2019 Tapping Season - Connecticut

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Originally Posted by Kjsdime

I'm a little disappointed with my flow. I have a total of 32 taps with buckets. Was expecting to come home today to a good flow day but if I'm lucky I've got 10 gallons in total. I have a buddy with 7 trees tapped and he gets way more than I do. Feel like I'm doing something wrong maybe not deep enough with the drill? 1.5" deep? Does it matter if they are silver, red or sugar? Most are siver with a few sugar mixed in. Any advice would be appreciated.

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1.5" is a good depth for your tap hole.

Reds and silvers can be very finiky on buckets. They have a tendency to not be the best producers. They perform much better on vacuum. Even a little bit of vacuum can make a big difference. My first year I did buckets with 25 taps . I think the most I got in 1 day was 10 gallons. My trees are mostly red. The same group of trees on 3/16 tubing with natural vacuum will give me 10 gallons on a slow day and 40 on a good day like today.

Thanks for the encouragement. What is natural vacuum and should I switch my bucket lines to 3/16"?

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Originally Posted by Kjsdime

Thanks for the encouragement. What is natural vacuum and should I switch my bucket lines to 3/16"?

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Natural vacuum refers to the vacuum that is created in 3/16 tubing by the sap falling down hill inside the tubing. If you have the right conditions for natural vacuum to work for you than it is worth it.

First off you need an elevation drop in your sugar bush. Ideally you need at least 30 feet of elevation change between the majority of your tress and your collection point. If your land is flat or only gently sloped this tubing isn't really worth it.

You also need to get at least 10-15 taps per run but ideally you would have 20-30 taps per run.

A run is one continuous line of tubing from the bottom of your hill to the upper most tree to be tapped along the way.

I didn’t have a very good run today at all either. Hopefully tomorrow it runs a little better

Checked my collection barrels on my way into work this morning at 430am. Air temps were at or just below freezing most of the night but everything is still running. Got another 40 gallons since I emptied my barrels yesterday afternoon.

My vacuum pump was on last night until about 9pm and has been off since then (thermostat controlled). I'm thinking that today will be a decent day, but up here at "elevation" we've been lacking the temperatures to really spark a good run since that warm few days two weeks ago.

I added a couple of wifi controlled switches to my transfer pump and RO so now I can remotely transfer sap from the collection tote up to the RO tank and then start the RO all while being at work! We are getting even more science fiction-y every day!

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Originally Posted by ltgferg

This may sound like a silly question but what’s the best way to store syrup once it’s made?

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After I test my syrup for density on a hydrometer calibrated in the great state of Vermont ( everything in Vermont is better just not the maple trees! ) I poor it into 1/2 gallon mason jars. I let it settle for at least 1 month. Then I can poor all the pure syrup off into a reheat to 185 pot for repacking into smaller bottles. After 1 month the sugar sand is all well settled in the bottom of the 1/2 gallon mason jars. It works very well for me and should for anybody else. If I could find 1 gallon mason jars I would use them.

Glass is the best way to store syrup in my opinion.

My stats this year off 34 taps on 5/16 tubing at two different locations.

Feb 3 boil of 32 gallons got .54 gallons of syrup so 1.65% sugar.

Feb 18 boil of 75 gallons go 1.685 gallons of syrup so 2.22% sugar

Sap has been slow on the flow, especially yesterday which seemed like it should have been ideal, but flow has been steady.

Very good sap run today. Just came in from collecting my 35 buckets in Middlefield, 55 gallons of sap. Hydrometer says 2.25%, refractometer says closer to 2.75%. First boil bright and early tomorrow. Also time to check the home farm trees in Somers to see if their giving anything up yet.

trees in Cheshire were just okay today. I was able to draw off 6 gallons today!! started the fire at 8:30am and finished an hour ago..

Collected 55 gallons this morning. Boiled 60 this afternoon.