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I collect daily and the flows have slowed down from a peak on Saturday. It's starting to lose its clarity a bit. I'm doing my last boil tomorrow.

I made 4.5L of syrup on Friday. Back in the shack today boiling down what I collected so I have storage space. I will probably take Wednesday off and do a final boil.

My syrup last week was lighter than the previous 2 batches. Today's batch was dark like my first two. Sugar content is down on the last 2 at 50:1.

I collected 96L from 54 active taps yesterday which was up from Monday. The lack of freezing last night will likely hamper the flow today. I can see the flows slowing down since my taps are a month...

I was out collecting at 6:30 last night and the trees were still dripping. Wondering how much sap I will have when I go out back tonight.

This has been a quiet week for sure. I cleaned my storage tank and collection buckets last Sunday. The little bit of snow we got this week gave me the chance to repack snow in my 'ice box' that keeps...

Yesterday was my best collection day in Corbeil. I have 135L so far for my first boil on Saturday. It's odd having no snow in the bush collecting before the first boil though.

I tapped in Corbeil on Sunday. I collected sap on Tuesday and Wednesday before the freeze. I anticipate the flow to start again today. We will see what the mild nights the beginning of the week will...

Maybe use 3 wooden spoons tied at the top to create a tripod sitting in the bucket would work. Get new cheap ones at Dollarama.

Nice colour on your syrup.

They have a hard time predicting the weather the day of as well.

Adding another 300 is a big jump. I only added 6 this year and thought it was a good amount.

I was just looking at the long range and thinking of tapping on next Sunday if the forecast holds true.

If you have it in buckets frozen solid you could bring it in somewhere warm the night before restart to let it thaw out. That way frozen it won't spoil at least and your pan will be safe.

One of the largest maple producers in my area had to dial down the RO when they first started to RO their sap because of the taste. They adjusted it until they got back to the flavour they wanted.

That's what I do. Dump it in and try to keep the worst nitre and sludge in the old prefilter so it doesn't clog up the other prifilters. As I get near the end I push up on the bottom of the cone with...

I'm thinking your taps didn't dry up is because the lines prevented air getting to the tap holes and bacteria drying up the hole. I use drop tube to a bucket so the tube length is short and more...

I use a hydrometer to check my density. After checking I pour it back in the pot so I have no loss there.

Once you have what you need make sure to do a test run with water. Easier to make tweaks when it's just water and not in the rush of processing sap.

My first year I boiled on a barrel evaporator I built with 2 steam pans outside. For boiling outside I recommend adding a wind break with a tarp, that greatly reduces the wind effect taking the boil...

If you're on Facebook, there's a buy/sell group called Ontario Maple syrup Equipment buy/sell there. They have various things come up for sale. There's also a group Ontario backyarder maple syrups...

I use cone filters for my filtering. The stand I made is with a piece of plywood with a hole in the middle to slip the filter through. I put 4 finishing nails partially set to hook the filter ribs...

Thank you for the offer that's very generous. The issue I have is that I don't have the time to make syrup either with work and the holidays. Work always gets in the way of fun.

I noticed...

It would be tempting to tap some trees to try the evaporator I built with something other than water. I don't have enough trees to risk having some dry up during the spring run.

I was thinking the same thing last year when I upgraded from my steam pans to a built pan. Deciding to have my nee pan the same size as 2 steam pans worked well for small batches. With the new...

If you can't find a cover for less money than your pan you could get another pan and flip it upside down to make a cover. That would also give you a backup pan during the season.