Help...info please
Will ants contaminate my sap? I will of course strain them out before boiling but should I be concerned at all? Thank you in advance
ANTS!!!!! In my sap....
Help...info please
Will ants contaminate my sap? I will of course strain them out before boiling but should I be concerned at all? Thank you in advance
Ants are an excellent source of protein! I wouldn't worry, stuff and bugs get in sap all the time. Just filter before boiling and you should be good to go.
Dave Barker
2014 30 taps, steam tray pans
2015 ~100 taps, in conjunction with University of Louisville
2x5 Smoky Lake hybrid pan
2022 150 taps
I find dead mice occasionally in my buckets. I just wring them out back into the bucket, pitch them, and moved on.
Ants aren't going to hurt your sap.
16x24 Timber Frame Sugar House
Mason 2x4 Evaporator
90 trees on buckets
Before the season ends you're going to find moths and other insects in your sap. Like others have said, filter them out before you boil. They won't affect the flavor of your syrup and boiling will sterilize anything that might be left behind.
Russ
"Red Roof Maples" Where the term "boiling soda" was first introduced to the maple world!
1930 Ford Model AA Doodlebug tractor
A couple of Honda 4 wheelers
Four chainsaws and no chickens!
Thank you thank you!
Thank you!
My buddy up here, who has tapped for awhile, says he can sometimes get a lot of snow fleas in his sap. Like everyone says, he just strains them out.
2022 - 5 pan block arch - 109 taps, 73 on 3/16 lines, 36 on drops into 5 gallon pails.
930 gallons boiled, 109 L (28.8 gals) of delicious syrup made.
DYI Vacuum Filter
2023 - 170 taps, mostly on lines, 1153 gallons boiled, 130 L (34.34 gals) of delicious syrup made, on a 2x4 divided pan and base stack, 8” pipe, on a block arch that boiled at a rate of 13 gallons per hour.
2024 - made 48 L, December to March, primarily over two fire bowls.
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