Tapping Quebec 2009

[KenWP]

Well since the forecast says it's supposed to warm up starting tomorrow I started tapping trees. Far as I can tell they are as dry as a bone except for one dark tree out in the bush. Hope that this warm spell is enough to get them going as I am excited to see my first sap flow. I have no idea how you guys can tap so many trees in a day. Took me all afternoon to put in 19 taps. Course it would be easyier if I was useing real buckets instead of inventing as I go along.

[Homestead Maple]

It will be interesting to see if you get much sap this weekend where you are that much further north.

[KenWP]

If I don't get sap by next friday then it will almost be April before I get any then as it cools down to much after that untill the end of the month. The next week should get rid of some of the snow cover hopefully unless we get to much snow instead of rain. I will know in a few days. This has been my first year in Quebec and my first winter and spring here. I am used to a lot less snow and colder temps.

[KenWP]

Well trees are tapped or most of them any ways. I had three of them that seeped sap before I could get the spile into them. All I can do it wait now and see what happens. made my heart flutter to actually see sap for the first time.

[Homestead Maple]

I tapped 311 tonight after work and all of them were frozen. Didn't really want to tap under those conditions but I won't have much time the first of next week so I have to do it this weekend.

[KenWP]

Wind came up about 11 tonight and I had to go across the road to the neighbours and rescue my two pails I had set up for my silver maples. Its almost 50 degrees still but hopefully this will unthaw everything now. I don't really know what to expect as this is my first year.

[KenWP]

Well I have 63 taps in now and several of them had sap today. If I poured all the sap so far into one pail I would still have half a pail left to fill. One tree did well for about a hour and then shut dow. I am thinking that it is still pretty early and that only time will solve this scarecity of sap. That or I have to tap a whole lot more trees to get to 40 gallons of sap.

[Homestead Maple]

The runs here so far have been small, Ken. There is still a lot of snow. The snow at the base of the trees has melted back some but it has a ways to go. Better than last year though. The ice clung to the base into April nearly. There's not so much ice this year. My sugar bush faces East and the ones around here that face South and are at a lower elevation are doing better.

[KenWP]

Yes lots of snow here still and I am trying to dig a trench in the yard and its as hard as a rock still. Its 40 degrees still here so I doubt it will freeze tonight. Slow going but promising at least.

[KenWP]

Pouring rain here this mornining. I have no idea if rain is good or not except to get the snow pack down some. Will go and empty the tiney bit of sap I have and freeze it as the forecast calls for lower temps for the next week now. Hopefully the end of the month improves some what. I was hopeing for a liter of syrup this year but might have to settle for a liter of sap instead.

[Jerome]

Ken
I got a reply from my daughter "white Plastic Pail" would be un seau blanc, its all greek to me.

[KenWP]

Thanks Jerome. Man its cold an d wet out today. I collected pails and got 6 liters of sap from all my trees. Thats from 2 days of dripping. One tree had half of that by the way. Not enough to float the sap hydrometer to test it for sugar.

[cheesegenie]

Don't worry, it will run, always does. Then you will have more sap than you can handle, always does.

[KenWP]

Rained untill noon and then cleared off. A couple trees at a time ran but non at the same time. I talked to a little old lady today and she said that I have to much snow cover to get good runs yet. I have one tree that seems like it wants to produce and hopefull it shames the others into running.

[KenWP]

Temp is trying to hold around zero today so do not expect any thing to exciting. Had maybe 2 liters of sap from yesterday on 5 trees. The end of the month looks promiseing.

[KenWP]

Temp is warming up nice this morning already. If it holds should get a few trees dripping after 2 days of rest. I have faith that things can only get better around here.

[Mac_Muz]

Ken, What the heck does this mean? : "30 trees most of unknown varitity."

What kinds of trees are you tapping?

With 65 trees tapped you have some real work cut out if there is a hard run...

I am up to 31 taps now.. All but one bucket I have are like joint compound buckets.. Some are joint compound buckets, while others were for that red house hold or RV antifreeze well washed. Yet others were for automatic tranny fluid, really well cleaned with dish detergent, then filled with oil dry, and after that washed again, to air out in the sun rain and wind.

The odd bucket is smaller and was for some sort of food. It might hold 4 lieters, and is in view from a window.

I am hoping today my run begins too...

[KenWP]

Well as far as I can figure I have red maples,silver maples,a few sugar maples and some maples I can't figure what they are. They are rough on the bottom and grey up top and have pointed buds and the lichens. I really think they are sugars or even blacks but I tapped them. They are pretty big some of them and a bunch have two trunks coming out of the ground at the same place or split about 2 feet from the ground. So far I have 9 liters of sap which will make about 5 pounces of syrup maybe.

[Mac_Muz]

Whats pounces? is that a word or is it a typo for ounces?
Sigar maples have twiggs coming off the branch tips opposite each other, and i think these are the only maples that do it. The rest alternate twiggs.

I gathered for the first time today since I hung any buckets. I got about 10 gallons of sap and ice cakes.

For now i save ice cakes.. I leave these to keep the sap in a barrel cold, and if the ice thaws and freezes again it becomes a lesser sugar holding material.

If you mess around freezing big ice cakes and put these in their own barrel the sap barrel can become a higher concentrate of sugar sap.

Some people throw the ice cakes away, and I will if there is plenty of sap, but i didn't last year.

I did notice some of the trees I drilled march 2nd we not doing well, or as well as trees i drilled more recently. I had 3 trees leaking around the taps, and one tree dripping like mad i forgot to hang any bucket on at all :o

The tap holes that seem dry will be given another 2 days to get with the program and if not, I will drill other trees near by, and drive in a dead stick to the tapped holes.

i always drive in a dead stick to plug any holes I drill to help me think I am keeping out bugs.. Probably doing that does nothing but it only takes a second.

[KenWP]

Today was a bust again. It got warm enough for some trees to think about sap at least. I gathered 4 liters of sap from about 30 trees. Tonight is not going to get as cold so maybe tomorrow will be a bit better. Things are improveing as it took 3 days to get 4 liters of sap. I have just short of 3 gallons stored away for now.
Thats ounces and these must be sugar maples then that are a half mile from the house in 3 feet of snow still.

[Russell Lampron]

Mac Muz don't put anything in the tree to plug the tap hole. The tree will heal itself properly better without it.

[KenWP]

Today looks promiseing already. It never got as cold last night and its already 42 degrees in the sun. Wasn't 40 untill almost 10 yesterday and was almost zero the night before. I can here the trees start to groan with the sap load.

[Mac_Muz]

Russell, Really? In the past i find a dead stick and wittle a plug, smack it in with a few east hammer blows and the next year these plugs are pretty hard to find.

Ken the trees I have are in the swamp, and along the 1/2 mile drive way. To get to where I live there is a right of way over 2 other properties. and to the main parking area here it is 6/10ths of a mile. I plow all this distance too.

I have that 3 feet of snow easy.

Now I don't know for sure but today any trees not running at all which the most of were tapped march 2nd will be refreshed I think. The taps i use are supposed to have a 7/16" drill bit, and I use a bit 2 sizes smaller, just so I can refresh the hole.

I need to drill another bucket and get some sort of make shift cover on it, sine the other day I came by a few more buckets, fixed them all, and went to hang them. On one tree I set a tap and then just walked away :emb: I failed to put any bucket on it.

So yesterday of course that tap was dripping like mad.. This is a big tree and the other 1st bucket was getting nearly nothing, so I put that buck on the dripper. I hung a collection pail on the slow tap and called it a day.

Seems the bug going around is trying to get me, so I am sort of tired alot.

I guess I will still hunt up more buckets untill I run out of taps. That might total 35 buckets for me forever, unless I win mega bucks, and can get a bigger rig.

You are not very far behind me either. Yesterday counting ice cakes i might have collected for the first time 10 gallons..Something lesser really, but I would call it a rough 10 gallons.

I am looking forward to a better day today (hoping) :mrgreen:

[KenWP]

So far today looks promising. Is rather warm. I have several trying to drip and I actually have a couple that are running instead of dripping. I expect things to improve every day now. I went out in the woods today and found a couple really good trees that I want to tap later. They are sugars and 3 to 4 feet wide and then branch out into 4 to 6 big trunks. Will hang one bucket and a couple of tubes on them. Has to be some way to get enough sap inorder to boil this month yet. My big silvers have started fianlly. They are like 6 feet wide at the base for 3 of them and the rest are 3 to 4 feet wide. They have great big tops on them. Time is all it takes it seems.
Update :ate lunch and one silver in a half hour went from a drip every 3 seconds into a dribble. I have waited two years to see this happen. Now if the sugars just wake up I am away.

[KenWP]

Well today gave me a taste of what real sap looks like. I had a couple of trees do well and actually filled a 5 gallon bucket with sap. If this keeps up I will be boiling by wensday. With the weather being warm all week things can only improve as long as the temp goes back down at night. It's still hanging at just above freezeing right now. At least the trees will thaw out if nothing else.

[KenWP]

Today looks good. Temp is already climbed to 40 and the sun is shining. I figure things look good for the week as the nights are supposed to go down t othe 20 degree mark. Time will tell but it can only get better in my eyes.

[Mac_Muz]

Yesterday things began to happen here.. 2 taps i had in were either a miss, or went dry. Both were drilled about march 2nd. In the morning i went with the drill to fresh out the holes, as I under bore the first time by a few 32's.

I hooked up 2 new trees, and later in the day nearing dusk i checked the 2 holes for signs of bleeding, bit both were dry as a bone.

You should be starting which it appears you are.. I think the flow is going to stop sometime after Wednesday and stay slow till the sun comes out.

Now i don't know nuthin, but my take is this is going to be a shorter season.

To me that means the added buckets may make up for some part of that.

If this turns out to be a really good and long season I will be swimming in sap, I can't handle, but I don't believe that will be the reality.

So far as i know I can only boil off 5 to 6 gallons an hour, but that was with 5 inches of sap in the pan, not knowing any better to have 2 inches of sap deep, which I understand allows steam to get out faster.

That might mean I can boil 6 to 7 gallons an hour maybe.. But I am only counting on 5...

[KenWP]

Well today was a bit better then yesterday. I got half again as much sap off fewer trees and enough exersise to wear me out. Tapped a few more trees and am up to 86 taps now. Tapped a tree that filled a gallon bucket in an hour and I finally had to go find a bigger bucket to put on it. I have a couple of trees doing well and the rest are nothing still or a few ounces of sap. Will take a couple of days to get to 40 gallons at this rate. Tommorrow is supposed to be warmer still so who knows what will happen. As long as it freezes tonight is all that matters.

[KenWP]

Tuesday looks like a great day. I never figured I would ever expect to want it to freeze at night in my life. More and more trees start to wake up every day but the odd ones stop instead go figure. One of my best trees gave me nothing yesterday and its allaways had some kind of flow. I think the frost is trying to leave the ground and freezeing some of the trees back up again as it does it. Hopefully boil tomorrow.

[Mac_Muz]

Once I lived in another place that would fill all my 5 gallon buckets in a day, but not here. I thought that was normal. I guess it isn't.

I have no tools to test sugar content, other than tasting the sap. Many trees seem no different than common water right now, but I can taste sweet in some.

I hope you can boil off all the sap you get. I am wood fired and I think based on last year it takes about 1/2 cord of pine for me to boil off 40 gallons.

I am hoping each 40 gallons of sap boiled off means I get 1 gallon of syrup, but that might not be this year.

My goal is 5 gallons of syrup, some of which I hope to make candies of.

[KenWP]

Well today was my best day ever. A couple of trees I figured were write offs started finally. Not much but some. I had holes drill in two ratty looking trunks to see if they were even wet and the holes were dry so left them and I just happened to walk over and look at them today and all of a sudden one spilled sap out. The other one started a bit later. I have some trees back in the trees that just will not start yet but they have a lot of snow at the base yet. I have one tree that I took almost 5 US gallons off of today. If I had 20 of those I could stop this running around gathering a bit here and a bit there.
Not supposed to freeze tonight so tomorrow will probbably be a bust. I will collect in the morning and if there is enough I will start boiling and what ever the day brings me should be enough for a gallon of syrup. I have almost a 100 taps out now but so many are just dribbles and a bunch haven't started. I might actually get swamped yet.

[KenWP]

Well Wednesday sucked big time sap wise. Got almost nothing and the little bit I did get was what ran after I emptyed things at dark Tuesday. Not supposed to freeze again untill Thursday night so Friday will be sap day I guess. I boiled what sap I had and made almost a gallon of syrup. Should be against the law to make stuff that tastes that good. Its a little dark and had lots of crap in it but filtered out good. Now to actually have all my trees run the same day and look out.
I was also rather proud that both my goofy preheater ideas actually worked. One worked really well and the other one semiwarm but better then cold sap. Will up date it a bit before the next batch.

[Mac_Muz]

I finally have come by apx 40 gallons and will boil either Friday or Saturday. it seems my weather is a good match to yours and I am hard pressed to get sap. The morning here was gray, and the sun came out later, but still not much in the way of sap.

This next cold snap I hope changes things.

if I can't meet last year with only 15 buckets then, and beat it with 32/36 buckets this year I am not sure what I should think.

[KenWP]

I have 99 taps out and had to gather 3 days to get 35 gallons of sap. Its freezing tonight but tomorrow is forecast to be cold so who knows if I get anything. At least the warm weather had to have thawed out a few more trees. Made a gallon of nice semi dark syrup out of 35 gallons of sap. My trees at least have good sugar.

[KenWP]

Well today is a lot colder then we had. At least it froze so that things will rest themselves. Went to Lodge last night and all the old timers there figure there is lots of time left and that the trees haven't totally woken up yet. Even the big guys are not getting the big flows yet. I even have my partner in life watching the temps and going around watching buckets and even more so after I made my first batch of syrup and she tasted how good it was. She made donuts to dip up syrup even last night.

[KenWP]

Today at least warmed up a bit more but the trees are not running much at 4pm yet. Guess one has to wait and see what tomorrow brings. Had one more tree start to run finally that hadn't yet.

[KenWP]

Well looks like Wednesday before anything will happen here now. Supposed to be March weather untill then. My keeper tells me she has never seen a sugaring season with out what she calls sugar snow before. So maybe thats what we need to get things going.

[KenWP]

Woke up this morning with snow on the ground and a bit still falling. Maybe its sugar snow hopefully. Collected a bit of sap left over from last nights collection. Have very few trees running as of noon but the suns pretty strong so who knows. Supposed to be cold until Wed. now and then warm for the end of the week. Trying to get another batch of sap scraped toghter so I can boil again some time. This year hasn't been the greatest so far but from looking at post from the last two years we are a bit early still.
I find it hard when you have to learn it all for the first time and have no idea what your actually doing and so far no one local to ask guestions of. It has been able to help me get up in the morning with good expectations thou so thats good. Allways wondering today will be that day when all the trees run and my buckets are full.

[Mac_Muz]

Well I finally got in my first boil yesterday. Apx 40 gallons, which made 4 qts of dark amber grade A, as compared to a 2007 color gauge set.

I got around to an accurate count on buckets too and have exactly 34.

It is said you should get something like 1 qt of syrup per tap, but I don't see coming close to that for me this year.

I have some trees doing just ok and the rest are not doing very well producing sap. At least the sugar content must be ok for what there is.

I think there will be enough sap for a 2nd boil, and still hope for a third, but that means 12 qts for 34 trees and I made that much last year with 15 trees.

Well I don't mind 12 qts from 15 taps but 12 qts from 34 IF I get that isn't very good.

The thing is no one knows till the fat lady sings...

Last night here was +12.5 degrees F, so pretty chilly and today is is gusting winds and snow showers, not a good day for sap to run.

[KenWP]

Trees are weird if you ask me. I have one tree that never ran before running and the others sitting there useing up space. All my boxelders are pouring sap but there is only 6 of them. I did tap one boxelder today that was dry but that also expalins why my biggest maples are dry also as they are beside each other. Either too cold still or they never will run for some reason.
Still a bit early Mac so give it a bit oftime. Far as I can tell the season here dosn't end untill the first or second week of April.

[Jerome]

Ken hang in there its been slow. I just finished collecting and had 25 gallons from 17 taps after 5 days. It really has not been the right weather yet but it will come.

[KenWP]

Finished collecting for the day here. Even being so cold a few trees tried to run but most of them had sap sicles hanging off the taps. I got a little better then 8 gallons of sap off all my taps and now have 15 gallons saved up since Wen. Tuesday looks like it might be warm enough as Monday is not supposed to be above freezeing and the weather man is never wrong. Got my new preheater made at least so maybe this next boil will be a little faster.

[KenWP]

Well if anything runs today it would be a miracle as the high is suposed to be 24 degrees . Hopefully after tomorrow things improve a bit untill the weekend when its supposed to cool down a bit again. Frustrating to say the least but somehow am hopeing to get enough sap before the season ends for one more gallon of syrup.

[Mac_Muz]

Well I dragged in my buckets for the 2nd time and have maybe 30 gallons of ice. In the doing I went swimming too!~ :o Holy creepers is that water cold!

I wanted to see this tree on the other side of the brook and so took off my snow shoes and attempted to cross a ice coated log over the brook, well that didn't work out very well at all.

I am thinking my season is going to run into April. The sap that ran this time ran better than it did to get me 40 or so gallons, and that 40 or so made up 1 gallon exactly.

The sap in this ice is seemingly sweeter than the first batch was too, but of course I could be dreaming.

About what color was your first batch anyway? Here is a sample bottle of the color test kits that was given to me since it was 2007 and out of date last year. The real stuff is on the right with a shot glass on top.
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll275/Mac_Muz/Maple_Sugarin/09_Batch1_Donewww.jpg

[KenWP]

My syrup is rather dark compared to that. Looks like a good syrup to me. Course this was my first batch and took a bit to long to boil off. I rethought out a different preheater system this last weekend and I think I can cut down my boiling by a bit this next time. I had to flood the pans with cold sap a few to many times when it boiled to fast and I wasn't dribbling it in fast enough. This time I should be able to keep the incoming sap a lot warmer if not hot. I will have to figure out how to load pictures from my digatal camera and send them out. I am computer illiterate.
It never got above 20 degrees here today so even if it get warm tomorrow it will take most of the day to thaw things out again. I am hopeing to boil late this week but as Robbie Burns said the best laid plans of mice and syrup makers often goes for nought.

Weekend here only calls for 30 degrees at night so I figure that we won't get much sap after Friday. I can only hope the temp goes a bit lower then that at night.

[KenWP]

The temps are already 20 degrees warmer then yesterday here. I should get a bit of sap today and then tomorrow is supposed to be warmer still so maybe things will improve somewhat. Wii take a while for things to run today as what ever taps were running sunday have ice hanging off of them still. The weekend looks iffy as the nights are supposed to be to close to freezeing to get much in the days.

[Mac_Muz]

I have been getting diwn to 15 and 17 degrees F here at night , but warm enough for flow but am not getting the flow... Today was warm enough but windy and my taps started later in the afternoon.. Not enough to collect since I did yesterday, but still there should have been more than what i got.

I am praying to match the quantiy I got last year with 15 taps, and wondering if I will with these 34? I am hoping the first 2 weels in April will have some sort of run.

I have that 30 or so gallons I collected yeserday, and hope to make it 40 before I fire up. That would get another gallon, and make a big whopping 2. :(

[KenWP]

Today just never got warm enough here also. Some of the yard trees produced sap but nothing except my super tree out in the woods. I wish I could figure out why that tree does so well. Two days of cold froze things up pretty good so today was just a tease. Tomorrow is supposed to get warmer and less wind. I have about 18 gallons of sap so far with todays 3/4 of a pail. Pretty good from a hundred taps in a week.

[PerryW]

Too cold and too windy here also today. Only about 75 gallons from 700 taps.

It is very common to have one tree put out all the sap for a whoile, but I bet the other trees will pick up.

[cheesegenie]

Hardly any run the past few days here, cold wind. Maybe today!

[KenWP]

Today they forecast 50 degrees so sounds like a good day. I have so many trees that are still frozen in and haven't thawed out yet. I have 2 and 3 foot trees that were still dry when I drilled them last week. I have one more huge tree that I am going to tap fianlly this morning and check out. I found some of those old big plastic sap buckets in good shape at a store a guy from lodge runs and he only wanted a dollar a peice for them but I had to make lids for them as they take a bigger lid then the little metal buckets take.
Maybe I will be boiling tomorrow .

[Mac_Muz]

Well 0nce in the later 90's had trees that would more than fill a joint compound bucket in a days time, and I got 22.5 qts from 22 taps.

I know you ran out 64 taps for a long time and if the year was a good one you would be swimming in sap you wouldn't know what to do with. That should produce 64 qts of syrup, and now you added more and better pray the season doesn't really come into it, or you will be swimming is sap anyway :D

I have only looked at 5 trees of mine today, but 4 were doing pretty well for this year. Some may fill a joint compound bucket 1/3 full today. Probably that will get me the batch I want.

The little sap I have which is all from real sugar mnaple trees is getting much sweeter to my taste, which I suppose coiuld be wishful think, but the proof is in the pan as they say.

I guess at what i have as one barrel is 32 gallons which i fill first and the other is 55 which I fill once the 32 gallon barrel is full, and I sort of count how many buckets get dumped in the bigger barrel and guess at what is about 40 gallons from that point of view.

When I have that much i fire up ol Rosey II and boil till there is no more sap.

I count what I made when it is in ball jars, so there isn't much room for error that way. My first boil counted as 2 qt bottles and the rest were pints.

I do use a candy thermometer and test for the 'apron' with a spoon.

[KenWP]

Well today wasn't bad for a change. Trees started running finally and I got 18 gallons of sap for the day. Tommorrow should be about the same and I will boil friday. Its a releif to finally get sap again.
Figured out why my trees do not run today. I pulled the tap on one tree and the hole was full of ice when I drilled it out. So my trees have't fully thawed out yet. I pulled a bunch of taps and moved them to trees out in the open today and most of those trees ran sap. I have many trees that have solid snow and ice right up to the trunks yet and they haven't dripped yet. If this warm spell lasts I would expect some of them to run just before they bud out.
Was nice to see trees run by 11 instead of 3 in the afternoon makes for a better day. I could also take my gloves off for a change also.

[KenWP]

We will see what today thursday brings. Supposed to be a bit cooler and rain today. The big problem will be the fact that its not supposed to freeze tonight which means no sap tomorrow. No sap maybe untill tuesday or wensday again if the night temps do not drop enough. Owell I have enough sap for a second gallon of syrup so never went totoal bust yet. I am intrested to see what today brings after I switched taps over to trees that are actually running.

[KenWP]

Today so far look semi okay. Never got as warm as yesterday but a lot of the trees are at least trying to produce. My yard trees have done well and had to empty some buckets already by 2 so should do well. See what tomorrow brings.

[PerryW]

ran okay for me, but not great. The good news is it's still running and may trickle out all night; especially the colder trees that have really not kicked in yet.

55 gallons of syrup so far and hoping for 100. Back to the lightest fancy of the year so far.

[KenWP]

Finished collecting and got twice what I got yesterday. Yes some trees are dribbling still so will see tomorrow sometime what there is after I start to boil and she who must be obeyed takes over. Am pretty happy. I even bought a orlon filter today since I have enough sap to make it worth while.

[PerryW]

Ken,

Good to see you finally are getting some sap. Guess they weren't telephone poles after all.

I just checked my tank on the way home from thursday nite Jam and it is half-full and still trickling. Looks like I'll have sap tomorrow to boil even though it didn't freeze.

[KenWP]

Well temp never went below 40 last night so not a good day for sap maybe. I have to boil today anyways. Might clear off and get cold tonight so the forecast says. Time will tell. This maple syrup is as bad as farming.

[Mac_Muz]

I boiled yesterday to. I had that 32 gallon barrel with maybe 28 gallons in it and went and fired up ol rosey II, then went to gather the buckets.

I lined the stove with hardwood cut offs so it would stay buring and built the first fire on top of them.

The swamp section filled the barrel to where it had been, so put back apx 20 gallons I used to fill the pan and fill the preheater 16 quart pan.

Then after firing that rig hard again I went to the other section along the road into here, and came back with apx 15 more gallons. One bucket was nearly full because i forgot it was there at all.... That helped alot.

And then it began to rain. Oh well.... I fashioned a cover over the pan with some old junk roofing metal, and a tri pod of recent crate frames that held industrial ovens we work on here. I got wet but no rain of any importance got in the sap.

I finished it on the house stove this morning but didn't bottle up yet. I'ld say there is 5 quarts, perhaps a bit more and as light or close in color as the my first batch..

I'll get a few pics soon.

So now it is pray and worry for more sap and a 3rd boiling. The weather is warming here now, and so far as I can see there are no freezing nights.. ugg.

Well I didn't use any trees I used last year and found a few cockers this year, which will be used again. I have notes on a few trees that didn't do squat, and found some others I just might try in the last minute is a day comes where the good trees run ok.

So if my guess is right for what I have here now I could have made a total of 10 qts.. maybe... ( I like help bottling, as I dip the hot stuff and my wife can wear the mitts to seal and flip my jars.. I have no idea what I will do with the stuff, so we boil the jars a full 10 minutes and the lids get the same at 180 degrees F. I deal better than my wife does getting burned which I manage to do almost every day in the year anyway, Old welders ya know?)

I just found out what kind of a sissy you are with that added on to the garage shed.. LOL Well mista these ovens came in boxes of plywood 7 feet tall and I will have some sort of 'Rustic' yeah rustic shed next year . Well that's my story and I'm stickin to it. :D

[KenWP]

I boiled sap all day untill I was tired. The syrup turned out lousy because its got so much niter in it. I could not filter it hardley. Had to pull out one of my prefilters to get it to run through the filter fianlly. Will test it for brix sunday when I get finished boling and see if i can clean it up some.
It froze tonight so should do okay tomorrow. Actually had a few buckets of sap today even with no frost last night. Man I know why syrups worth so much now.

[PerryW]

The syrup turned out lousy because its got so much niter in it.

All syrup will have nitre in it. That doesn't make it lousy.

[KenWP]

This had so much I am still waiting for it to run through a prefilter let alone try it on a orlon bag.

Froze pretty good last night as I have trees running already this morning once the sun hit them. See what it gives me for sap today.

[PerryW]

Ken,

The syrup has to be hot (above 200 deg F) to run through the filter.

If the syrup has cooled down; you have two choices:

1) Reheat it and try it again through a clean filter/prefilter.

2) Simply put in a covered container and let it settle out overnight (or longer). You can carefully pour off the syrup and leave almost all of the nitre in the bottom of the container.

[Mac_Muz]

My filter is a woolen bag made for the task and I use paper filters also made for the task. The frame that holds them is a tomatoe cage, and to hang the woolen filter I made copper wire "S" hooks.

When I am ready to pour off from the batch pan the sap is still boiling, the filter is dampend in sap too, fresh sap not yet boiled. I collect in another clean plastic joint compound bucket which shows no sign of any problems from the hot fluid.

The point I take the sap off varies with how many quarts of syrup I think are in the pan, but the aim is to reduce as much water as is possible, so I have maybe 2 quarts or so to boil off in the house when I get syrup.

After the first take off I wash the filter and the paper liner in fresh sap, allowing some time for the sugar to go back into the fresh sap. Then I clean the paper filter in water and let it dry.

It can take all night for the filters to run thru.

That is off the barrel stove filtering...

Then the finish pot goes on the kitchen stove and I boil away the minimal couple of quarts and filter again, this time with the old paper filter in a new paper filter, which is in the wool.

Once I have run the syrup thru the filters once, I bring the syrup to a boil again, and begin to bottle it.

I must do this in a few moments even. The syrup I made yesterday needs to be bottled now.

On a bad note I see red buds coming forth in the trees I can see from a window. These are not tapped trees, but they were last year.. I still hope I get clear sap...

And oh I put the sugar sweetend sap I use for washing the filters back in the sap barrel I collect sap in, which sweetens the sap a little bit.

Every device I use that gets maple syrup gets washed in sap, before plain water, and for so long as I may be able to boil off, once the season starts I continue to wash this way. The measuring cup the thermometer and any test jars that get dipped in syrup all get first washed in sap.

On Edit: All bottled up and I got 4 quarts... So much for me looking at the pot and guessing it was 5..

Cracked a bottle of last years grade B, after tasting this run which is another Dark Amber Grade A. Most definately I prefer grade B real dark, and my wife was swooning...We had French Toast

So I am ar 8 quarts so far for the season. That seems grim...

[PerryW]

My guess is Ken is really busy with his 100 taps. He said he had a hard frost last night.

My cold taps ran the best they had all season so far even though we never had a hard freeze last night (friday night).

Managed to make 5 gallons of syrup anyway.

[KenWP]

I spent all day hauling sap well my missus boiled. I just finished boiling and I have enough left over fore one more boil and who knows what the trees are going to do today Sunday. Niter is pretty bad even on the sap I got to day and boiled already. My syrup is pretty dark have to see what happens when I finish it and put it through the orlon bag and the prefilters.
I had a couple of trees gave me 5 gallons of sap even.

[KenWP]

Well today is a bust. Not a tree dripping that I can find anywhere's. I have enough left from yesterday for one more boil and maybe it will freeze Monday and Tuesday and then the temps around here are supposed to be above zero for a while. Owell fun well it lasted.

[Mac_Muz]

Well last thursday some sap ran, but I collected the buckets that morning and boiled what I gathered.. So in some buckets there still is sap. It is raining pretty good here, so the sap can stay right where it is.

I sure don't know why I have doubled the buckets + and can't get sap enough for 5 gallons which was my goal, but so it remains.. I learned where some new to me trees are, and in one place somewhat down hill which will be work, there is 5 in a sunny place by a brook. I can't wait to try those next year..

[KenWP]

Pouring rain here and boiling. I collected a gallon of sap today and most of that came from one tree. Not supposed to freeze tonight so will finish boiling and then finish and can syrup. I guess this wasn't my year to make syrup but I have 3 1/2 made already and enough for one more so I am not doing to bad me thinks. Next year will know better.

[KenWP]

Not a drop of sap all day on any tree. Saturday I had to dump sap buckets on some trees a couple of times as they gave so much. Dosn't look like anything untill Tuesday now. Temps made it down to 33 degrees but with out it going into frost nothing happens. Trees that never gave a drop finally gave a little bit yesterday so I at least know they were trees and not power poles.
Time will tell if there is anymore season left.

[PerryW]

Ken,

I was so sure it didn't run today I didn't even bother to check my sap.

Did you get all your sap from the last few days all boiled up?

Looks like a possible freeze Monday night and a Probable freeze tuesday night. I'm at 70% of an average year (70 gallons), but it's still way to early for the end of the season.

[KenWP]

I am sort of caught up boiling. Finished my sugar maple sap today and made 41/2 gallons . I have the boxelder sap to boil tomorrow but there is only 15 gallons of that so won't be to bad to finish off and if it freezes tonight I could have more tomorrow maybe.
Just have to figure out how to can it all and will be set for a few days. I had a couple frozen trees actually run a bit but all the others are takeing up space. I will be able to have pancakes once in a while now. Maybe even french toast.

[KenWP]

Well its midnight and still 36 degrees so frost is almost doubtfull. Feels cold out there but have to have those little ice crystals. Maybe just before dawn the temps will drop somewhat.
I boiled sap from my sugar maples today and it made syrup pretty good as they tested ove 3% sugar. The sap for tomorrow tested 1.7 so it won't do all that well and it it does not freeze tonight or tuesday night thats it for frost untill saturday according to the weather man. At least my trees are thawed out as I have trees that never gave a drop until Saturday.

[KenWP]

I do not think it froze last night here. Temp was 34 degrees when I looked at 7. Another day of getting other stuff done. At least sap running give me a excuse to not do taxs and such.
I did better then I had hoped for this year and now have my keeper on board to the fact that I can make maple syrup that's edible and enough to make it almost worth while for all the work I did all winter and the last few weeks with tapping and building the evaporator. I need to get a welder in order to get anymoe out of my evaporator now as useing screws and bolts can only do so much.

[KenWP]

No frost last night here so another day of looking at things hanging on trees. Had to go to D&G today and seen a couple of evaporators going back in the hills that are on tubeing. The bucket guys were closed up today so I would guess the got zilch also.
Not much for supplies left at the CO-OP and had to drive over to D&G. Hard to deal there as they speak no French so if I don't see it I can't ask for it if its not got a picture in the catalog.
I seen lots of buckets out on trees that were not there last Friday so somebody must think wee will still get some sap. Just need a little bit of cold weather at nights. I moved all across this country to now not winter to end so quick.

[Maple Restoration]

Ken keep the faith we have not had any sap run's since last Thursday and it did not freeze last night but the trees have opened up and we got over 350 gallons since 2pm today!

[KenWP]

Well it midnight there abouts and the thermometer dropped 6 degrees fast. About time. Now to see if it does anything tomorrow now. They are calling for 48 degrees which should get things running. I can go to bed happy now.

[KenWP]

8:30 in the morning and sap is pouring out of the trees. The sign around here of a soar back and full sap buckets. I will be busy for a while again now. One more kick at the cat.

[KenWP]

Help. I was dumping sap containers by 9:30 this morning already. I have trees that have never run doing their thing now. Looks like a good enough run so far. See how long it runs into the night this time. Last saturday it stopped by 6 but I assume the trees run out of sap by that time.

[PerryW]

Yup, just walked down and checked out the one bucket near my sugarhouse and it's still dripping good. If my other 700 taps run this good I might have a good run.

Ken, it sounds like your trees are finally ready to run. Let's just hope mother nature will give us some freeze-thaw-freezes. Have you prdered your 5' x 14' evaporator yet?

[KenWP]

No order of a new evaporator but I did buy decent valves for my homemade gizmo. I used boiler taps for the preheaters and they were a pain. They get hot and turn off probbably due to expansion. The quater turn ball valves solved that quick. I can set them and walk away and the sap keeps running at the speed I set it at. Live and learn.
Oh I know for sure this evaporator is getting retro fitted by next year. I have a good idea for it just have to get it made. I tend to read and then steal everybodys ideas and add them to my own.

[KenWP]

Well had my run of sap today. Was the best so far this year and according to the weather forcast probbably the last one. Next Monday seems to be the only chance of a freeze again.
Collected almost 80 gallons which will take me a while to boil again. There should be a bit in the buckets tomorrow from it running a bit after I collected but after that probbably nothing.

[Mac_Muz]

80 gallons? you ol' rat you :D I wish I had 80 gallons to boil off. I did get a little more run, still out hangin on the trees yesterday, still nice and clear too, but I don't know if it will even cover the pan.

If it will be enough to make a qt/liter I will boil it off, but if not it gets dumped.

There is no way I will boil 2.5 gallons on a gas kitchen stove to get a ounce.

I agree it ain't over till the Fat Lady sings, but she justy stood up...

Keep buckets out till the sap get cloudy. You might want to play with that over a open fire in a big pot.

Besides getting far less sap over all what seems strange to me is all my syrup is with in a shade of the color I showed you before, never any darker than dark amber in grade A.

I wonder where my grade B and favorite run went? :cry:

[KenWP]

Well the first time in the history of Ken"s sugar bush the weirdest thing happened. The temp held at around 38 to 40 degrees last night and when I went and looked today probbably all my trees are dripping. Not a lot but they are dripping. Sort of like my poor runs when only a 3rd of my trees were produceing sap. Strange to say the least but gladly appreciated. I think the fat lady went for a breif nap here.
All my syrup is probbably dark amber. It improved with my filtering skills. That orlon bad really makes it clear up and lok like something I would give away now. I bought some tiney litte bottles and I keep a sample of every batch and the last 3 batchs are way clearer then the first one that I filtered through my homemade filters.

[cheesegenie]

same here, no freeze last night, but is kinda running, will get enough for another boil and hope for more.

[KenWP]

Well that was a nice surprise. Got five 5 gallon pails of sap on a day that I would have bet there would not be a drop. Enough now with some from yesterday for another batch of syrup.
Big problem is as of today ran out of snow banks to keep sap in. Now had to get out the coolers and freeze sap in chunks to keep them cool. Lucky I have a lot of big coolers.

[KenWP]

Well there was a bit of frost last night will have to see what happens today with it now. Had sap yesterday with no frost so maybe it will work again. If it does I will be swamped with sap. I got rid of a lot yesterday but then got 2/3 of it back again. I will have to freeze more to put in the sap containers for later to keep it cool enough as the snow banks in the yard have left now.

[KenWP]

Well that frost didn't help much. Never got much sap. 3 gallons worth and I felt like Ruth gleaning to find that much. Owell.
Can't boil worth beans either today and the wind is so bad from the east it puts my boil down to a bare simmer. Took since 9 to boil 20 gallons of sap. Going to call it quits pretty soon and start over tomorrow.

[TapME]

When I boiled on a barrel evap I use to put up some form of barrier to stop the wind from knocking down my boil Ken. Just a thought.

[KenWP]

I have a wind break but its the wind blowing down the stuid stove pipe thats the problem. I fianally had to design a cap over the pipe to stop the wind blowing the fire out.

[mtbguy]

Ken I boiled on Thursday night and just couldn't seem to get a good evaporation rate. I could keep the boil unless I added sap which knocked the boil off 25% of the pan no matter how slow I added (no preheater). I was wondering if maybe the barometric pressure had an effect? My evaporation rate was probably 1/2 of what I've been getting (was 5-6 gph as high as 8 on a good day). We had a fairly big storm move in that night which is still hanging around. Has anyone had a similar experience?

[KenWP]

I would say that the barometric pressure has something to with it also. I boiled thursday night and when I was at the final stage and useing my thermometer to watch for sugar level it would go up and down like a yoyo. I have days where it boils off fast and also days like yesterday where you can't boil worth beans.

[Mac_Muz]

Yeah not all air is equal, and in a lo pressure area it is harder to get a boil going and keep it going. The hottest fires are in hi's... clear bright cloudless skies... In NH we get 3 days just like that .........sometime :rolleyes:

My buckets are still out there, no cold enough nights but some buckets are still getting clear sap. I will just have to see... The snow is going now and the road in is pretty dry considering, and the gully is awash in swamp waters.

What was once the last quarter of a horse track looks like a small river today, and is ice free, it went over last night.

[KenWP]

Well not a drop of sap today. Made two batchs of syrup. One good batch of normal for me maple syrup and a small batch of boxelder syrup. I now have enough box elder syrup to finish it and bottle it up. It comes out lighter then the other syrup since I don't have to boil as long to finish a batch.

[KenWP]

Have no idea what the day will bring. Might have froze but maybe not enough but its so cold out that sap would never run anyways. Tonight might freeze and tomorrow is supposed to be warm so time will tell.
Silver maples have big colourfull buds on them now so might pull the taps on them today and move them out on some sugar maples that have no buds showing what so ever yet. My silvers gave me a lot of sap and were the first to run so it's expected they would stop first also.

[KenWP]

Never got over 38 degrees today and no sap. It might freeze tonight,who knows anymore. Moved taps all over the place to sugar maples off my silver maples and moved taps from no productive trees to new trees. This week is basically a crap shoot for me. Might get sap might not. Supposed to be the return of winter this coming week also. Intresting to say the least.

[KenWP]

No frost last night again but cool teps. Just have to hold out till later in the week. Am going to try and tap a few birch trees and see what happens. If all else I can mix birch and maple sap together.
If I don't get anymore syrup I am fine as I have made 7 gallons for myself already. I can pour it on my Red River cereal all winter now and not run out. MY keeper mentioned that syrup rationing was over now as we seem to have a good supply. After filtering with the orlon filters my syrup is a nice amber color and not as dark as the first batch turned out with my homemade filter system.

[BC Birch Tapper]

I'd say give it a try Ken. You could be a new pioneer.
I've tried mixing finished maple & finished birch & made a blend. Quite good actually. Good luck
Let me know how it turns out.

[KenWP]

Well today was a bust again. Just got warm enough for sap to run a tiney bit then closed down. Will have to see what the week brings I guess. Have taps all moved to hard maples now and will see what happens if I do get a run.
Tapped a few birchs and they run very well but only have .5% sugar. But will be different to try and make syrup from them. If I get a decent run of maple can probbably boil the two together and make extra dark syrup. I tried to dring some of the paper birch syrup and it beats bottled water for clearness.
The rest of the week looks like winter has came back according to the forecast. Slow down the trees a lot both with budding and with sap unfortuantly.

[KenWP]

Pouring rain here today and cool. Supposed to freeze tonight but was last night also. Weather man calls for crummy weather all week. Next monday looks good if the trees last that long.
I have to go empty birch buckets today as they at least fill up. If I collect enough will get to boil something it looks like even if it is 160 to 1. That might make for a long drawen out day boiling to say the least.

[KenWP]

Now its trying to snow here. Have no idea what this will do for syrup production. I need cold nights but a little warmth in the day time would be nice. If I knew what was going to happen would help me figure out what trees to tap. The last of my reds that haven't budded or straight sugar maples or birchs. So many desicions.
From what I can tell the area of the bush I am tapping sugar maples in has been tapped before but many many years ago from what I can gather from the garbage laying around. Old bottles and tin cans and such. Have to be juice or pop bottles as no self respecting Quebec sugar maker would drink booze while sugaring would they. I can also detect a few marks on some of the older trees.

[KenWP]

Well got the freeze I needed but I doubt it will get warm enough to do me much good today. Not supposed to freeze tonight so will probbably loose the advantage again. Just can not win at this game this year for some reason. Still looks like next week before it warms up enough to flow.

[KenWP]

Well call me a liar the sap poured today. Had everyone of my taps produceing some king of sap for a change. Some a lot some not so much but great to say the least. Looks like I will be boiling for two days at least depending on what tomorrow brings it could be a lot longer. I am still in the game for a while longer.

[KenWP]

Had a excellent day if you call hauling sap in by 5 gallon pails all day excellent. I have two more days boiling stored already and who knows what tomorrow will bring. I have passed my last years record of course I never made syrup last year so that was pretty easy to do. Time will tell as to what the next week will bring.

[Brent]

Cut it out Ken.

My tanks are mouldy

My sap is fermenting the the flue pan

Sap is still running in the woods

and I'm out of fire wood.


BLahhhhhh

Just 342 chopping days till next sap.

[KenWP]

Frost last night again so should get a small run with it. I should be boiling for a few more days yet. Don't want too good a season I guess as it would be like shooting a big deer your first time out takes the rest of your life to ever shoot another.

[KenWP]

Had my small run of sap today. Wasn't to bad enough to almost fill a day boiling. It is freezeing already so after a whole night of frost should make for a decent run tomorrow if it get warm enough. Seen my first frogs today in the ditch behind the house. There were thousands of them makeing this weird noise. Never seen that before.
Weather forecast is for freezeing nights untill Monday at least so should be tired of maple syrup by Tuesday. Owell only a few more days to go I would say. This week made it a pretty good season.

[PerryW]

I also heard my first peepers (frogs) today (yesterday). They were just getting started making noise, but not full-blown "peeping".

[KenWP]

Well it was about 19 degrees last night so today should bless me with a bounty of sap again. This last few days has been not bad. Warm but not to warm and not snow to stumble thru. Did I mention the foot of mud in places. I had to make all new trails thru the bush to get home yesterday.

[KenWP]

I had the best day ever for sap. I had to actually whimp out and use the truck to haul it. Just could not keep up hauling it out of the bush the mile anymore. So drove around on the road and hauled it home. I know lazy.
I will be up late tonight trying to catch up.

[KenWP]

Well I made 4 days with sap in a row a record for me. I doubt I get much today with it being so cold out. I put all my sap out side last night and am cheating a bit and skimming off the ice as it freezes. I don't know if it does much good but will try and see if I can cut the volume down a bit. Anything helps. Am almost to 10 gallons of syrup.

[PerryW]

There is very little sugar in the ice, so I always try to toss the ice out from the buckets. If you have a bucket that is mostly frozen, sometimes you can pour off a thick, sweet, liquid that is very sweet. Of course, it is clear, becasue the boiling process gives maple syrup it's color (Browing reaction)

Someone called this process Poor Man's R.O..

[Grade "A"]

I had an oldtimer tell me to keep the ice in the bucket because it helps keep the sap cooler during the day.

[KenWP]

Had a chance to test the sap left over in frozen buckets today and it went as high as 6% from the 2 for normal sap. If a person had lots of sap would be the way to go to get rid of a lot of water. Collected over five gallons of just ice from sap containers this morning that cuts a lot of boiling right there.
Was way to cold for much to run today. Had a couple of trees run despite the cold. One had the sap freeze in the bottom of the bucket even as it dripped in. Tomorrow looks good.

[PerryW]

I had an oldtimer tell me to keep the ice in the bucket because it helps keep the sap cooler during the day.

That is definitely true. I was taught to treat sap like fresh milk. You wouldn't leave milk out in the sun at 50 degrees would you? Of course, today, since it never got above freezing, the benefit of leaving the ice in the sap would be negligible.

If you can't boil it up immediately, the ice is a good thing. Luckily, I've kept up with the sap this year and boiled every run down immediately to a dry tank. I had almost no sap that sat more than 24 hours before boiling.

I gotta admit; I cringe when I hear of people who leave sap for a week or two before boiling.

[KenWP]

I have had no problem keeping up untill this last week and then the sap hit the fan. All new trees tapped and good weather and wham behing big time.Was out this morning and took another 10 gallons of ice off of containers. That much less for me to boil today again.

[BC Birch Tapper]

Last year we tapped & collected for 3-4 days & didn't collect everything on day & it froze everything hard - 10 deg C. We warmed things up 50% or so & tossed the ice. A good way to increase the sugar content of your concentrate, but a bit cumbersome.

Our sap tank froze as well which was frustrating. This year we have a larger holding tank that we can but a stock water heater in to thaw things out if it comes to that again.
Every year folks fine tune their systems & processes.

[KenWP]

So far today I am swamped with sap again. Buckets running over and all that good stuff. Trying to catch up on boiling which is impossible with the sap I have coming in. Owell end of the week looks like summer weather and I slowly loose a couple of trees all the time to budding.

[KenWP]

My trees broke the 100 barrier big time today. Like 130 plus gallons. I lost count after a while and I put a bunch thru the evaporator already. Man I have syrup coming out of my ying yang. I had to take two trips with the truck to bring it all in tonight.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Ken,
Do You ever sleep?

[KenWP]

In the winter. Have to much to do right now.

[KenWP]

I had a good run today again. Too much sap.
My trees are starting to show buds here and there. I am watching the sap close for changes and I have a few tomorrow I am going to pull. Coming to a end fast with the days going to 60 degrees.

[KenWP]

Whimped out and called it a day finally. Get started early tomorrow again. I have no idea when this could end. Have trees starting to bud now from the heat. Figure I can hold out untill thursday night when there is no frost forcast. By the time it gets cold enough trees would be done anyways.
I need to make my evaporator at least 3 times as big as it is now.

[KenWP]

Well another day another gallon or so of syrup. I am going to call it quits tomorrow with sap as my trees are starting to bud in places and I am tired of maple syrup already. I will be around 17 gallons if I don't leave a tap open again. I started this project hopeing for a couple of gallons. I can now experiment to my hearts content. Only a couple of more days to boil left.

[KenWP]

Well today looks like the end. Collected 35 gallons of sap. Some trees that over flowed the buckets even yesterday had maybe a cup today. No frost expected for a few day now. Am not all that sad about it. Will be at almost 20 gallons when I am done.

[Brent]

Sounds like you had a great year. 20 gallons on you rig take a lot of perserverance. Well done !

[KenWP]

Well it takes something I guess. My keeper figures its lack of smarts. She mentioned that maybe it will end one of these days. It froze again last night but will be hot today again and each day I get less sap. I actually am likeing to look in a bucket and see the bottom.

[PerryW]

Ken,

It's bad karma to complain about too much sap.

I expect you'll be looking for a 5' x 14' evaporator for next year.

[KenWP]

Karma is my cats name. Its 65 above here today and windy. I have a few trees dripping good still. Had to go over to D&G for bottles and all the buckets over that way are pulled off. I figure they either got to much already or they go by dates to pull taps. I am thru here today one way or the other. Have to actually do some work pretty soon instead of makeing cheap syrup.
Checked in the stores today and the price there hasn't come down any.

[ennismaple]

Good work Ken - way to stick with it.

You can buy my 5x16 for next season if you're interested!!!

[KenWP]

Well the fat lady sung here today also. I got 15 gallons of sap. Funny thing is it all came from about 4 trees. I had trees running over and trees with nothing. I am happy with my season. It looked like I picked a crop failure year to get started and turned out to be a bumper crop. Now how am I going to match that.
I bought some different glass bottles at D&G today that they have on liquidation sale. I figure why be bored when you can bottle syrup in different things cheap. They will make good gifts if I can figure out how to get them back west to my family.

[KenWP]

Well almost finished. Went out to take out taps and gathered almost a gallon of sap well doing it. Wille be finished tomorrow hopefully and then wash up and do some real work. Syrup is rather dark now. I will have to invent ways to cook with it now. Figure I can subsititue it for molassas in recipes.

[KenWP]

Froze last night so the 20 or more taps left are produceing a little bit of sap. I will pull them all lat this afternoon and boil the results and be done for another year. I have boiled for 11 days straight now and sap ran for 10 days so thats not to bad of odds. Wonder if I will ever see the same again.

[KenWP]

Froze last night again here. I have one tap left and its slowely dripping away. This will be my last day of boiling. Had some yesterday again so I keep boiling away.
I just have to bottle it all up this week and wash all my equipment and away I go to do the Honey DO List. It's about 3 pages long after this sugar season.

[KenWP]

Finally done boiling for the year. Never thought it would end. Have all the frozen sap out of the freezer and am done. Just have to finish everything and final filter it and put it in bottles or containers and wash things. The filtering will take a while to get done as I find I can only do a couple of gallons at a time before the orlon plugs up even with the prefilters as they don't really catch anything from the finished syrup. They collect a lot of mud when I use them off the evaporator but nothing when I use them in the house off the stove. I had to go buy more orlon filters to speed up the process a bit. I can do a couple of batch's then wash them out and start over.
At least the bottleing goes fast once I get to that stage. I cheated some what for that and bought 4 liter jugs for some of the last batch's as they will get used for cooking and such as they are so dark and one batch must have gotton a bit of buddy sap in it as it has a little after taste.