Sap to syrup ratio in my state

[emq]

Having an interesting conversation this morning about
Gallons of sap to gallons of syrup in ny state. This person is saying it is 30 to 1 is
That possible. Here in ct I'm doing like 50 to 1
Thanks

[Atgreene]

3.2 % here.

[Woodsrover]

All depends on the sugar content of your sap. Use the "Rule of 86". Divide 86 by your sugar content and you'll know how many gallons of sap go into a gallon of syrup.

Right now I'm collecting 1.2% sap. 86 divided by 1.2 = 71.6. Right now it takes me 71.6 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. :(

[Woodsrover]

3.2 % here.

Envy! :/

I knew I should have moved to Maine!

[Atgreene]

That's 28 to 1, btw.

[Atgreene]

Trees that test less than 2.5% get cut for firewood. I'd rather have 1000 taps at 3% than 2000 at 1.5%.

[lew]

I would like that also. However that is not an option here. Besides growing conditions genetic has a lot to do with sugar content. We don't have the genetics around our area. Our average for the year is 76 to 1.

[antelope76]

I'm averaging 60 to 1 on mostly large yard sugar maples.

[lyford]

I'm averaging 1.9 so far, thats good for us

About 46:1, mostly reds about 20% sugars

[jrm]

All depends on the sugar content of your sap. Use the "Rule of 86". Divide 86 by your sugar content and you'll know how many gallons of sap go into a gallon of syrup.

Right now I'm collecting 1.2% sap. 86 divided by 1.2 = 71.6. Right now it takes me 71.6 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. :(

Glad for the reminder of the Rule of 86. First, so far only, boil gave just under 1.5 quarts and my sap was 1.2-1.3. Put in a few more taps a few days ago after the warm spell broke. I've only collected about 3 gallons so far as I'm waiting for the temps to get right. However, the tap doing most of the producing is 2.5%. Sounds like less boiling this next go around.

[sappytapper]

Including a very small amount of loss to filtering/niter removal, I'm running at JUST about 48:1. But, that includes losing about 12g of concentrate that was "nature RO'd" (concentrated by partial freezing) to a scorched pan incident...

[Aa2tn]

It is not all genetics. It must be effected by weather or something because my taps yielded over 3% 2 years ago, around 1% last year, and back up to 2% this year! So there must be several factors involved .......

[Snappyssweets]

First year I was running 45/1, Last year I was running about 35/1 This year its more like 70/1 Same trees just each year has been a different water content and other factors.

[berkshires]

It is not all genetics. It must be effected by weather or something because my taps yielded over 3% 2 years ago, around 1% last year, and back up to 2% this year! So there must be several factors involved .......

The main factors for my trees are not genetics. They are:

1 - How crowded are they?
I have one tree in a field, and a couple right on the edge of the woods, with minimal crowding. Those are by far the best. They give sugar 25% higher sugar than my overall average. Then I have a copse of maples where they are only 5 to 15 feet from each other. Those give sugar 25-30% lower than my average.

2 - Weather
This year most of my runs have been a hard freeze, followed by a medium-warm day, no freeze at night, and then a warmer next day, no freeze, and then an even warmer next day. I'll keep getting sap for three days, but the sugar percent drops without those overnight freezes. So a tree that should be at 2.2% will instead wind up at 1.8, and one that would be at 1.8 winds up at 1%.

Regarding number 2 above, I also think the bigger trees seem to keep producing better sugar in their sap for longer without "recharging" at night.

Gabe

[lew]

I'm not implying that it's all genetics. Just saying that in our area we never see sugar above 2.5 from woods trees. And that would be from a well managed woods and only a high not an average. I've been in northern Maine in some very crowded woods with no crowns to speak of giving 3.5 to 4 percent sugar late in the season. So, in my mind, genetics does play a large role, as does growing season, was there a heavy seed crop the year before, caterpillars, etc.

[BAP]

Soil plays a role in it too?

[lew]

Sure, and probably 100 other things.