Sweet Bush?

[danno]

What makes a sweet bush?

I hear board members talking sugar content of 3% and even higher, even in the woods. I know roadsides and maples with spacing and big crowns run higher sugar content, but what else should I be looking for?

I have sugar maples and plenty of sap volume, especially with the vacuum running this year, but my sugar content is always lousy. All my trees are in a bush and I've done no bettter than 1.75% this year. During the first run, I thought I was at 2%, but after recalibrating my refractometer, I was actually 1.75%. Last year I had a friend test my sap late in the season - again, about 1.75%.

[Pete33Vt]

Thats the main question. If there was a way to help out the sugar content I would. I am getting about 2-2.5% right now. I belive there are alot of factors such as soil condition, age of trees, health of trees, sap gathering methods, such as clean buckets, or pipeline, and handling of sap; does it sit around to long, temperature of sap etc.
Wish I knew the real answer and could fix it so sugar content was up.

[ibby458]

The easiest way to boost sugar content of the sap is to dump a gallon of finished syrup into the sap holding tank. Immediate boost!

Just kidding! Wish it were that easy. I get frustrated boiling the 1.8% from the Amish bush after doing my 3.5% roadside trees!

[Oakes' Sugar House]

What are others out there typically getting to sugar content this year and also on average in years past?

I've tapped two sugar bushes in my area (1/2 mile apart) with similar result of 3.25% at peak. This year it's remaind low at 2.5% but we still have 1-2 week before reaching peak conditions here.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

On a good year, I average 1.8% and mormally about 1.75%. This year is was below 1.7% and last year it was about 1.5%.

[802maple]

It is hard to know exactly, although I do believe genetics has a big involvement. On one end of our lawn we have a tree that is tall and very few limbs, actually it would be a good timber tree and it runs a constant 5 to 5.5 percent on the other end of the lawn is the perfect maple tree ahuge crown and limbs starting just 5 feet off the ground and only runs 2 to 2.5 percent, they are equal in size as far diameter and equal in health, go figure.

[Parker]

I have seen that by thinning woods trees (if the bush is a good canidate for thinning) you can get the sugar content up,,,,

[220 maple]

This year my sugar content ranged from 2.3 to 2.7, Which is normal for my sugar bush. 2003 season was my best since we started keeping very good records. I had 3.3 avg. for that season. Two factors contribute to these numbers. I get alot of sunshine each summer that is very imporant. I don't drill very deep holes. 1 inch avg. All the sugar is in the last three growing years I've been told, I believe this is true. I have a friend in Highland County, Va. who always drilled 2 and half to 3 inches. He always has less than 2 percent water. His trees make mine look like second rate shrubs. I'm sure he does not get as much sunshine each summer as I do, Remember folks it takes alot of sunshine to put the sweet stuff in the tree in the first place. The bottom line if there is a bottom line we are at Mother Natures mercy again.
We can't control freezes and thaws nor cloudy or sunny days. I believe I have said this on another post. Everybody complains about the weather nobody does anything about it.
Mark 220 Maple

[danno]

Man, if sunny days are a large factor in high sugar content I'm screwed. We don't get sun in Syracuse. I was down to 1.5 the other day. I love making syrup, but those rations are pretty discouraging.

[sapman]

Danno,

I think you probably get more sun than us up in Oswego Cty. The lake can really have an effect on general cloudiness, in addition to snow in the winter up here.

On a side note, do any of you use hydrometers to check your sap? That's all I've ever owned, but when I compare it to friends' refractometers, my hydro reads high. I don't think the paper has moved in it.

Tim

[danno]

The big lake is what causes us our cloudiness as well. With the predominant NW wind in the winter, the lake cloud sits right over us.

I measure sap sugar with a refractometer and based upon the amount of syrup I've made I'm thinking it reads the sugar too high, even though it's reading 1.5%. I just don't seem to get much syrup. Also, sometimes I wonder if I'm cooking the syrup too far down, but probably not. My finshed syrup seems thicker than most others I've seen. I finish with a thermometer and hydrometer. I'm getting syrup on the hydrometer at about 121 degrees.

I used to get crystalization in my bottles, but not in the past couple of seasons. Oh well, I need some sweeter trees or more taps and more firewood!

[HanginAround]

Did you mean 221? If so, sounds too thick to me... depending on altitude and atmosphere... should be somewhere around 215-219. Check your thermo in boiling water first, and add 7.1 for syrup, or 7.5 to be safe.