Wash buckets during season?

[saphound]

Just might get a run today. 26 degrees here, (despite a forecast of 34) when I got up and a heavy frost on the cars. I last collected on thursday am and the trees were still dripping but real slow after running non stop since sunday afternoon. So there might be an inch or two in the buckets. That sap has been sitting through 2 days of 60+ degree weather.
I'm thinking I should go get them all and wash them out. Anyone else in the same situation?
And is a clear water rinse good enough or should I use bleach...thanks.

[Tweegs]

I wash mine about mid-season, warm clear water and a rag only, no bleach.
I hook up a small trailer to the Gator and drag a small stock tank half full of water plus 2 already clean buckets.

Set the clean buckets, empty the sap from the dirty ones, give ‘em a wash, go get the next two.
No sap hits the ground.

[saphound]

Thanks Tweegs. So you do that even if there's no warm spell? That's gotta be a pretty big chore with 150 buckets, eh? Now I'm thinking of some here with 400 or more buckets. Yikes. I only have 12, lol. Guess I'll go do that soon as it warms up a bit more.

[Tweegs]

I do it when I start to see a little pink mold in the buckets.

The way I described doesn’t add too much time to a normal collection run, maybe another half hour.
If I can get a helper to do the washing, it actually takes no more time.

I add a little soap to the water when we pull buckets for the season. A good rinse back at the house and the buckets are done.

It’s a mind game, always dreaded washing buckets. Makes it seem like less work when it really isn’t, kind of takes the edge off that chore.

[DoubleBrookMaple]

I put this question to my local 3rd generation producer yesterday while he was running his 6x20... He does not, and that was good enough for me.

[saphound]

Well there was some kind of mold growing in all of them. Not pink, more like dark green..almost black.. small circular spots taking hold on the bottoms. I imagine all the boiling would kill it but I still don't want it in my sap or syrup. Can't afford to lose sugar to it either..my levels aren't that great to begin with. Now just need the sap to flow.

[jlfrair]

1 ounce of bleach to 5 gallons of water, rinse all your buckets out. I have done this for many years, it kills all bacteria. I go as far as rinsing all my gathering buckets and my gathering tank out daily.

[saphound]

Yeah, I have been rinsing out my gathering buckets too, but not the tree buckets till now. Glad I did clean them out, each has 2-3 gallons of fresh sap from yesterday and today. I didn't use bleach but will when finally done.