Tapping in Effie, Mn 3/3/2018

New guy from Brimson.
I just tapped ~80 trees today. I want to tap at least 160 more. This is my third year. I hoping the sap will start running this weekend. I may be still a week too early. We still have 18" of snow. I'm hoping to make 20 gallons of syrup this year.

I use the 1 quart of syrup per tap forecast - varies year to year, but at 10 gallons of sap per tap you get 1 quart. At that rate, with 240 taps you should get 60 gallons !!!!!

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Originally Posted by BigPine

I use the 1 quart of syrup per tap forecast - varies year to year, but at 10 gallons of sap per tap you get 1 quart. At that rate, with 240 taps you should get 60 gallons !!!!!

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I would be so happy with 60 gallons.
Lurking through this forum I notice the more South people are located, the more sap they get. The last two years because of the temps, it was tough to get a quart per tree per day. The next thing I know, nature flipped a switch and 60-70 weather was here. I was emptying bags everyday to make sure it didn't go rancid. I had to boil for the same reason. I ended up doing 8 small batches for a total of 13 gallons. I live off grid 1/2 hour North of Two Harbors so refrigerating or freezing the sap wasn't an option.

collected 22 gallons yesterday. First big run. We will see what the next few day brings. 75 bags with only about half producing.

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Originally Posted by billschi

I would be so happy with 60 gallons.
Lurking through this forum I notice the more South people are located, the more sap they get. The last two years because of the temps, it was tough to get a quart per tree per day. The next thing I know, nature flipped a switch and 60-70 weather was here. I was emptying bags everyday to make sure it didn't go rancid. I had to boil for the same reason. I ended up doing 8 small batches for a total of 13 gallons. I live off grid 1/2 hour North of Two Harbors so refrigerating or freezing the sap wasn't an option.

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Billschi - Push / shovel / pile as much snow as you can into the woods or to the north side (shade) of a structure during the winter. Come Spring, you should have some left to keep stored sap cool while waiting to boil.

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Originally Posted by Austin351

Billschi - Push / shovel / pile as much snow as you can into the woods or to the north side (shade) of a structure during the winter. Come Spring, you should have some left to keep stored sap cool while waiting to boil.

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I have a few of feet of snow on the back side of the garage which is close to where I'm boiling and gets no sun. I should be good for storage.
How long is it good for in a snowbank? 5 days?

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Originally Posted by billschi

I have a few of feet of snow on the back side of the garage which is close to where I'm boiling and gets no sun. I should be good for storage.
How long is it good for in a snowbank? 5 days?

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My storage barrels usually have ice in them from sitting in the snow and out of the sun. I would say at least 7 days. (the sap I boiled today was 8 days)

Collected 125 gallons on 3/24 and boiled down to 3.3 gallons on 3/25. Taps on buckets froze solid with not much to talk about. Sap collected was from the 3/16 lines.
Fresh snow today (6-8”) and temp did not get above 34. Maybe a short run tomorrow and Wednesday and then back to sub freezing for at least a week. What an odd year.

Still nothing. Everything froze solid. Ice fishing is great though. :lol:

I just looked up Effie. You are really out there!