Northern Ontario 2023

[Swingpure]

I finished and bottled my first syrup of 2023, at 1:30 am, January 1.

Not having boiled it on a wood fire, it has a different taste. Still great, but different.

There should be three more days of sap flow, before it shuts down. The sap flowing late December and early January is not bad for Northern Ontario.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/032Prd0r8gaMIQMJX2KrlGUAQ

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[dmichel]

Did you tap all of your trees already in preparation for spring, or did you just do a few with the warm spell we had? I'm in southern ontario and have concerns this wierd weather will screw everything up.

[Swingpure]

I just did about 30 and still have over 140 left to tap, which I will wait to closer to the sap flowing to tap.

It was fun but was also an experiment. I will see when all of the trees are tapped and the sap is flowing how much tapping way early has affected the flows.

The weather forecast changed after I had made the decision to tap. It had stayed warm as forecasted, but did not drop below freezing so other than the first day, the flows were greatly reduced.

One of the lines I chose to tap, I originally had not planned on tapping, but I have an a line that runs beside it that is pretty identical, so although not 100% scientific, it will act as a good comparison for velocity of the flows and the length of time the sap flows. In 7/8 weeks I will have my first impressions.

I lived in the GTA area for decades and I know the weather. It amazing how different the weather is a 2 hour drive north is. My buddy in Toronto will be golfing and we will have two feet of snow on the ground. I was watching the weather down there and initially I thought if I lived down there I would go all in and tap, but I have since learnt a few more lessons and will hold off feeeling that way up until I see my spring results.

After a late start to winter and a relatively easy winter other than a couple of storms, it looks like winter is returning up here and snow and cold is on the way. There is a warm spell next week, that I was debating to buy a turkey fryer to boil the sap, but that warm spell is getting less desirable.

[Swingpure]

Tapping this Saturday is tempting with 5 consecutive days next week above zero, but that is followed by 6 days of below zero temperatures. Would like to see what is going to happen on Feb23/24. I likely won’t tap unless the 23/24th are above freezing.

My original plan was to tap around March 1 depending on the weather.

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[Swingpure]

I decided I will not tap next week. I figure it is more like a January thaw scenario than a true start to the sap flow season. I will watch for the weather to warm up after the next freeze period and hopefully will tap closer to March 1st.

Today the Special Weather Statement in our area was a dud, we received less than a quarter of the rain forecasted and temperatures that were supposed to be +6°, barely reached +1°.

[Maplesapper]

Sure is tempting hearing all the flow reports in SW Ontario

[Swingpure]

Sure is tempting hearing all the flow reports in SW Ontario

If I was in SW Ontario , I would already have my taps in. 13 of the next 14 days are flow days. Temperature graph attached is from Guelph.

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We are just a little colder here and it makes a difference. To be honest if I still had my steam pans, I would be tapping a few more of my lines as I could deal with smaller volumes, but when I start boiling with my divided pan, I think you need some decent volumes to get started and I would need all of my taps to do that.

I have to admit I am still tempted to tap this Saturday and will be more tempted if the forecast for Feb 24/25 are above freezing.

[Swingpure]

Well that makes it more interesting and more tempting. As much as I don’t trust weather forecasts lately, the forecasted temperatures for Feb 15/16 are much warmer and the temps for Feb 19/20 are now above freezing and 21 is at freezing. That breaks up the consecutive days of non flow days.

6 and maybe 7 of the 10 days shown are possible flow days. Tomorrow morning I will make the decision whether to tap or not, but today, I may shovel out the area to my collection point, move some collection barrels into place and add the tubing from the end of the line to the barrels.

If I make the decision to tap, I would start tapping Saturday, taking time out to meet a certain person and perhaps finish tapping Sunday morning. Do a test boil Sunday afternoon with water, and if all goes well, maybe start boiling for real on Monday.

So tempting.

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https://share.icloud.com/photos/039_qOfsVduHKJ9gAytFEkmHg

[berkshires]

Swingpure, if I recall correctly you have a 2x4 pan right? That's not much bigger than my 2x3 and I have 23 taps total. So as soon as you get like 30 or 40 gallons I think you could fire up the evaporator.

GO

[Swingpure]

Swingpure, if I recall correctly you have a 2x4 pan right? That's not much bigger than my 2x3 and I have 23 taps total. So as soon as you get like 30 or 40 gallons I think you could fire up the evaporator.

GO

Thanks!

I may have made a really bad decision but I decided to tap.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/02dZC4i7iWJmwYbaynfmNEErw

https://share.icloud.com/photos/069jJwRcnveR2C3W0SoUpAWkw

[Swingpure]

I decided not to go all in on the tapping and I am saving 74 taps for late February/early March.

[Maplesapper]

Forecasted Temperature dropping heading into the month's end.
Seems like 2012 almost ??

[Swingpure]

The cold snap keeps getting extended. I am now thinking any sap I collect over the next couple of days, I will let just freeze and boil later after the cold snap, unless I get significant flows of sap, which hasn’t happen so far.

Today here it will be +2, tomorrow +5 and the following day +7. It may not below freezing before the +7 day, so that could be a dud day.

I will be working on my evaporator today and tomorrow, making the changes to my evaporator, after yesterday’s test boil with water. Yesterday was a great day for the test boi, but I couldn’t help look at the lake and think it would also be a great day for ice fishing.

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[Swingpure]

The forecasted cold weather is starting to extend into March. My decision to tap some trees on Feb 10 seems less sound as the cold temperatures keep getting extended. I knew cold weather was returning, but my hope like the rest of the winter, warm weather would return near the end of February.

I have since learnt that trees simply do not flow as well up here in February, as they do during true spring. In future years, I will wait until true spring.

The one bonus is, I may have 60 gallons of sap ready to go when spring does return.

Today is cold and it is certainly still winter here. Hopefully the polar vortex temperatures will be pushed out and the extended forecast changes.

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https://share.icloud.com/photos/02bpIq0zXOQhWuETd-hJ4g_YA

[Swingpure]

+3.4 C today, I thought the sap would run one last time before the freeze. It is running, but just barely with the sun getting ready to set behind the hill. It will stay above freezing until midnight and I will likely drain the collection barrels after the hockey game. I doubt if I will get 5 gallons, but we will see. I will let that sap freeze as well in storage 5 gallon pails.

When I decided to tap a few more taps on Feb 10, there was a warm spell, then a short cool spell, then a warm spell, then three cold days, with the rest unknown. Based on the winter so far, I had expected another warm up, but three days of cold has turned into a forecasted 12 days of cold and counting.

Last year I tapped on March 6 and did my first boil on March 17.

Edit: after many taps dripping all afternoon and evening and still dripping at 10:45 pm, I collected a whopping 3 gallons. It all counts.

[Swingpure]

The temperatures at the start of March are starting to moderate. If they moderate maybe just a little more, we could be in business.

Fingers crossed! 🫰

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0d8sOxOFHRhEvjRERoc8Tahtg

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[Swingpure]

Before starting sugaring last year, I always thought as March as a winter month, where you have nicer days to go ice fishing and at the end of the month you hoped for milder days to start to get rid of the snow and the ice on the lake. The ice sometimes came off the second or third week of April, but there were times it came off at the end of April and even into May.

Last year I tapped on March 6 on a +11° C day and had my first boil on March 14. This easy winter had me thinking of boiling much sooner this year.

The long range forecast keeps adding more below freezing days to the calendar, running now to March 14. Who knows when the first boil will be this year. I have to think that most years it would be around mid month. We received over 10 cms (4”) of snow last night and another possible 40 cms (15”) is in the forecast over the next two weeks, but that forecast will change 14 times). There is a lot of snow in the forecast and I will be going over my line trails again after I finish plowing.

What will be, will be. You have to hope that April does not warm up too quickly, which is exactly the opposite of what I would have hoped for prior to last year.

A couple days ago the forecast had a few +2 days in the forecast, but they are disappearing, which is actually good as the days will not count against my early taps six week clock.

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[Swingpure]

So yesterday March 1st, right or wrong, I went all in and tapped my remaining 73 taps. It was +4 and the sap was flowing. This coming week will have more flow days and the second week is looking milder than it was even yesterday and I think like that week will warm up even more, as we get closer to it.

There is an article in Cottage Life that says us smaller producers should stick to tapping closer to the normal dates, but it also says sometimes you have to adapt. https://cottagelife.com/outdoors/heres-how-much-maple-syrup-you-can-expect-this-year/?utm_source=Cottage_Life_Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Dockside_Mar2_2023&mc_cid=581228f3c1&mc_eid=f4e9dd4206

At the end of this season, I likely will have learned some hard lessons about tapping early, but I did make syrup on January 1 and I will likely have 80+ gallons to start boiling on Sunday if all goes well. The taps I tapped on December 27th are still flowing, we will see for how much longer they will continue to flow for.

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[Brien]

When are people thinking of tapping in the North Bay area.
Looking at the weather it's warm right now, but is getting chilly again. Last year I tapped mid March.

[Maplesapper]

North Parry Sound here-
Waiting until Sunday or Monday.
Still a few -10 nights ahead

[aamyotte]

When are people thinking of tapping in the North Bay area.
Looking at the weather it's warm right now, but is getting chilly again. Last year I tapped mid March.
With the -21 at my place this morning it's not happening for me this weekend. I am thinking next weekend depending on the long range. The warm day yesterday and forecasted for the weekend made it tempting but the trees will still be frozen solid. Last year I tapped March 17 and it didn't flow before March 21st.

[Someclown]

When are people thinking of tapping in the North Bay area.
Looking at the weather it's warm right now, but is getting chilly again. Last year I tapped mid March.

I usually tap in the West Nippissing area after the second weekend in March and could probably wait until the third week
I will do the same thing this year. Never really had any good sap runs that early

[Brien]

With the -21 at my place this morning it's not happening for me this weekend. I am thinking next weekend depending on the long range. The warm day yesterday and forecasted for the weekend made it tempting but the trees will still be frozen solid. Last year I tapped March 17 and it didn't flow before March 21st.

If you could update when you tap, that would be appreciated. I'm 1hr from my sugar bush and don't always check on it because of the ice fishing season.

I see you added a AUF in 2022, I'm contemplating adding one, how do you like it? Did it increase your boil rate much?

[aamyotte]

If you could update when you tap, that would be appreciated. I'm 1hr from my sugar bush and don't always check on it because of the ice fishing season.

I see you added a AUF in 2022, I'm contemplating adding one, how do you like it? Did it increase your boil rate much?
Will do. I did a test boil of my new pan today. The warm weather in the bush made it tempting to tap.

[Swingpure]

+5 here today and +5 forecasted for tomorrow. Long range forecast needs to warm up a tad for future flows.

The plan is to boil the next two days, but I have no idea of when I will boil for a third day. As mentioned, the hope is the long range forecast will warn a little.

The sap is flowing, but not racing. It is only above freezing for about 6 hours and my hills face east. The smart play is to wait to tap, but I will like the experience of boiling for the first time on the divided pan. I have about 89 gallons to start and should get another 25+ gallons on Sunday. Who knows I might get my first draw or two depending how much sap I collect on Sunday.

[Swingpure]

I will be boiling today and tomorrow. The goal is to boil all of the sap I have collected, maybe make some syrup, but mostly to have it all boiled and concentrated. After tomorrow, I will drain the sweet from my pan and let it freeze again, unless there is a dramatic change in the forecast.

The article I posted on another thread shows that we may not get our traditional cold March and that winter might persist into April. This could lead to a short season depending how fast April warms up. Skip to near the end of the article for easier reading.

https://www.severe-weather.eu/global-weather/strong-blocking-system-polar-vortex-collapse-cold-weather-united-states-canada-europe-fa/

I am still hoping that some of the days that are at freezing or just below freezing will warm up, but that may not happen. Opps just checked the forecast and those 0° C days are gone.

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[sergeaubin]

I usually tap in the West Nippissing area after the second weekend in March and could probably wait until the third week
I will do the same thing this year. Never really had any good sap runs that early

I agree with Someclown. I prefer to tap when its ready to run. If i see a run of +4 and up i tap but never before march break.

[Swingpure]

I agree with Someclown. I prefer to tap when its ready to run. If i see a run of +4 and up i tap but never before march break.

Next year I will be conservative and will tap like you say around mid March depending on the forecast.

I did put to boil 110 gallons of sap yesterday. I drained it all from the pan based on the forecast.

That forecast changes daily and is different depending on the weather forecaster. I usually go with the Weather Network, but I do not like any of the choices.

If I trusted Environment Canada’s forecast, I may not have drawn off the sweet.

Weather network 0, -1, -1, -1, 0, -1
Environment Canada 1, +1, +3, 0, +1, +2

Today was +3 here. I am headed out to collect what ran today.

[Maplesapper]

I believe we have learned to tap while the sap is just starting to flow.
Easy to spot leaks right out of the gate; and seems to save us time in the long run checking lines.

[Swingpure]

For those in Northern Ontario, who have sugared for a number of seasons, what is the latest you have ever started your season?

If the 14 day forecast holds, the season would start after March 23 this year.

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[4Walls]

Mid march is normal. A week on either side is expected. I remember an early flow one year and it just stopped for about 3 weeks. Saw -28C on the 28th of March. Popped all my taps out of the trees. My sap here has run consistently until about the end of April. Latest I was still making good syrup was Mother's Day. Had to quit then because I was sick of the marathon syrup season and it went from sap weather to +26 within a day.
This is my 22nd year making syrup in Corbeil. I haven't tapped any trees yet.

[Swingpure]

A positive change in the long range forecast in the last eleven hours. I am sure it will change many, many times, but a glimmer of hope for the season to finally truly start.

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[Hkb82]

Swingpure.
Just shy of 30gal last year on a 5 pan block arch set up sounds like you had a busy year boiling. Wondering how your new 2x4 divide will compare in boil rate? At
My first couple years I would watch the weather like a hawk and anticipate the runs. I found it just led to being disappointed if we didn’t hit the temps predicted. Once I tap my bush and have the shack ready the long term forecast is irrelevant to me. I play it day by day. I’ll still look periodically every few days but I do that year round. I’m originally from muskoka Gravenhurst to be exact and have a couple friends in the area. Well kinda close to Perry Sound. They tap match break no matter what the weather says. They always seem to have the same year as other. Good when it’s good bad when it’s bad. They will be tapped and ready this weekend for the season.
Hope you enjoy the new divided pan and get slammed with sap over there. TV

[Swingpure]

Swingpure.
Just shy of 30gal last year on a 5 pan block arch set up sounds like you had a busy year boiling. Wondering how your new 2x4 divide will compare in boil rate? At
My first couple years I would watch the weather like a hawk and anticipate the runs. I found it just led to being disappointed if we didn’t hit the temps predicted. Once I tap my bush and have the shack ready the long term forecast is irrelevant to me. I play it day by day. I’ll still look periodically every few days but I do that year round. I’m originally from muskoka Gravenhurst to be exact and have a couple friends in the area. Well kinda close to Perry Sound. They tap match break no matter what the weather says. They always seem to have the same year as other. Good when it’s good bad when it’s bad. They will be tapped and ready this weekend for the season.
Hope you enjoy the new divided pan and get slammed with sap over there. TV

Thanks.

I think the new pan, assisted by the float box allowing me to have lower sap levels in the pan, along with the base stack and 8” stack has boosted my gallons per hour by 5 gallons per hour more than last year. (8 gph last year vs 13 gph this year) It might be more, because this year’s boil rate seems to be consistent, where last year the boil rate would really fluctuate.

I know I should look out the window and go by that, but it is in my nature to look ahead. I think I was trained to do that, as we had a very reliable weather provider when I worked on the railway and we did adjust how we operated, by the 7 day forecast.

I think my time on the railway also trained me to make on the spot decisions and act. Although in my role on the railway, I did long term planning, there was always lots of day to day, hour to hour, major decisions to make and you had to make your best decision and act. My friends here now laugh at me when I come up with a project and then have to get on it right away.

Next year I will find the restraint to wait for the season to truly start, I understand now that the trees simply do not flow anywhere near as well as they do by mid March and later.

[Hkb82]

Ya a float box will definitely help ya run at a consistent depth and boil rate.

Another big thing I don’t hear mentioned very much about early February tapping compared to early/mid march tapping is the added hours of daylight. From the beginning of February to the end of March is a 2 hour gain of daylight. I figure it’s better to have fresher tap holes at those peak times during max daylight then catching the first or second run in February and having older tap holes during peak times. This year with the winter we had I was more tempted then I’ve been since my year one and two to tap in February. At the end of the day we all chose to tap when we do and for all kinds of reasons.

[4Walls]

Hey. Putting it out there. I have an small RO system that is now surplus. I upgraded last year, mid season, to a 4x40 with a high pressure pump. My spare is a 3 chamber, 100 GPD in series with a small HP pump. Basically an RO Bucket system mounted on a plank. It pulls about 75-100 gallons of water out of the sap overnight. Let me know via private message if anyone is interested in it. Membranes have 1/4 season on them. Have been flushed and stored in citric acid.

[Swingpure]

An article in the North Bay Nugget about making Maple Syrup: https://www.nugget.ca/news/mother-nature-bears-squirrels-and-lightning-among-the-obstacles-for-maple-syrup-producers

The forecast for the end of this week and especially next week is becoming more promising. I will do my third sap boil hopefully Thursday, for sure on Friday and Saturday.

[aamyotte]

I am tapping Saturday or Sunday. I will need to snowshoe my trails again after the 8" of predicted snow on Friday. Looks like it's go time around here.

[Swingpure]

I am tapping Saturday or Sunday. I will need to snowshoe my trails again after the 8" of predicted snow on Friday. Looks like it's go time around here.

Good luck!

[Swingpure]

An article from the Sootoday on maple syrup: https://www.sootoday.com/local-news/local-maple-syrup-producers-brace-for-unpredictable-season-6691042

[4Walls]

-20c on the thermometer outside my kitchen window this morning. Brrrr. Forecasting 25-30 cm of snow on Friday. Not a great start to the syrup season.

[Swingpure]

-20c on the thermometer outside my kitchen window this morning. Brrrr. Forecasting 25-30 cm of snow on Friday. Not a great start to the syrup season.

It was only -12° here this morning and will briefly reach +1 this afternoon. +3 Thursday and Friday, with more rain than snow in the forecast. Today I reheat and thaw my sap in the pan and may boil later on Thursday and for sure Friday depending on the rain. I should make syrup one of those two days.

Next week looks to be when the season will truly start.

[Swingpure]

An article in Orilliamatters on maple syrup:

https://www.orilliamatters.com/local-news/sweet-sight-maple-syrup-production-ramping-up-in-simcoe-county-6711404

The temperatures are looking great for next week and the week after.

I made maple syrup yesterday for the first time in my new pan. Next boil will be Tuesday. We are getting lake effect snow right now and -13° tonight, but soon things will change.

[aamyotte]

I tapped today and some trees were dripping a bit, no big flow.

[Brien]

Thanks for the update. I think I will go to my property this afternoon and tap my trees as well.

[Swingpure]

My neighbour’s are tapping Monday or Tuesday, likely Tuesday.

I will be boiling Tuesday or Wednesday depending on Monday’s flows.

I had a 60 watt bulb in a trouble light under my pan. It did not quite stand up to the -15° temps this morning, so the sap partially froze, but it warmed to -2 and most of the sap is thawed now. I am not sure I will need to do that again, but I will try and get a 100 watt bulb for next time.

I will likely drain and clean my pan tomorrow afternoon.

[Maplesapper]

We have 640 or so tapped as of 10 days ago- just enough sap so far to flush the lines modestly.
Looks like things will start in earnest this Wednesday

[4Walls]

300 tapped. 200 to go. Will get on it tomorrow. Still have a few days before first boil. Sap has to be enough to be pumped up the hill to the RO tank and run through that. I only bring mine up to max 16 brix. Then into the the evaporator. Late start for sure. Hoping to do a filter demo for a friend later this week. He wants to build a vacuum filter rig like mine. He only has 100 taps so might scale it down for him. I am working on the simplest and cheapest version of it for back-yarders. Ideally it will come in less than 50 bucks. Inspired by a girlfriend that does 20 taps and needs a better solution than cone filters. Will see if it works.

[aamyotte]

300 tapped. 200 to go. Will get on it tomorrow. Still have a few days before first boil. Sap has to be enough to be pumped up the hill to the RO tank and run through that. I only bring mine up to max 16 brix. Then into the the evaporator. Late start for sure. Hoping to do a filter demo for a friend later this week. He wants to build a vacuum filter rig like mine. He only has 100 taps so might scale it down for him. I am working on the simplest and cheapest version of it for back-yarders. Ideally it will come in less than 50 bucks. Inspired by a girlfriend that does 20 taps and needs a better solution than cone filters. Will see if it works.
I increased to 51 taps this year from 32 last year. The smaller filter setup may be a good solution for me was well. I would be interested to see how that works on a smaller scale.

[aamyotte]

Thanks for the update. I think I will go to my property this afternoon and tap my trees as well.
With the cold morning there wasn't much flow yesterday. Hope your tapping went well with the windy conditions. On Saturday morning I was in a blizzard one minute then full sun the next. The strangest weather I've tapped in so far.

[Swingpure]

With the cold morning there wasn't much flow yesterday. Hope your tapping went well with the windy conditions. On Saturday morning I was in a blizzard one minute then full sun the next. The strangest weather I've tapped in so far.

For several days now they forecasted +1 for today, but it would be above freezing for about 7 hours. This morning the forecast said it would reach +3. It rose to +1 quickly this morning in the sunshine. But it clouded over and the temperature has stalled at +1.3. The snow on the roofs is not melting and the sap is not flowing, at least not yet.

It is amazing the difference the sunlight makes. Tomorrow is supposed to be +3, hopefully the sap will run tomorrow. My original plan was for the sap from today combined with the sap from tomorrow would make for a good boil on Wednesday.

[Swingpure]

Minimal flows yesterday for me. Today which had been forecasted to be +4 is now forecasted to be +2 and tomorrow which had been forecasted to be +8 is now +4.

The season will start when it starts. The clock is ticking on my taps. Next year I will wait to tap until mid March.

The taps I tapped back in December are still flowing. I am waiting for the lines to flow well again, so I can make a comparison from the December lines with the February lines with the March lines.

[Someclown]

Mid to late March 93 taps in West Nippissing today. Now I'll just sit back and let nature take its course.
Some trees were dripping good some trees were not dripping at all.

[Swingpure]

The sun miraculously came out and it all of a sudden warmed up to 4.3° and in the afternoon the sap started to run. I collected 33 gallons at 5 pm and it was still running 4 hours later.

I will collect more tomorrow and boil tomorrow afternoon.

Some lines were streaming steadily for awhile.

Tomorrow should be a good flow day, but I am learning like fishing that the sap flows are unpredictable sometimes.

[4Walls]

This is killing me. Only 1 partial boil so far.
I saved up 870L of sap this week. Ran through the RO to 200L at 11%. Fired up the evaporator and was finished in no time at all. Drew all of it off to finish it as a batch. The early, early season stuff is my daughter's favourite. It tastes like rice crispy squares. Hardly any maple flavour, only butter, vanilla and marshmallow. Wound up with 18 L finished and my pan is sweet now for continuous flow. That is if we ever get a proper run.

[aamyotte]

I'm getting antsy as well. I have minimal sap and nothing running today.

[Swingpure]

I have collected 43% of the sap I collected last year. Still no big flows and the only thing saving me is the number of taps. We have had a snow storm most of the day so far, but it is supposed to warm up soon and stay warm for most of the night, so there may be sap in the barrels tomorrow morning. The coming two weeks still look good for flows.

I have had three boils so far, next one scheduled for Monday. I made maple syrup snow candy for my neighbour’s kids this afternoon.i enjoyed that.

Edit: It is 4:30 pm, the snow (5 cms) has stopped and it is more a driving rain, almost freezing rain. Temperatures have not made it quite to +1 yet and the sap is really running in the lines.(“running” is a relative term) A fair amount has already collected in the barrels. There may be a decent amount in the barrels come morning. I always find sap flow a little bit of a mystery.

[Brien]

I tapped 60 trees last weekend. Walked out with my son yesterday to check it out. We got 35gallons, Not that much, but I think I might go boil it tomorrow. Not much to do in this weather anyways and I would like to try a small boil in my new sugar shack to make sure everything is ok. I setup a little blower on the back of the evaporator off a battery and invertor. Not sure how long it will last. But If can at least get it up and boiling quickly that would be nice.

[Swingpure]

The lines are still running at 5 minutes to midnight. It will drop below freezing in the next hour with the lines full of sap.

I know the one barrel I have been checking has the most sap in it yet this year. Once again the most is a relative term, I never see flows of a gallon a tap, but it will be considerably more than I have been getting. I never would have expected it from a day like today.

Tonight it will drop to -1. I hope maybe a little lower. It will start flowing again by 11 am.

The line I tapped on December 27th is still flowing as well as the other lines based on my observations on what comes out of the lines.

[Swingpure]

Yesterday which did not look like a sap running day produced my greatest daily total so far of 60 gallons. Go figure. I am boiling today with 90 available gallons of sap to boil.

Last night only dropped to -2, but there is bright sun today and the sap is running. Tonight will drop to -6 and +4 tomorrow, so that will be another sap day.

I have collected 50% of the sap I collected last year.

[Swingpure]

Today’s forecasted high was +4, but I think it reached +7. This morning I collected the most sap of the season and I am pretty sure that when I collect tomorrow morning it will beat this mornings count.

Tonight will be -7 and tomorrow +5, it should be another great flow day.

I made 10.75 L of syrup today.

[Swingpure]

I made 10.75 L of syrup last night. I collected 68 gallons of sap this morning, my season’s best to date.

Last night went down to -6 and although today was forecasted to reach +4, it is now forecasted to reach +8. The sap is flowing well again. I likely will have another boil tomorrow.

There might be a one day pause in flow on Thursday, (and a slow flow on Wednesday) but the rest of the two week forecast looks like good flow days.

I have collected 58.5% of the sap compared to last year so far and I have made more syrup so far than last year.

And the line I tapped on December 27 is still flowing well.

[Sugar Bear]

The lines are still running at 5 minutes to midnight. It will drop below freezing in the next hour with the lines full of sap.

I know the one barrel I have been checking has the most sap in it yet this year. Once again the most is a relative term, I never see flows of a gallon a tap, but it will be considerably more than I have been getting. I never would have expected it from a day like today.

Tonight it will drop to -1. I hope maybe a little lower. It will start flowing again by 11 am.

The line I tapped on December 27th is still flowing as well as the other lines based on my observations on what comes out of the lines.

Maximum Flow Date/Dates (could be a day or two or three of consecutive dates ) are very handy dates to keep track of for use in the future! And very FUN dates to have lively taps in the trees on.

I have noticed over the years that they are rarely outside of a week of the average max flow date through the years.

Even in this craziest of years it was still almost spot on it for me.

[Swingpure]

Maximum Flow Date/Dates (could be a day or two or three of consecutive dates ) are very handy dates to keep track of for use in the future! And very FUN dates to have lively taps in the trees on.

I have noticed over the years that they are rarely outside of a week of the average max flow date through the years.

Even in this craziest of years it was still almost spot on it for me.

Thanks I will keep track of that. These right now are matching my last year’s best flow dates. I may yet pay the price for tapping early and the taps starting to close, but I am ahead of last year’s sap and syrup.

Next year I will wait for March to start, but for this year, there has been a number of positives starting early, least of which was an early start to the divided pan learning curve.

[Swingpure]

I had a peak at my barrels and my collection tomorrow morning will be greater than this mornings which was greater than the day before.

-6 tonight and +5 tomorrow, so that should be another good flow day, then it slows down for two days.

Note to self from today, when you are pulling off the pan late at dusk, have your glasses with you so you can see the needle move down. I cut the draw off a little short as it was hard to see the needle.

Edit, the sap, was still running slowly at 10:50 pm.

My pan was also still steaming almost 4 hours after I stopped adding wood. Every drop of sap in my feed tank will be needed.

[4Walls]

Sap just starting to flow here. Pumped 900 Litres out of the bush yesterday and ran it through the RO last night. Down to 200 this morning so time to fire up the beast and make some syrup. -10c on the thermometer this morning. Its a good morning to be in the steamy maple spa.
For reference, I can sometimes get 2500 Litres of sap on a very good day.

[aamyotte]

It started flowing for me too, collected a decent amount yesterday. The bush trees are just starting to wake up. Tonight should be a better collection.

[Swingpure]

I had my best collection day this season and just beating my last year’s best. I collected 86 gallons / 325 L. -8° last night and a forecasted +5 today, so it should be another good flow day.

I have collected 69% of the total sap from last season.

[northwood]

I'm all taped in as of March 19. Winter is still giving us some bursts of snow now and then but the days in between have been good. Made a couple good collections this week. First boil this week end.

[Swingpure]

I'm all taped in as of March 19. Winter is still giving us some bursts of snow now and then but the days in between have been good. Made a couple good collections this week. First boil this week end.

Good luck with your first boil.

It warmed up here above freezing for about two hours, then a cold front moved in with colder temperatures, some snow and lots of wind. Our power is out. Our next flow day will be Friday and Saturday should be my next boil day, depending on the rain and wind.

[4Walls]

Brrrrr. -10c on the thermometer this morning. Late start for sure. Last year by this time I had 140 L put away. This year I have 19L in bottles. Looks good on the forecast tho....

[aamyotte]

I'm all taped in as of March 19. Winter is still giving us some bursts of snow now and then but the days in between have been good. Made a couple good collections this week. First boil this week end.
I am doing my first boil this weekend in the blizzard with high winds. At least the wind may help draw the steam out of the shack.

[Swingpure]

-11° this morning and likely no flow today. The next two following days will be interesting. On Friday if the forecast holds, the sap will start to flow at noon. The weather actually warms overnight, so the sap could flow all night and into Saturday. Lots of rain during that time. The temperature then starts to drop just after noon on Saturday. My plan if the rain slows, is to start boiling by 7 or 8 am with my stored 65 gallons of sap and then start collecting around 11 am and boil until the weather stops me.

[Swingpure]

Well the weatherman got that wrong. Yesterday around noon time it was supposed to warm up and the snow turn to rain. It barely warmed up and we received 8 to 10 cms of heavy wet snow. It did warm enough eventually for the snow to turn to rain, but not near as much as forecasted and not enough to make the fresh snow disappear. It also did not warm up near as much as forecasted. Sap flow was not what was expected.

I did boil today with sap I had stored, then in the afternoon the winds changed and strong, cold and snowy north winds came, cutting off my plans to boil longer.

Next boil will be Tuesday.

7 L of syrup made today. I have collected 81% of the sap I had collected last year. I am ahead in L of syrup made, but last year I made a lot in the first week of April, so it will be a battle to stay ahead.

[aamyotte]

I did my first boil today. I'm glad I was in my shack, freezing rain, snow and ice pellets.

I couldn't finish on the propane since for that I'm outside and the winds were crazy this afternoon. I will finish tomorrow morning.

[Swingpure]

I did my first boil today. I'm glad I was in my shack, freezing rain, snow and ice pellets.

I couldn't finish on the propane since for that I'm outside and the winds were crazy this afternoon. I will finish tomorrow morning.

I was in Sudbury yesterday and drove home despite warnings the roads would be bad, which they were not. This is a picture of my daughter’s neighbour’s driveway today. It was bare yesterday. I am sure glad we came home when we did.

I was thinking about how your boil went.

23119

https://share.icloud.com/photos/040ADdWFbKWHVBx0agaYQd46A

[aamyotte]

I was in Sudbury yesterday and drove home despite warnings the roads would be bad, which they were not. This is a picture of my daughter’s neighbour’s driveway today. It was bare yesterday. I am sure glad we came home when we did.

I was thinking about how your boil went.

23119

https://share.icloud.com/photos/040ADdWFbKWHVBx0agaYQd46A
We didn't get that kind of snow. The first boil in the pan went great. Didn't need to laddle between pans. I just had to occasionally adjust the sap flow in the pan.

[Swingpure]

Yikes I hope this changes!

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0ddtOV-C5Gd3r9uC9_y10wdBw

[Maplesapper]

Could be a hard stop without cool nights to hold the sap over

[Swingpure]

Collected by far the most sap after a slow day yesterday and a big day today. Collected 106 gallons. Tomorrow will be a big boil day with 156 gallons of sap available to boil. I only see three boils left including tomorrow’s.

[4Walls]

Good day today. Not great. Just Pumped 1000L of sap. Finished 7 gallons of syrup. It filtered crystal clear. Really happy with it. Still early season stuff. This is only my third bottling. I am very concerned about the long range forecast. My trees just started to flow and looks like it may shut down next week..Yikes!!

[Maplesapper]

Ditto to that !

Hoping the snow will keep some sap flow events coming. Next week certainly looks hot.

[Swingpure]

Boiled 106 gallons of sap today. I am just finishing it now. Long day.

I also collected 77.5 gallons, which is my second best collection of the season. The lines were still flowing after I collected, including the one in tapped on December 27.

I would boil tomorrow but it will be a very bad weather day, but it also should be a sap flow day. I see 3 more boils before shutting down on Monday.

So far I have collected 103% of the sap I collected last year and 91% of the sap total including what was given to me.

[aamyotte]

I still have about a dozen of the 51 trees that haven't started flowing yet. Their base is buried in snow. Hopefully the rain forecasted after this ice crap comes and melts some of the snow around the trees. I also hope the hot weather forecasted doesn't come to end the season before it starts.

[Swingpure]

Boiled yesterday. I also collected 56 gallons afterwards. I collected 66 gallons today, so I will have 122 gallons to boil Sunday. Sunday should be a great flow day (-7 to +9) and might be the last. There is a chance there might be some flow Monday, but that will be it for the season.

I will boil Monday, which could be the last of the season, unless there are some unexpected flows.

[4Walls]

Not bad flow yesterday. Started in earnest later in the afternoon. Yesterday I packed 47 L of crystal clear syrup. Still has early season taste but a little darker than normal. I think today will be the best flow day so far this year. Should have another run tomorrow then it gets hot for the next 5 days at least. I don't think the trees will bud yet. There is still lots of snow on the ground and it is dense with all the rain and freeze here. My trees bud normally about a week after the ice is off the lake out front which is always between April 17-19. Except one year that it hung on until May 2. So who knows?? We might get another run after the warm spell. I haven't made near normal amount of syrup yet. I will take advantage of the warm weather and power wash and bleach the holding tanks. Then they will be ready for the last runs or ready to be put away for the season. Fingers crossed.
Time to finish the second coffee and strap on the snowshoes. Want to inspect the lines while the snow still has a crust on it to catch every drop of today and tomorrow.

[aamyotte]

I just got back from collecting. I collected 67L today which is more than half of what I collected all of last week. I still have 5 trees that have not flowed yet. 2 trees are giving me a brown sap that stinks so I've been dumping that.

I boiled yesterday and saw a sugar content increase, it was 42.8:1 ratio compared to my first boil of 47:1 ratio.

[Swingpure]

The flow today is amazing, almost seems strange it will totally stop flowing tomorrow. I have only collected from a few pails today, I still have more pails and the three barrels to go. I suspect I should have 70+ gallons to boil for my final day.

I am boiling now. I am just a few minutes away from putting the last of my 122 gallons in the 35 gallon head tank. This will be my all time largest single day boil. I might add more from today we will see.

[Swingpure]

I am all finished collecting and I am pulling some taps. I am boiling 131 gallons today. I did end up with more sap than last year and will end up with more syrup. I credit an early start and more taps to that success.

I have to admit I am pooped after a long day yesterday and I am glad the season is ending. Today will be another long day. After that I can clean and pull taps on a slower schedule.

[aamyotte]

The sap flow really slowed down today. I hope the trees don't start budding before the cooler weather next week.

[Swingpure]

I am sitting on my dock in 21° weather watching the ice melt. Monday I stopped collecting and removed some taps. Monday night and Tuesday were warm. This morning it was supposed to ever so briefly reach +1 and warm up and that is what I saw on my thermometer. I guess for the trees it must have briefly dropped below freezing because when I went to remove the balance of the taps, the sap was running pretty good. I have to think that there is good flow today in the North Bay Area.

Today I also removed the lines on my neighbour’s property, especially the one that crosses their driveway. They are only seasonal so as long as I have it removed before the end of April, I am good. There is still tons of cleanup to do.

[aamyotte]

I was in the shack boiling yesterday afternoon. It was hot in there must have been close to mid 30's. The sap flow has not been good this week here after Monday. I collected 69L Monday evening, 7L Tuesday evening and 13L yesterday. I'm hoping the buds don't open and I can collect next week and boil on the following weekend but am not hopeful that I can do a 4th boil.

[4Walls]

Well I am absolutely amazed. Collected 600L yesterday and another 375 today. Granted, that's almost 500 taps on gravity tubing. It was 0c Wednesday morning then 22c in the afternoon. This morning it was +1 and 24 in the afternoon according to my thermometer. Did a quick test boil in a pot and the flavour is still solidly mid season taste. I ran yesterdays through the RO and blanched it in the pans. Todays is currently in the RO and will boil it all off tomorrow morning. We might just make it through this warm spell. My neighbour has 75 pails at his place. We process it here mixed in with my sap. He has a group of maples tapped that are on the north face of a small hill with a grove of balsams blocking the sun to the roots. Snow is still 2.5 ft deep there and those trees just started to run.

[Galena]

Hey all, sorry for what ought to be a post in Classifieds, but I keep getting logged out.

If anyone is getting rid of their old 7/16ths sharkfins, let me know! I will gladly buy ones that are in good shape. Please PM me with how many you have and what you want for them. Thanks.

[Brien]

Do you think I will have one last chance to make syrup in the trout creek area this week?. It looks like the weather will drop below zero tues and wed night.

[Swingpure]

Do you think I will have one last chance to make syrup in the trout creek area this week?. It looks like the weather will drop below zero tues and wed night.

Looking at your forecast you have at least two days and maybe more that sap should flow. We reached 29° here today and you can see some buds starting on some of the maple trees. Have a look at the buds in your area.

I have most things cleaned up and put away. Already planning on improvements for next year. Another thing I added to my list is heat resistant leggings, as I melted the leg of my snow pants from the heat radiating from the open door while loading wood.

[Someclown]

My taps are still in for this week. The trees are not budding around my area.
Also the trees in the bush have finally thawed so I should get a couple good runs this week if the predictors have their forecast right but I don't rely on the computer generated forecasts I just take it as it comes
I am hoping to get some dark syrup

[aamyotte]

I was away for the weekend and when I got back yesterday I has sap in the buckets that was warm but tasted good. I dumped all the buckets so that the new flow in the cooler days will be better. My insulated storage barrel still has snow around it and the bit of sap in it is still crystal clear. I'm hoping for one last boil on Saturday. If the syrup flavour is a little buddy I will probably make sugar out of it.

I was looking at the buds on my trees and they are swelling a bit but are not fully open yet.

[4Walls]

Getting the dregs of my sap dumped and tanks power washed out. Ready for the run this week. No buds yet. Still ice on the lake. No peepers calling out yet so sap should still be good.
Maple related (sort of). Anyone in the Burks falls, Parry Sound or Magnetewan area that goes out for smelts? Im thinking the smelt run might be early this year. Any scoop if they are running yet?

[Someclown]

Anyone in the Burks falls, Parry Sound or Magnetewan area that goes out for smelts? Im thinking the smelt run might be early this year. Any scoop if they are running yet?
I'm guessing the smelt may be running as the creeks around here are full flow, hoping to get the scoop tomorrow. My buddy works in Britt and is trying to find out for me
Will let you know if he gets back to me

[northwood]

Pretty lousy season this year. The second half of March brought late season snow and slightly too cold. April brought very high temps (like well over 20) buckets all needed washing today in hopes that the next couple night might bring a late run. I've only made 1/4 of the usual amount of syrup, good thing last year was so great. Red Maples look like they have swelled buds.

[northwood]

The brown stinky sap is likely water from a punky section inside the tree. Might be a seam or crack in the tree. Good call to dump it.

[Someclown]

Getting the dregs of my sap dumped and tanks power washed out. Ready for the run this week. No buds yet. Still ice on the lake. No peepers calling out yet so sap should still be good.
Maple related (sort of). Anyone in the Burks falls, Parry Sound or Magnetewan area that goes out for smelts? Im thinking the smelt run might be early this year. Any scoop if they are running yet?
Didn't get a response from my buddy about the smelt run in Britt/Magnetewan so don't know if they're running
Check back, if I hear anything I'll post

[Swingpure]

Our lake opened last weekend and the smelt have not run yet. I don’t see any clear nights until May. The full moon is May 5.

[4Walls]

I called the Mag Home Hardware. No smelt run yet. Also pulling my taps today. I was expecting good sap yesterday and today. Yesterday conditions were perfect. Only got about 200 L. Didn't even test boil it. All told I'm at 240L total syrup for the season. Normally expect 450-500L. Oh well. That's the way she goes.
My buddy and I are going to tap 70 birch. Do a quick early season run not the whole season. Gonna try cycling it through the RO to about 16 Brix then into the pans. I've made it before in small batches. 10 trees max. I did 35 trees a few years ago. Got it right down to almost syrup then burned the whole thing. Kicked the pot and cried for a while. Got to give it one more shot.

[Brien]

yup I'm done for the year as well. I was hoping to do a boil this weekend, but since my camp road has a huge washout and it made my walk in 45 min instead of 25min I called it quits. Went in and pulled all my taps. (didn't feel like having to carry a pail of syrup out of the bush.) Will have to go back in a couple weeks and clean everything up. By next year I am hoping to have an ATV.

[Someclown]

Pulled my taps Friday boiled Saturday cleaned Sunday.
Ended the season with1071 litres of sap ice removed and 33 litres of syrup from 93 taps
Another successful season

[aamyotte]

I did a final boil on Friday and pulled my taps yesterday. Ended up with 10.5L of syrup with 51 taps. I had 3 taps that never produced this year. Even though I expanded my operation I came up short of the previous year by 2L.