2015 season getting close

[Hungry Beaver Sugar Camp]

Been taking advantage of the "no snow" in central Minnesota, trimming out trails and brush around the Sugarbush. Last year got 27 gallons from 300 taps. Built a new boiling house this last summer and can't wait to try it out. Seems what started as a fun thing to do has turned into a full time job for a retired guy and a lot of $$$ spent. Still don't sell any but sure enjoy giving it away to friends and family. Nobody has ever said they didn't want it. We are hoping to start tapping about March 15th or so. With no snow yet season may come early this year. Of course if anything like last 2 years, it will all come end of March and April messing everything up!

[Birddog]

Been taking advantage of the "no snow" in central Minnesota, trimming out trails and brush around the Sugarbush. Last year got 27 gallons from 300 taps. Built a new boiling house this last summer and can't wait to try it out. Seems what started as a fun thing to do has turned into a full time job for a retired guy and a lot of $$$ spent. Still don't sell any but sure enjoy giving it away to friends and family. Nobody has ever said they didn't want it. We are hoping to start tapping about March 15th or so. With no snow yet season may come early this year. Of course if anything like last 2 years, it will all come end of March and April messing everything up!

It really is amazing how much time and money a person can pour into this hobby. I am similar to you but I tap less than a hundred trees and made about 9 gallons last year and I give it all away. I seem to spend almost all of my free time on "maple related" ativities but I'm not retired yet. Have a great season!

[Mudcat_21]

Took the time last weekend to cut some more wood for the cooker since the temps have been so nice. Probably meet up with everyone in the sugar shack in the next couple weeks and get an inventory of everything and make sure things are accounted for. I think this the first year where no large purchases have to made! Feel pretty good about that. Enjoy ramping up for the season everyone!

[North!]

We are making steady progress having tapped about 80% of our 25,000 tap sugarbush here in Lutsen. The snow depth is mid calf, so getting around is about as easy as we've had it for some time. We had a warmup around the 20th of January that raised the temperature into the low 30's and brought the trees to life. This May be a good indication that with the lack of frost depth, and the high moisture content of the soil, we may see a fairly strong start to the season. We expect to be finished tapping within the next week. Good luck to all.

[Birddog]

We are making steady progress having tapped about 80% of our 25,000 tap sugarbush here in Lutsen. The snow depth is mid calf, so getting around is about as easy as we've had it for some time. We had a warmup around the 20th of January that raised the temperature into the low 30's and brought the trees to life. This May be a good indication that with the lack of frost depth, and the high moisture content of the soil, we may see a fairly strong start to the season. We expect to be finished tapping within the next week. Good luck to all.

It sure is a lot different than last season for sure. If I remember right you tapped in mid January last season too. Do you warm up earlier along the shore or something? How do you keep your taps from drying up too early?

[North!]

Over the years we have found that tapping early does not negatively affect sap yields for us. We start tapping In mid January each season, and as long as no unusual warmups occur during tapping or the normal start of the sap season we expect the sap to flow into the 2nd week of May. Last year we began pulling taps the 13th of May, surprisingly the trees were still producing plenty of sap, be it of the commercial quality. We generally don't see the start of sap flow until the last week of March. I have seen a number of years where we will begin bringing sap in before producers in the central part of the state do. Being within 6 miles of Lake Superior provides a bit of warmth, and the mountainous rocky terrain seems to prevent a deep frost from occurring and slowing us down. A fellow producer that sits within 4 miles of the lake literally has no frost issues, and his trees flow hard from any warmup that occurs. This seems to hurt his yields by sometimes fouling his lines before the real good flows occur. Last year he tapped a month later than us, yet was completely dried up a week and a half before we began pulling our taps which were still producing. It is Interesting how just a couple of miles affects us so differently. Cold bush vs. warm bush.
We take plenty precautions to maintain as "sterile" an environment as possible when tapping. Clean tubing is an absolute must. Tap in weather that is below freezing, which allows for drier gloves and less chance of water trapped in the droplines to reach the spout and tap hole. Concentrate on keeping one of your gloved hands as clean and dry as possible and using the other hand to do any dirty work. Sharp bits. Seasonal spouts. During sap flow make sure vacuum is on, reducing the chance of sap from backing up into the tap hole. When shutting off vacuum, let the vacuum draw down on its own. Keeping the tap hole as clean as possible from start to finish is everything, otherwise you have no chance.

[SDdave]

This weather is killing me. First that beautiful January thaw that we had and now this. Feburary is starting to look like early March. I am going to give in and put a few taps out there to see what is happening tomorrow. I just don't know if I should go "all in" or not, still seems too early for the season to begin. But with little snow cover left, frost being weak this year, who knows? ( I think I have just been rationalizing to myself, so thanks for bearing with me). I'll report later.

SDdave

[SDdave]

So I threw in a few taps this afternoon with a friend of mine that is interested in starting making some maple syrup. I put taps in trees that have always run early, those taps were dripping about a drop to a drop and a half a second. The slower trees have not dripped a drop yet.

Have a good year everyone!

SDdave

[SilverLeaf]

I haven't put in any taps yet but on Saturday with that beautiful sun and low 40s we had, the tree in my front yard was dripping super good from a woodpecker hole.

I think nature's gonna put the brakes on us the next couple weeks though - temps dipping back down. After that, the long-term forecast, per NOAA ( http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/ ) seems to be favoring avg to slightly above avg temps.

My prediction (which is worth very little!): it'll be an early spring, but not crazy early. I'm mentally prepping for tapping about 2 wks ahead of "normal". Good luck all!

[SDdave]

Well the sap flowed. Not overly abundant, but at a gallon/tap/day. Came in at 3.5ish %. Sure glad I didn't tap them all with the cold weather returning.

Spring is on the way,
SDdave