Tapped in Hanson

[MikeR]

25 taps on buckets, all reds. I put them in back on 1/22 and got about 4.5 gallons in the first week and then everything dried up. It looks like they have started running a bit in the last day or so, but its certainly not very much. Last year was my first attempt and this year seems to be going in a similar fashion - get a few gallons one week, get nothing for a another week. I'm wondering if it's weather related (seems like the weather has been fine) or just temperamental swamp maples. I seem to be one of the few guys on here chiming in from the southeast part of the state, so I'll update this in case there are any other of us lurking around.

[mike103]

Just out of curiousity, did you get a mid week run on your reds? I'm only about 20 miles from you so we share weather. My bucket trees I'm only getting about half gallon per tap per day on about 50% of the trees that run. The rest are dry do far.... snow seems to stopped things for now....

[MikeR]

I did. So I'm tapping 13 trees right now, and I would say I had about 6 or 7 actually producing anything up until Thursday (flow was very slow the week prior). Since then, I have had a couple more start running and I definitely noticed an uptick in flow from the ones that were already running. It was surprising to me that even in the cold, stormy weather of the last couple days, things are actually still moving a modest pace.

[MikeR]

My swamp maples are really running down here now, I would say I got about 5 or 6 gallons in the last couple days. Spent most of the day yesterday boiling and ended up with a nice little jar of syrup. Looks like things are going to shut down for a while with this warm weather coming up.

[Barkpeeler]

my first year tapping in Pembroke I have 5 taps so far, got 3.5 gallons last week and just yesterday and this morning got another 3.5 gallons boiling it down today I'll put out some more taps this week and see what happens.

[MikeR]

If this is your first boil, good luck! I've boiled three times total (this is my second year after a short attempt last year) and it's a learning experience every time.

[Barkpeeler]

well we did first boil and I must say its very sweet, probably could have boiled longer but didn't trust my thermometer, going to pick up a new one for future use, sap was still flowing pretty good today so I'll do another boil next weekend.

[MikeR]

Some of my reds are already starting to bud. Are you other local guys seeing the same thing?

[Barkpeeler]

no not yet still the same

[mike103]

About 20% of my reds have started, however I must add today and yesterday was my best run of the season, 65 degrees out go figure....1 gallon per bucket easily...

[Barkpeeler]

well we boiled 4 times now and each one was a learning experience! but the end results are awesome, trees have stopped running, don't know if they'll start again this weekend but we'll wait and see

[Barkpeeler]

we've done 2 more boils since my last post, my last one was yesterday, syrup is very dark but still tastes great, trees are starting to bud but I'm leaving taps in, sap is still running maybe get one more boil in!

[MikeR]

I have had a pretty good run over the last week (~6 gallons). It looks like the nighttime temps may be staying above freezing for the foreseeable future, so that may do it for me. My trees are so shaded that I think the temperatures will end my season before budding does.

[Barkpeeler]

well pulled my taps today and did the final boil 6 gallons, we got one gallon this year on 8 taps, all in all I think its was pretty good for our first try at this, learned a lot, will have a little time to get ready for next year, can't wait!

[MikeR]

Put in about 30 taps in my reds yesterday, all on buckets. I noticed that by 4:00 PM just about all of them had started running. I tapped some new trees this year and eliminated a few slow ones, so I'll probably watch the new ones for a week or so and maybe add a few more taps if they are productive.

[Barkpeeler]

I put out ten taps yesterday morning all but one was running, see how these do and maybe put out another ten or so

[Barkpeeler]

well 9 of my taps ran pretty good, we've boiled 2 times and made 1/2 gallon so far, still have more taps to put out yet, see what the weather is going to be, all in all pretty happy with the way things are going

[MikeR]

Same story over here. Things have been going really well and it doesn't look like I got in too early.

[Barkpeeler]

saps flowing real good haven't put anymore taps out yet but had to buy a second turkey fryer to keep up! looks like I'll be cooking a couple times a week at this rate

[Barkpeeler]

put another 8 taps out and having a hard time keeping up! but we'll get er done! looks like an upgrade is due next season, boil away!

[MikeR]

Boiled about 8 gallons today (collected over the past couple days) and had a pretty weak yield. I’m wondering if this burst of warm weather spurrred some really watery sap.

[Barkpeeler]

boiled 23 gallons last week and got a little over a half a gal. have another 16 gals to do this weekend have to see how the yield is

[MikeR]

Nothing doing down here for me. Trees have been dead quiet for a couple days now.

[aktunbuzo]

I'm over in Weymouth, 8 taps. I tapped on 2/17 and had a good run for the first week, about 30 gallons, but it has been pretty dry since 2/24. I finished a half gallon last Sunday.

[Barkpeeler]

my trees are all dry now just boiled 6 gallons had it frozen, all done?

[MikeR]

Still nothing running over here. Between the sap flow and everything else going on around the house now, I may pack it in for the season. I'm still glad I got in mid to late January and caught all the flow that I did.

[Barkpeeler]

same here I thought we might get some this weekend but I don't know, if I get nothing this weekend everything gets packed away, was a good time almost doubled what i made last year with a couple extra taps [2 gallons]

[aktunbuzo]

Things picked up for me last Friday after getting nothing for over a week. I got slow but steady flow over the weekend, probably 15+ gallons from my 8 taps and boiled on Saturday and Sunday.

[MikeR]

I waited it out through the nor'easters and have been getting a nice run for the past week. I just went out and collected my last round of buckets for the season, though. Things are getting too busy and I can't collect often enough or keep my sap cold enough with these warm temps. All in all, a great year. I'll probably head out and pull taps on Monday.

[MikeR]

I jumped in on Monday with 13 taps on 13 trees. It is early, but I've tapped around this time or even a little earlier for the past couple years and never regretted it. I'm trying about 9 new trees this year, so I'll probably watch how they flow and add some taps eventually. I just got in from a walk and noticed that almost all of them are running this morning.

[eustis22]

Doesn't tapping early mean stopping early? Holes closing, bacteria, etc?

[MikeR]

In general that's probably accurate, but I've never had any issues. I'm also only working with Reds scattered throughout the forest, so I'm not sure if that makes a difference. I always get to the end of March (when I lose interest/get distracted by other projects) without any issues.

[Thegreg20]

I'm waiting, you'll have 3 good day but first week in February is looking cold. As much as I wanted to tap this week, I'm holding off till at least the 10th.

[Barkpeeler]

well I tapped 10 today, about a week later than last year, I'll do another 10 or so in a week or 2

[MikeR]

Well, I boiled about 10 gallons today. The fire pit worked great and it was actually my first time finishing off with a hydrometer and the appropriate filters. Made a world of difference.

[Barkpeeler]

I boiled about 5 gal last week, tree's are starting to flow a lot better now, boiled 15 gal yesterday and my son put out another 9 taps

[Barkpeeler]

not hearing much here, hows everyone doing? I boiled about 35 gal last week not much this week about 8 gal

[eustis22]

I collected and boiled 50 gals, not enough to sweeten but now my barrels are froze

Did see a little run today even though it never got above 30.

[MikeR]

Looks like things are wrapping up. Nights have been a little too warm and I've only picked up a few gallons in the past week. Temps look really warm moving forward. This felt like a really short season between the frigid February temps and the warm temps now. I think I only got three boils in.

[Barkpeeler]

I packed everything up last weekend, trees had stopped producing, got a few boils in not as many as last year but enough to keep the grandkids in syrup for the year! Now to start planning for next year!

[Barkpeeler]

well has anyone in the southeast part of the state tapped yet I was thinking of tapping some today,

[mike103]

Turned on the vacuum a week ago, had a couple of good run days, I dont expect it will be warm enough around here till Monday or tuesday for another run. But yes, not a bad weekend to tap some trees around here...enjoy!

[MikeR]

Forgot to update! I put out about 15 buckets earlier this week on my deep woods reds. Not much happening so far.

[Barkpeeler]

I'm going to put out ten tomorrow and see what happens this week

[tgormley358]

My swamp maples are really running down here now, I would say I got about 5 or 6 gallons in the last couple days. Spent most of the day yesterday boiling and ended up with a nice little jar of syrup. Looks like things are going to shut down for a while with this warm weather coming up.

Mike, and others, I haven’t tried tapping swamp maples but I have a few. I hadn’t heard or read of anyone tapping them, so what’s been your experience, quantity and quality of the sap, sugar content?

[Barkpeeler]

I tap in my yard and my son puts out an additional 10 taps in wet lands, they put out just as much as the ones in my yard,quality is fine, but not sure of the sugar content

[Biz]

I first tried tapping red maples on buckets a few years ago and it was hit or miss. About 1/3 of the buckets gave less than a gallon of sap all season, the others did OK but no where near as good as the sugars. Then when I tried 3/16 tubing, on gravity or small diaphragm pump, they came alive. Even 10' of elevation drop (or more) was enough to get the sap yield of the reds close to that of the sugars. Sugar content is about a half percent less. The syrup flavor is really good with the blend of sugar/red maple. About 2/3 of my taps are now on reds, all on 3/16 tubing, gravity or vacuum. I wouldn't have tapped any of them on buckets since they are deep in the woods and difficult to collect, but with the tubing and my automated sap transfer setup it is a breeze.

Dave

[Barkpeeler]

well my trees are finally starting to run! boiled 4 gals today [only put out 9 taps so far] should have close to 4 for tomorrow the way they're running,
hope they stay running now!

[MikeR]

I jumped in yesterday. Twenty gravity taps in lowland reds.

[Barkpeeler]

I tapped 9 on Sunday, 1st one was like tapping a sponge sap all over the place, all taps are dripping at a pretty good rate, hopefully it'll be a good season

[Barkpeeler]

I boiled this weekend I got 29 gals for the week, made a little over half a gallon so far

[MikeR]

I boiled this weekend I got 29 gals for the week, made a little over half a gallon so far

Wow, how many taps do you have in?? I have 25 and I think I only collected about 7 gallons.

[Barkpeeler]

I have 9 taps, completely different from last year! My son put 7 taps out and only got a gallon for the week, I think his trees were still frozen they're more in the wet lands hopefully they'll start running in the next few days

[csk91]

I am in buzzards bay. 32 taps on drops. I tapped 2/2/21 have collected over 300 gallons of sap so far thinking I will be done within the week

[Barkpeeler]

I wish I could get 300 gallons! I think I need a few more taps LOL hoping for a good week next week

[Barkpeeler]

well the tree's all budded, everything put away, now to wait for next year, made enough to keep the grandkids in syrup for another year!

[Barkpeeler]

well I ended this post last year so I guess I'll start this year put out 10 taps today and all are running good anybody else put any out yet?

[Kamina]

Not yet. Itching to get them in, but there's still too much snow on the ground here in central MA. Hopefully the warm snap this week addresses that...

[Barkpeeler]

well I got a little over 19 gals sap, boiled it down to a little under half a gal. with the weather change looks like I'll have a couple of days off, I'll probably tap some more next week

[berkshires]

That's a great start to the season! Makes me wonder if I made a mistake not tapping last week. The weather turned out to be perfect for maple, so I do think in hindsight I probably would have collected somewhere between 20 and 40 galls of sap. On the other hand, if the ground was still frozen up, I would have only collected 10, and would have subjected my tapholes to several days at 45+ degrees very early on, and might have paid the price for that later. Who knows.

Anyway, glad you had were able to capitalize on that first good run!

GO

[csk91]

I tapped on the 6th. Put out 25 taps into buckets. Collected 95 gallons and boiled Saturday. Buzzards Bay

[berkshires]

I tapped on the 6th. Put out 25 taps into buckets. Collected 95 gallons and boiled Saturday. Buzzards Bay
Nice. Nearly 4 gallons per tap is a great first run! Looks like you're just about on the Cape. Bit different weather-wise from the Berkshires. :)

Hope the rest of your season goes great!

GO

[Barkpeeler]

trees are running good again collected
9 gals today hopefully it keeps up!

[Barkpeeler]

well time to pull the taps done for this year, all in all pretty good season We usually make about one gallon and this year made 2, it did seem like a lot of sugar sand this year more than previous years but still fun!

[berkshires]

well time to pull the taps done for this year, all in all pretty good season We usually make about one gallon and this year made 2, it did seem like a lot of sugar sand this year more than previous years but still fun!
Congrats on a good season!

GO

[Barkpeeler]

well the weathers looks great so I put out 8 taps yesterday I usually only do 16 collected sap this morning and got almost 1 gal per tap,
so for small time I think thats pretty good hopefully the weather stays good!

[berkshires]

Good luck! Nice early start to the season, hope it keeps going!

Cheers,

Gabe O