2012 Ontario Tapping

I am getting a very sick feeling like this might be the shortest season on record! Had a very good run a couple of days ago (night too) and a good boil on the new (to me) evaporator but I need a LOT more sap. Looks like a good run coming on Sunday (maybe Mon) and I fear the very warm temps (day and night) for the next 2 weeks will end it prematurely. We still have good snow cover in North Simcoe Co. but it will disappear very quickly with warm days and nights.
Usually I can get some real differences in the weather forecast with the 3 sites I use (Weather Network, Environment Can. and Accuweather) but this time they are forecasting similar - which isn't good!
Can only hope the weather gods smile on us and send some cooler weather.

BTW Twinbay I used to haul on snowshoes and in 5 gal pails on some good hills too and many times I found myself facefirst in the snow with 2 spilled 5 gal pails (LOL).

ya twinbay here ya about the snow depth. sort of sucks but think of it this way its gotta get better cant get any worse. you maybe should put 5 gallons in those totes till you get the trail packed down. snow is deep here too but we should loose a bunch next week and get some good sap runs. looks like here i get two days off from the sap hauling then back at it on sun day.

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Originally Posted by TwinBay

Try trudging thru wet snow....not too tough
Carrying two 5 gallon buckets that are full......remind me not to gain 100 lbs.
Do it on snowshoes and you sink right to your own "spile"....a brutal 80 gallon collection today
Havin" fun, back at it tomorrow hopefully

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When we started here I was 60 years already. The bush is 800 feet from the house. I used to carry one 5 gallon water cooler jug in each hand and a third in a back pack. Now thing are different, thank god, because in a few days I'll be 66.

Despite a Saturday overnight temp. of -16C, we had no run yesterday as the day time temp. only rose to +1. And last night the temperature only dropped to -1C. Today, could be our last day of the season if the long range forecast materializes.

With last week's only run, and mediocre at that, this is most definitely the shortest season we've had in 15 years.

From 100 taps, only 1 gallon of syrup to date!

this year has been the pits.

I started our vac pump at 3:00 AM ( are we desperate or what ??) with the temp at +3 deg.
I just came back from the bush and we are sucking sap into the releasers.
Got about 25 gallons in each, but they're sitting on a 6" thick cake of ice so we won't be able to start pumping for a couple hours.

It could go out with a bang. The tree tops are looking very thick and it's going to be too darned warm today.

No posts yet on how everyone did today. That most mean that everyone is still out boiling the monster run? One of the larger producers in Ontario, Wheeler's, had this posted on their Facebook page this evening "Biggest sap flow today for many years... won't be caught up till sometime tomorrow(maybe even Tuesday)! We now have Light and Extra Light syrup available for sale." It's good to see that there are going to be some good runs today and tomorrow before it turns to June by the end of the week, with the golden horseshoe possibly reaching the low 20s. I worried about some of the smaller producers, mostly old-timers who always insist on never tapping before a set date, up here around Pembroke it's the 15th or 18th of March. The season might be nearly over by that time. I am going to go out on a limb and predict a major sugar snowstorm (8+ inches ) across much of the maple regions of Ontario, New York State, Quebec, and northern Vermont.

Not sure what to think now. 100 buckets here, and only 40 gal of sap. Some buckets were overflowing (they had full sun all day) and some buckets were almost empty (deep in the bush). Not sure what to think. I have enough for a small boil today, and that'll be the first...and maybe last. Probably because of the new shack, new evap, new syrup pan, and I doubled the number of buckets for this year. Just my luck!:confused:

We finally had a great run all day yesterday which kept us busy keeping up with the sap. Sure glad I pumped the vacuum tank into holding tank before dark since I just checked the vacuum tank and is almost full from overnite run. Expect it will slow and quit today and not sure if there is more to be had or not?

Sure could use one more run like this one but ........

Sorry to hear you are having more than your share of difficulties this year Brent - hope the rest of season goes somewhat better.

Well the trees finally started to open up we collected 100 gallons of sap, and boiled it down to sweeten the pans, it's looking to be a fast short season but colder temps are on the way!

Best of the season to you all!

This is our third year, getting a little bigger every year. We tapped Feb. 15, earliest ever! Yesterday sap was running so hard it was dripping on our heads from overhead! Had a big boil all day, got it close to finishing late last night, and will finish that batch today. Expecting a big collection today, but then who knows, with this warm stretch in the forecast, could be an early end to our season. So far every batch has been very high in sugar sand...sure hope this batch improves.

small run yesterday, amazing as I would have predicted it to be huge... just a slow trickle ... I took off maybe 40 gallons, it was still trickling about 7pm, so maybe it ran most of the night?

Frost on the ground outside this morning but not heavy... so maybe a bit more today. I'm at 21.5 litres at present, probably about 9 litres in the finishing pan.

BAtch I finished yesterday still very light.

One thing I was thinking... I haven't seen any of those moths that normally seem to end up in any bucket or container that has sap in it... I clinging to that as I sign that the season still has a ways to go if the temperatures co operate. Still lots of ice on my trail and a bit in the woods...

I was up at 3:00 AM to start the vac pumps as the temps hit +2 deg.
We finished 125 L from 650 taps. Still got about 300 L of sap in the tank to run today.
I saw 3:00 AM on the clock on the way to bed.
Needless to say, not moving too fast today. The tree tops are looking full and black. At last sunlight last
night we could see the red from the buds on top. We left the vac running all night but if we get anything fresh,
we'll be keeping it segregated until we can tell if its buddy.

At this point, we're almost exactly 1/2 of what we got last year. I would have been a little better if we had not let some sap spoil as we tried to get caught up with the season in in the sugar shack.

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Originally Posted by MustardSeedMum

Where is Eldorado? I'm going to put out more buckets since the 10 day looks pretty decent. I'm in Erin.

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I don't know what forecast you're looking at but the AcuWeather shows only one freezing night in the 15 days forecast, and that's March 25.
The trees are all going to make buddy sap in the next day or two. I wouldn't put any new holes in them at this late date.

It's over for us down here.

Jen just came back from the bush. Maybe about 300 more gallons in the tanks and buckets are about 1/3 full.
AND it's still runnig.
Boiling in the kitchen to test for buddy sap now.

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Originally Posted by Brent

I don't know what forecast you're looking at but the AcuWeather shows only one freezing night in the 15 days forecast, and that's March 25.
The trees are all going to make buddy sap in the next day or two. I wouldn't put any new holes in them at this late date.

It's over for us down here.

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Brent - you picked up my post from Feb 20. Not putting any taps in right now!

I'm in BIGTIMESAP! Ran out of storage. Yesterday gathered over 200L, and the buckets were still filling up last night - had to let them overflow. Today I've picked up another 200L and it's still flowing. Strangely, it appears that we went below 0 up here. Not sure if it's my higher elevation - I'm hoping that'll help my season a little. Doesn't smell buddy yet. I'm boiling like a fool right now. Praying hard that the rain will hold because that'll slow down my boiling.

I might have to let go of some sap. :( On the buy list: another storage barrel and a more efficient evaporator.

Or I could reduce the # of my taps....NOT!

Sorry bout that MustardSeedMum. Up to 3:00 AM boiling.
Punch drunk is an expression that comes to mine

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Originally Posted by Brent

Sorry bout that MustardSeedMum. Up to 3:00 AM boiling.
Punch drunk is an expression that comes to mine

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:) No prob. We're all sleep deprived. By the way, did your wife ever get to put her buckets up?

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Originally Posted by MustardSeedMum

:) No prob. We're all sleep deprived. By the way, did your wife ever get to put her buckets up?

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She only got half of them up. She emptied them last night at 11:30 PM and about an hour ago, after doing several trips to the releaser tanks, she got
back to them again and many were overflowing. So far another 300 gallons of sap today. Can't keep up.
More stupidity coming on posts tomorrow. More sleep deprivation.

Brent you are making me jealous... gossip from my house is that I have only about 35 gallons of sap only today.

I'm in the same boat as Brent (on a smaller scale) - can't keep up today.

I'm swimming in sap. Running count today is over 200L with probably another 100L out in the buckets. Had to pull 5 gallon buckets off 10 taps :o for sap storage. And I'll probably have to let more sap run into the ground. :(

Can't boil any faster. So frustrating.

I ended up with around 45 gallons total yesterday. Don't imagine anything running today, but will optomistically check tonight.

Just finished taking down buckets. Sap is running good but I noticed it is starting to turn yellowish and not clear like normal. Ants,moths and honey bees are all over the buckets. Now the cleaning begins.

We got close to a gallon per tap Sunday and over a gallon per tap yesterday. I'm praying the weatherman is wrong about the coming week...

Ennis, thought about it too late.. but drove through Lanark on Saturday to go to the Sens game... should have arranged a visit. Didn't even think about it until I saw the Lanark sign.

What does everyone think is going to happen to all the maple festivals scheduled at the end of the month? I know the Maple in the County is the last weekend in March... seems unlikely they will still be going at that point.

We're done.
Nothing from the bush. Buds are popping, bees everywhere.
When the rig was cool this morning I drained the flue pan into ten 5 gallon pails. Plugged the syrup pan. Put well water in the feed tank, flooded the flue pan with well water and boiled off everything out of the flue pan. Boy did I learn to appreciate float box valves today. Topping up the syrup pan by hand was a bitch. Got about 18 gallons of AMBER :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: First time in 6 years we've made amber. Been trying to make darker syrup for the customers that want it. Finally got it.

Roughly 1/2 of the total take as last year. Going to raise our prices a bit. It will never make up for 1/2 the crop lost, but it will make the wife feel better.

Hey Brent-
We are in Parry Sound.
Looks like we will make 40% of last years crop.
Weather is predicted so warm we might put the boat in !!!

Bottled a few more last night so I'm up to 31 litres.... last batch is in the pan to boil down today.


We did however get a light frost last night.... so who knows maybe today will be the miracle run.

otherwise I'm looking at less than 40 litres from 120 or more taps... at least I wont need to get as much wood for next year since well over 1/2 is still in the wood shed.

Yesterday it got up to 15C (60's) Collected about 100 liters (24 gallons). It went below freezing Monday night.
Some sap was yellow, but most were still clear. Thinking that the yellow was from the rain Monday. Keeping this batch separate just in case it's bad.

Pulled all my 5 gallon buckets so that I could store all the sap from Sunday and Monday's run.

Last night it went -3! Sap has slowed down, but it's still dripping and clear. Do I still collect it or does the daytime 15c temps mess me up??

Pulled all my taps yesterday and finished my last batch this morning at 2 AM. 30 litres total from 65 taps for the season which ran from Feb 16-Mar 13 for me this year.

Paul

mustardmum... keep boiling if the sap tastes ok. Yellow doesn't scare me, seen it several times.

Well Brent, if it makes you feel any better I finished up yesterday with a total almost exactly 50% of last year production!! Seems like I just finished tapping and I am taking the spiles out - hard to believe. The only good thing about it is, cleaning up today in my shorts and short sleeves - last year at this time I was making my first syrup!!
As someone mentioned downthread, at least I won't need so much wood for next season and my new (to me) evaporator worked great. Looks like the leaves will be out very early this year and only hope they don't freeze off like they did a couple of years ago.
What a year - robins are back, grouse are drumming, woodcock are peenting, etc. somehow I think we are going to pay for this weather?

its appears to be over here in South Eastern Ontario. Was geared up to make about 15 gallons this year ended up with 6. Not bad got me off the couch and out in the fresh air love it

For the first time we got all the sweet out of the flue pan, and re-calculated the haul for the year, ended up with about 90% of last year which is
450 L / 110 Gal. Happier today than yesterday. We lost about 700 gallons at the beginning because we didn't have our act together in the sugar shack,
(evaporator in peices for cleaning etc ) If we had managed to save and boil that, it would have been a record year, but alas, it was what it what was.

Brent, that's good to hear...your totals, not the 700gallons.

Would it be accurate to say that you got that 90% in a shorter amount of time? How long did yr season last?

Here in Erin, some of my trees are still giving up some sap. Whether it's buddy, i hv no idea...i'm still boiling off the sap from the wknd. I NEED A BIGGER RIG!!!! :mad: sorry, I needed to vent...

There's still a nip in the air today.

althought trees not budded in my woods, with the look of the 14 day forecast I think I am going to abandon ship and pull the taps this weekend. Might as well get everything cleaned up and drained before it sits for 2 weeks in very warm weather. Worst year ever for me by far. AT least I have 2-3 weeks to get caught up on chores outside I wouldn't normally get.
Could go camping this weekend from the look of the forecast...... at this rate the black flies will be out before April.

We lost a lot of our Alfalfa because of poor snow cover so last Saturday we did a frost seeding. Some of them are sprouted already.
Good greif, it's the middle of March. !!!

Still boiling sap collected earlier in the week (kept cold with frozen sap which i'm switching out often)

There's something wrong with making syrup & battling mosquitoes at the same time.:o

Finally got to boil Thursday. Had about 160 gallons of sap saved up. Ran from 9am to 7pm. Reduced 100 gallons down to 10 gallons. Very suprised at our evap rate considering that it was a rainy cool day. We use 2 turkey fryers to preheat then transfer the boiling preheated sap to the Small Bros 3x2 on a temporary block arch. We got an evap rate of over 10gph. Not bad for a couple amatures. 50 taps only produced 15 gallons of sap in the last 2 days........ Pretty sure we will pull the taps on Monday. Hope to get 5 gallons of syrup of this probable one and only boil. Oh yeah, sap was all between 2.5 and 3% Right about where it was last year.


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Gave in and pulled the taps today. Trees deep in the woods look ok, but anything on the edges buds are exploding... soft maple beside my house looks like it will have leaves in the next day or two. Lines flushed out, drums washed up.... still one pot to finish. On a depressing note, I had trouble flushing a couple of my biggest lateral lines... couldn't even blow them out... and when I cut them off the main lines I found the holes on the ainline fittings completely plugged with some kind of ooze.... guess that is why I didn't have any big runs this year... half my taps couldn't get their sap into the mainline... called myself a few names and learned yet another lesson

Well I'm still at it. Trees ran some today but don't know how with no freezing in the last week. Either way it won't add to much with no freezeing in sight. This year is coming to an end just about as quick as it started. I'm sitting right now with only 12.59% of what I should have made this year.(17L of the 135L I expected)