Can't even get a sled out there yet...god this is killing me...can't even see the hive...Not worried about them coming out...unless they have little snowshoes...
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Can't even get a sled out there yet...god this is killing me...can't even see the hive...Not worried about them coming out...unless they have little snowshoes...
They should be fine...I hope that was a really strong hive going into the winter. My 2 here are still going good. sorry I didn;t return your calls both times when you called I was working on snow. I borrowed my neighbor's bob cat and moved the snow piles back took me 5 hrs. and I was pretty **** frozen when I Was done I must have dumped a few hundred pounds of snow on myself too. and then I was shoveling off the roof for 2 days!!!
So besides that stuff I was able to get out in the woods a little bit rough going got things pretty much ready to go. still a few things here and there. Started tapping this afternoon. didn;t get to many in it was warm and I was wet!!! hit alot of "quick snow" walking along fine and poof up past my waste... then I gotta get out....
OK so -12 here this morning. looks like most of the state ranges -6 to -32 according to WMUR. Doesn;t look like this cold weather is going away for at least and other week + maybe as long as wed/thurs next week. with the exception of monday at 35-37 but cloudy which won't help matters much being these things have been frozen solid for at least a month or more. this will be by far the latest start for me since have doing the maple thing.
anyway...that depressing news aside. I got in another 100 taps yesterday afternoon before the sun went behind the trees and I got a chill from that nasty wind. I think the temp dropped 10+ degrees yesterday when I was in the woods. gonna get out after lunch today see if I can some more in.
Some work in the house and sugarhouse this morning until things warm up some what outside!!!
Getting alot of calls for syrup as of late people asking for this year's crop... people still don;t get it. if its frozen out so are the trees can't make syrup!!!
It's -19 here this morning! I don't want to go to work today.
0 here again. I have my sister down from VT. and my Brother and his family up from NJ. Wanting to see how maple syrup is Well not yet!!! She lives just north of stowe past the notch. She was loving it outside it was 29* yesterday they have been MUCH colder than us this winter but she couldnt believe how much snow we have. snow is compacted pretty well now 7-8-9 feet what ever we got there in that 3 week period has compressed to 2.5 -3 feet in most areas. It was fluffy but I will take that over heavy concrete snow any day.
Cleaning the house and stuff has set me back on tapping but I got 300 in 200+- to go. heading shortly to get some more in. cold though. Planning to the get the RO going Monday in hopes the weather will change and we will get sap sooner. looks like wed. will now be the vacuum leak checking day. then we freeze up for a few days. then I can finish getting the SH ready.
Had a nice visit from family over the weekend. Back at it today.
Hit 35 for couple.hrs today but it didn't last. Release is not in yet and saw a few drops of super nasty stuff coming out.
Got all the tanks rinsed out, and filled and one filled with water to flush the ro. Amazing what a little insulation will do for retaining heat. Should save some money on heat which is good since the delivery rates doubled since last year. Got the cage tank just about plumbed in. That should make rinsing the ro a little easier. get the ro flushed in the am, and then on to the vac and release etc. Hopefully get out in the woods and check for leaks on wed.
The forecast for yesterday predicted temps in the mid 30's but it never got above freezing. They're predicting a high of 44* for tomorrow so we might see 40* if we are lucky.
Yeah thats what I am figuring on too. I just hope we don't get much rain thats the last thing I need is a 3 foot ice ring on the trees!!! especially with freezing temps coming thurs and Fri. The wells arounf the trees are not quite big enough yet.
Got the RO all set up today finished the Plumbing for the cage tank. Its on the final rinse right now. Has a few drips here and resealed the fittings and everything looks pretty good I have 2 small drips on the other side but I will just keep an eye on it even with high pressure they didn't increase in speed. hopefully they will seal themselves once the rubber ends warm up a bit.
Warmed up the Vac pump filled it with oil and turned that on for a couple minutes today. Still need to do a once over on the releaser but I'll do that first thing in the morning and get that hooked up. dripping pretty good even though we only hit 31* today. the sun was pretty warm today for a little while.
Its coming soon I can feel it!!! hopefully we can get some sap this weekend and maybe start sweetening pans by early next week.... 3.5 weeks until maple weekend!!!!
well we offically hit 45*F down here today. haven't seen that since x-mas. work up a sweat just walking with snowshoes on.
So today was a day of progress. Got the releaser all cleaned and lubed up. hooked it up was closed off the lines first to make sure everything was OK. sounded good pulling 28.5 at the releaser. opened up the lines and after the swoosh nasty stinky sap went through we were ZERO inches of vacuum HOLY LEAKS BATMAN!!! first one was a broken 90* elbow on the last line coming off the wet line. and that was like 2 leaks because it was right at the whip and was pulling from both the wet and dry lines. got that hooked up and I was at 12" getting there. a couple big squirrel chews and and a spot where I remembered I bumped the lateral with the chainsaw. Fixed those and POP up to 19"
2 loose taps and 1/2 roll of electrical tape(I was hitting every nick leak or not. Finished the day at 22.5" should be somewhere between 25" -27" . Getting there!!! hopefully Saturday things melt enough that I can get out and walk the woods some more.
Don't know how many times the releaser dumped it was pretty stinky but lighter brown by the end of the day. trees need several days like this to get good an thawed out.
Been working in the house on some stuff, ordering business cards, taking care of some farmers markets applications and upping my insurance Since adding on $12K worth of stuff, orderd a few stainless fittings for the filter press and a little book keeping, things are moving along quickly looks looks like boiling Tuesday or wednesday? after a 2 day warm up sunday and monday Trees should be flowing pretty good by Tues/wed. Finally!!!
Hopefully mother nature will pay us greatly for being so patient and getting many feet of snow and lots of dam cold windy days. Fingers crossed!!! maybe we'll need to go out and get some more bulk storage containers... thats not a bad thing to have to worry about!!!
Gotta finish up my woods today. Get gravity lines fixed and tapped.(only 27 taps there should take long) then get Sap sac holders all set with bags and get the taps sterilized. Just need to finish up the Evap quick rinse and put the hood on. tighten that up and be ready to go.
Those are all going up just after b-fast Sunday. Then in the woods for line maintanence and get those last 4 inches of vacuum back, guessing maybe a loose tap since its been so cold since I tapped and some little squirrel pin hole chews.
Have fun everybody!!!