Tapping in Alexandria

[ROBIEZ]

Started tapping sunday,got out 75 on tubing and 50 buckets.Tapped some more after work this week,got another 50 on tubing and 25 bucket put out.Have about 50 more on tubing and afew more buckets to get out.Sap has been running some but not that great,should have enough to sweeten the pans this saturday.The snow is deep out in the woods,about 3' to 4'.I have been getting out to the woods by snowmobile and working in the bush on snowshoes.

[Parker]

Definatly tough sledding out there,,do you have to gather buckets in the woods or does the tubing take the sap roadside? I know I will have some spiles 6 feet off the ground to pull in may,,,,but what are you going to do?

[ROBIEZ]

Hey Parker, sledding is not too bad, I have been keeping the trails packed down all winter with the snowmobile.And yes, I do have to gather buckets in the woods,they are tree that I can not get with tubing. The good thing is that I can drive the snowmobile to within 20 to 30 feet of the buckets.Having a hard time finding the old tap holes, most are buried under the snow,I to will have taps 5 to 6 feet off the ground.Will have to bring a ladder out this spring to get some of the taps out.Most of my tubing is out in the woods to,lots of flat ground,so I tap small clusters of trees and run them into barrels.Most barrel are a quarter mile from any roads.The snowmobile is vary important to get the sap out,and when the snow is gone I use my 4x4 tractor for hailing sap.Where abouts in Hill are you tapping? That pretty close to me, maybe only 15 minute drive from my place. Brett

[Parker]

The last few days we have been tapping out Quimbys in Hill,,it is on Bunker Hill road,,,the place with the hayfields on both sides of the road,,,come on up and visit if you have time ,,should be there all day today finishing up,,,(I hope)

[ROBIEZ]

Had to work today.Got home and spent the rest of the day getting the sugarhouse ready.Going to gather tomorrow and boil for the first time this season.I would like to catch up with you sometime and checkout your operation. Brett

[Parker]

Come by any time--we are full time sugaring till it buds out,,I PM you,

[Cardigan99]

Hey Robiez, is that you down on town pound across from the old sawmill?

Todd

[ROBIEZ]

That would be me,Where are located Cardigan99. I gathered saturday morning, got about 110 gallon and boiled that afternoon and took off about 5 quarts of fancy. Waiting for the next run now.The area where most of my taps are,is now under water from all this rain we just got. I hope I didn't lose any buckets out there. I will have to wait for the water to recede, and go out and check buckets and lines.Brett

[Cardigan99]

Robiez, I'm out on Knowles Hill up by the AMC lodge. We pulled in 100 gal last week. Sweetend the pans yesterday and pulled off 8 quarts tonite. You've got a bunch of water down that way. I got stuck in that puddle briefly on saturday.

Todd

[ROBIEZ]

Got out the other day and checked buckets and barrels after the water went down, did not lose any buckets or barrels, water would have to had come up another 2 or 3 feet to have reached the buckets.Put out another 25 taps on tubing today,and sap was flowing good on the new taps but slow on the older taps so I pulled a couple of taps and the holes were full of ice,been getting too cold at night and not warm enough in the day to get a good run, hoping for some warmer weather.

Brett

[Parker]

Dont worry,,its comming,,,,,

[Cardigan99]

Robiez, are those your taps up on top of Bristol Hill Rd? I saw you up there on Tuesday, I think, carrying some tubing. Yes, weather needs to cooperate some. Today was pretty decent for a change though. We pulled in about 140 gallons on 210 taps this week between me and my neighbor so we've got something to boil for tomorrow.

Parker, you're right.. It'll happen. Just not soon enough for me. At this rate we'll be going till the middle of April.

[ROBIEZ]

Cardigan99, those are not my taps,my lines are tight,straight and down hill. All my taps are on Town Pound Road, around our old sawmill. I collected last night and got about 120 gallons out of 250 taps,not good numbers in my book. Boiled today and took off 3 gallons of fancy, I'm happy with that. Sap has been running right around 3% so far. Weather is looking up for this coming week.I'll keep you guys posted.

Brett

[Cardigan99]

(Chuckle).. Sorry Brett. didn't mean to confuse you with someone else.. Yeah, there are quite a few sags for such a short run. We're still holding around 3% too. Wish the runs were better, this weather is certainly putting a damper on things. We only pulled about 80 gallons in between Sunday and Tues. Nothing really flowing up here since. Color is still great though.

Todd

[ROBIEZ]

Cardigan99 no big thing on the confusion, thought you might get a kick out of that. I collected last night and got just over 180 gallons since sunday,getting better.I'm still running just about 3%,and still making fancy.Just picked up my new sap hauler today,08 Yamaha Grizzly 700 with electronic power steering,that should get it done.

Brett

[Cardigan99]

Brett, now I'm envious. I'm hauling most by hand this year. Luckily they are all close. Hey, the lumber for my mother's barn came out of your sawmill there. 1995 maybe? All Hemlock. Still got some splinters to prove it!

[ROBIEZ]

Cardgin99,that rough sawn hemlock is bad news,just look at it and you get splinters.I checked the mileage of my sap route and it is over 2.5 miles to collect everything, but takes a couple of trips in and out to collect it all, so gathering by hand is out of the question. Collected wednesday and got 150 gallons,left around 25 gallons of ice that I cound not get out of the barrels. Boiled thursday took off over 4 gallons of light syrup.Canned up everything I have made so far and got 15 gallons of light syrup.Just hoping this weather will come around so we could get some good runs.How is the sap running up on the mountain?

Brett

[Parker]

I have 4 cords of old hemlock slabs I am not looking forward to throwing in the evaporator,,,glad to hear you are making light,,,we are still making dark-A,,been slow here,,,suprisingly slow considering the vacuum we are pulling,,,Good luck

[Cardigan99]

Brett, we had a half decent run on Tues, not as much on Wed. About 140 - 150 gal for the week. Hard to tell because we had a lot of frozen stuff. My road buckets really aren't running too good this year. I think the snowbanks still being so high are keeping them from thawing out. Skipped right over med. and pulled close to 3.5 gals of dark today. Not sure why.

Parker, I hope that hemlock you have is split already. Terrible stuff if it's dry and knotty.

Looks like Wed and Thurs are supposed to be pretty warm, I'm hoping for the BIG SAP so I have an excuse to take Friday off.

[Cardigan99]

Best run of the season last two days up here. Buckets on the road trees finally started to flow decent. Two barrels out back are filling up good. Tomorrow is going to be BIG SAP for a change.

[ROBIEZ]

Finally a good run on tuesday,boiled wednesday, first 2 gallons were light, then last 3 gallons were medium. Sap ran pretty good today,will gather tomorrow, and boil again on sat. I have been cleaning the syrup pan after every boil, lots of sugar sand. This year the sugar sand has been bad, plugging up filters every couple of draws.I am up to 20 gallons this year,made 32 last year,hoping to match or beat last years crop.

[Parker]

I bet you beat it,,,,,still lots of snow,,just need a littel weather

[ROBIEZ]

I think you are right Parker, we need good weather and we will see BIGSAP!

[ROBIEZ]

Boiled again on sunday, made 6 gallons of dark amber. Temps are starting to get warmer around here,and sap is running better.Snow around the trees is finally pulling away.I don't know how long things will last with the warm weather coming up.I will keep boiling as long as the trees keep giving.