Production Tracking

[Ace_R]

I was just curious on what some of you guys are doing to track production in the sugarhouse (particularly from tree to final product, if that is possible). Mainly what and how you guys keep permanent records (if any) and what information I should be writing down for future reference. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks :)

[mapleack]

I have seven sap collection points, I keep track daily of how many gallons of sap from each point. Should check sugar content, but it gets mixed and I dont want to take the time to check at every tank. Then I keep track of how many taps in each bush. How many gallons of sap total for each day, the temperature/ precip for each day. As I bottle I keep track of how much syrup I've bottled. At the end of the season I can calculate overall sap to syrup ratio, sugar content for the season. I can see the gal of sap per tap average for each bush. I know I need to get a sap refractometer and start checking each bush at least a couple times per year. Always too much other stuff to do!

[NH Maplemaker]

Last year one of the trader on here and his family came up with somethig they called the Sugar House journal !! It was being sold in the leader catalogue as I remenber it! I wanted to pick one up but didn't get to it. It was set up so you justed plug in your information. Jim L.

[brookledge]

Every bulk container I fill I record the lot number, the date and the grade. I fill a sample jar also for each bulk container so that I have it for comparison. I plan on coding each container of syrup to corespond to the bulk container so if anyone has a problem I can trace it to the bulk container.
As for sap I keep track of how many gallons of sap I boil.
I don't buy sap from anyone so I don't have to worry about that. I have just two bushes and the sap gets mixed together so if there was a problem with contamination I would never know about it.
When it comes down to it if someone wanted to contaminate your sap with something it would be difficult to tell unless it affected the color or taste
Keith

[PerryW]

I write the cumulative total gallons on my sugarhouse wall at the end of each day I make syrup. I now have 20 years of data.

[Ace_R]

So, with all this data floating around has anyone tried to compile any of this into a database, such as excel.......and I guess with that being said is there any third party software out there that might help organize all these numbers? Just curious and thank you all for your replies, this helps immensly :D

[nymapleguy607]

I did make an excel macro to keep track of my records
I havent put this to the test for real but the basic program works
It logs a running total for sap collected it records the daily sap
I log the % sugar and this calculates the number of gallons of sap to a gallon of syrup. It also keeps a running total of syrup made for the year.
I also track my GPH I am evaporating

[sapman]

There is an add in one of the latest Maple Syrup Digest for a paper/book copy for record-keeping. I think it is one of those plug your #s into it. May get one myself, since I get so busy I often forget a lot of stuff. This seems easier.

Tim