may hit it within the next couple of days.

[Peeper]

Today's collection at 2:45PM was just 15 iddy biddy gallons, after a banner forecast of a freeze/thaw with a sunny 40's turned to a sour "This Afternoon: A slight chance of rain and snow before 5pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 36. Southeast wind 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%."

And with the few reds that have turned bone dry, I think it's just about time to call it "taps" 13786 for this season around here. We'll leave the sugars in to see what little drizzles in over the next few days, but I'm not anticipating anything monumental.

[bees1st]

Sap was running great this AM on vacuum, has slowed considerably now . Clear as a bell , it ought be it's almost water !!!
I've never seen my sugar content so low ,1 Brix ,If I didn't have this RO I'd be dumping it , At least the sap I haul from down the road is still running 2 brix

[gmcooper]

We had a decent day with vacuum running smoothly. Would have been a good day if sun had stayed a little longer. Sap was down to 1.6%. Best was only2% this year. Planning to keep going till I have to mow the lawn!

[WoodlandMaple]

We ran from mon morning through Friday night last week when it froze again straight with no pause or freeze in between. On over 1,000 taps we got maybe 8,000 gallons on a 100 hour run- amazing. We sell our sap to a local syrup producer and he said while we were running at %2.0 all up until and through that run, this weekends run it dropped sharply to %1.5. Anyone ever seen it go back up at all? Past couple weeks were very warm, but the weather is going to drop right back down to lows in the high teens and low 20s. Trees aren't budding at all yet. May have to hunt around for our reds and pull them but hoping to make it to the good sap weather that should last a couple weeks, but not sure our producer is excited about boiling at such a low sugar content..

[bees1st]

The sugar content may go back up after this cold later in the week .

[abbott]

I second that... some good cold nights like they are forecasting could bring the sugar back up.

I was expecting that it might run all night last night, but we got at least a partial freeze and the sap had stopped coming in by 10pm. Then the temp. hovered around 32* all night. But considering how the weather is shaping up at the end of the week, I'm perfectly happy with less sap right now. Currently getting 1.9 brix, so not terrible. I'm hoping to clean the whole evaporator later this week in preparation for "phase three" of the season. And I'm also strongly considering pulling my 10-15 red maple taps this week just in case.

[Peeper]

13884
Taps it is my friends...

Just finished off the dregs of what was in the buckets & pan & boiled them down to a whopping 1 1/2 gallons of dark, bringing my season finale to 8 3/4 gallons. One quart shy of my last year of boiling in 2013 at 9 gallons. Good thing I tapped in January when I did. That week seemed to be the best sap flow of the season for me, even though I tapped more new trees as the season went on.

Yes we may get some more this week, but if it's anything like today's "perfect" sap flow type day with a freeze/thaw and pure sunshine with a high of 41 yielding a few pitiful drops, I'm done. I don't care for moths, yellow sap dribbles, cloudy sap, and leaf cutting bees all doing the back stroke in the warmer temps, only to yield some dark molasses.

Let TAPS begin. 13887 From the looks of things, Peeper's going to soon be hearing the real "Peepers". Hence, the name.

[adk1]

Brix has been low for me all year like 1-1.5. I wish I had an ro

[West Sumner Sugar]

Good run today, about a gallon per tap, running really well. Hope it continues!

[maineboiler]

150 gallon sap run today. Not bad. I am boiling now with beverage of choice in hand, there is a full moon out and it is chilling down Should be a good week for sugaring. No complaints from me about this season so far. Looking forward to Maine maple Sunday ( Saturday for us )

[adk1]

I collected over a gallon of 1% sap today so great run only to give it to another sugar maker which I am glad I did

[Peeper]

Ok, what's going on??? The trees are playing an early April fools joke on me. I may have called "taps" a couple of days ago, but neglected to pull them this weekend. I check a few today at the end and the sugars in the Western sun are running a a drip a second, including one smaller one I've named "Old Faithful" that's been tapped since January 27th! (which by the way had a gallon - the most of all of them). It's the snow and sunshine and 41 degree temp. Today, for some odd reason, it decided to work. I'm going to have to cut more wood now!

[Mitchman]

Had an awesome run myself Peeper, even though we had a cold N.E. wind to start and high temp at 38, when I returned home I find containers ready to overflow and 2 lines running like crazy !! Got 18 gals I never believed I would get in 1 day with the taps I have left in. This has sure been one crazy spring. And this weekend looks like a real flood !!

[Peeper]

Mystery run today of 23 gallons + yesterday's mystery run of 15, for a total of 38 collected since I falsely called "taps". Looks like another gallon or more may be added to my season if choose to run in the next few days as well. I still find myself playing "musical trees", pulling a bucket from a dry one to one that I thought was dried up. Every season's strange one way or another.
I will give the empty pan a slight cleaning before boiling this stuff down, to see if I can lighten the new batch up any.

[abbott]

Surprised to hear some people are packing it in. The sap is running clear, sugar content has finally rebounded a bit (1.9 brix on yesterday's run after a long time at 1.7) and the syrup has lightened up again... I'm nearly back to Golden. I did pull my red maple taps just to be on the safe side... there were only 13 of them anyway. When the weather is warm and the sap is flowing I won't want to leave off to hunt them down.

Through yesterday: 13,230 gallons of sap (10 gallons more than last year) and after boiling it off today, 311 gallons of syrup. 22 gallons less than last year, but some of that is hanging out in the evaporator. Similar number of taps this year, but 10% did not have vacuum last year. Based on number of taps, 340 gallons of syrup would be "average" for me, so I would fully expect to pass that after this weekend. Could end up being a very good year.

[bees1st]

Had a decent run yesterday. I bet she'll run good tomorrow with this low coming in .The long range weather guessers indicate it could last at least another week for my neck of the woods.

[Atgreene]

We tapped another 40+ buckets the other day, got 80 gallons from them yesterday, 3%. We held off tapping our odds and ends when we hit 70°, figuring if it cooled off we start tapping, if it stayed warm, we were done anyway. I think it paid off. Below normal temps forecast for the first week of April, buds haven't moved at all on the rock maples, and we don't tap soft ones. I ordered a roll of 3/16 that I may put in play monday after the craziness of this weekend wears off. More as an experiment than anything, but if we're going to get another week, what the heck, I'm in.

[abbott]

Had a decent run yesterday. I bet she'll run good tomorrow with this low coming in .The long range weather guessers indicate it could last at least another week for my neck of the woods.

Hope you did better over than I have over here. Still 34* with lots of ice on the trees. Not enough time left for a real run even if it does trickle. Probably just enough to plug the mainlines with ice.

[gmcooper]

Not much of any thing here today for a run. At or below freezing till well into the afternoon. Ice did melt by late afternoon.

[bees1st]

No it did not run . Predictions were for warming earlier than it actually did . Good thing I held sap from Wednesday for the open house today and tomorrow !

[abbott]

I did get a trickle yesterday (90 gallons total), but not enough sap to stoke the fire hard during the open house today. But that isn't a bad thing - much easier to talk and show people around that way. But by late afternoon it was coming in hard. I will have a full boil tomorrow!

[Peeper]

Got 45 gallons today! For my small setup, that's pretty good when added to the 38 from the other day. Cleaned the pan and started the long boil and am sitting tonight with 42 gallons left at this late hour. Easter Sunday looks like another decent run with a full continued boil tomorrow (then can we call it taps?). My sap in these new surprise runs is still averaging 2.5%. Yes, many trees tapped since the 1st week in February (and a couple since January). Boiling for a new record here at Peeper's corner of Rockport, just a mile from Froggy's Sap Shack in Union 14004(a larger much more seasoned & experienced tapper/boiler than myself).

[sap seeker]

Never warmed up here on Friday like they had said and took its time yesterday to break 32 but the afternoon run was very strong. Already 31 here after a low of 28 over night so I think today will be super. I will fire up in the afternoon to boil most of what I get so it doesn't sit, after that not sure. April 3-7 looks good if people want to hang on that long and I just may where I tapped late. I am on a lake and 90% of my trees line two cold brooks so I really think the trees will hold up. Interested to see how this batch looks, first boil was quite dark indeed.

[Peeper]

41 gallons today. Another good run for me. We're well off to breaking 2013's record of 9 gallons (hardly a drop by any of you "big time" vacuum packed tubed out sugar producer's poorest season, but I'm happy). About 30 gallons left to boil off and then I hope it quits for me this year. I'm ready for the mess to be cleaned up.

[Mvhomesteader]

Just when I thought the season might wrap up, the flow remains steady from several of my 8 taps. I collected 6 gallons today of 2.5% and a few were putting out a drop a second. What was also curious was the light syrup from the boil yesterday from sap late last week. Previous syrup on four other boils was darker with more niter. I am new at this, so does anyone have a thought as to the difference? I boil by adding throughout the day with no draw off (single pan).

In any case, I guess I'll keep collecting for the time being. I anticipate a cut back when temps hit 50's and 60's this week.

8 milk jug taps
Old wood stove with hotel pan
Classic backyard operation

[bees1st]

I had a real decent run here yesterday, really picked around 4 o'clock, I suspect it was that is when the pressure started to drop . Was running hard when I collected at 6:30 . 31 degrees by 7:30 , but then a warmup sometime in the night. Could be in for a decent run over the next 24 hrs .

[bees1st]

Pumps on . 34 degrees. Running hard at 5 am.

[sap seeker]

From noon Saturday to 6pm Sunday, my 22 taps put out 75 gallons, been a long time since I have seen something like that for me, if ever. Haven't checked to see if they ran more overnight. Next week still looks cold and sap-able.:cool:

Edit - bees was right on, ran all night and running well still, the gift that keeps on giving!

[hambone]

Same here in Cornville, we thought yesterday was quite a run but it kept on running all night and it still continues this a.m. I guess we know what we'll be doing today! Making syrup, yeah!

[maineboiler]

Yea yesterday had our 2nd best run of the season. The sap is still coming out clear and cold, just a few sugar moths here and there. I am looking to near double my production from last year, 29 gallons made and 5 waiting to be finished. So far nothing lighter than Amber. I am very happy with the season, although it seemed odd to have Maine Maple Sunday and be standing near green grass.
I am a little worn out lugging the 5 gall. buckets around I think I will pull the taps by next weekend

[Atgreene]

We dropped from 3% down to 2.1% this morning. Still flowing good, considering. Our earliest tapped South slope bush is still coming clear, but has slowed down. The buckets we added last week are going great. The north slope bush on surflow pump is doing great. Been boiling off and on since March 1 St, glad we held off tapping until late Feb. The guys that tapped in Jan and early Feb have been complaining, but that's the risk you take with tapping early.

Huge crowds for Maine Maple Sunday weekend. Looks good for another week or so with the cold coming in next week.

[Peeper]

... The guys that tapped in Jan and early Feb have been complaining, but that's the risk you take with tapping early.

Huge cr
I've been tapped since January and added 18 gallons today to my 124 gallons collected in the last 3 days, bringing my total for the most recent bonus run to 142 gallons. No loss from the risk taken, only gain & some nice batches of light amber/fancy to add to the total. Glad I tapped when I did, and glad I haven't pulled them yet. Only a few holes have gone dry.

[Mvhomesteader]

Thursday is the last boil for me. That will give me 7 boils for a rough total of 94 gallons. So far I have 2.25 gallons of syrup from the 8 taps. For the first year at this location I am happy with the total. I should get an additional few quarts in Thursday's boil. Next season I am going to a new evaporator to up my hourly rate from 2 to 6 gph, so my time efficiency will improve. I tapped three in January, and one of those just stopped. The rest were mid February and those have mostly stopped as well.

[Peeper]

It is winding down a bit, although another 23 gallons came out today. Still boiling, and maybe getting to the last boil soon ... I hope.

[sap seeker]

Could not have worked out any better for us, never tapped until 3/18 and am pulling taps today. Three batch boils of 50, 60, and 60 more last night gives us more than enough syrup for friends and family. 170 from the 22 taps is our second highest, I'm sure we could surpass if we wanted to hang in through next week but we have had enough. The newly created "tool box evaporator" worked better than I hoped with an honest 8-9 gph. Good luck to those of you still in the game.:cool:

[bees1st]

We had a decent day with vacuum running smoothly. Would have been a good day if sun had stayed a little longer. Sap was down to 1.6%. Best was only2% this year. Planning to keep going till I have to mow the lawn!
I see in another thread that you are still boiling. Have you started looking for a file to sharpen those mower blades yet ? Or will she go for you through this coming week ?

[abbott]

I was looking over the buds on my lawn maples today... the reds are definitely swelled up, but by my estimation the sugars only seemed to be slightly swelled. But those lawn trees have fat buds anyway. And the woods trees that I tap should be a bit behind. Vacuum pump is still a humming but hardly any sap is coming. Need some very dark though and today's syrup still tasted normal. Will boil what I have for sap tomorrow afternoon, putting me in the neighborhood of 400 gallons of syrup. Then we'll see what next week brings.

Sap total is just about at 20 gallons/tap now.

[Peeper]

Just boiled the last of the 9 gallons added to the 172 gallons of the LAST big run for me (No, I'm not kidding - I really pulled all the taps and drained the sludge)and finished the last 3 3/4 gallons for my new record total of 12.5 gallons of syrup for 2016 on 100 buckets (a few more taps to play musical trees with). I'M DONE! (yeah)

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Busy week in Peru for my partner as I was screwing off on honeymoon trip to the Carribean! Boiling today and will put us around 18-19 gallons. Mostly dark. Weather looks good for next week.
Operation up north we do the woods work for is killing it. Record year, over 1500 gallons for them with more to go. All light with very little medium.