what a weird winter - or lack of?

[DaveB]

Just to update anyone who is following. I think things are winding down and this weeks warm temperatures will probably mean the end of the season in the northeast corner of the state but we'll see. I'm not getting much from my CT River Valley trees but above 750-1000' they are still flowing well, especially in places where there is snow cover. I'm convinced that helps and I always joke about putting in a snow making system for years like this. I finished boiling what sap I had this weekend and we'll see what I get this week.

[CTguy923]

i,m pulling all mine tomorrow, tapped Feb6th on all buckets, now the clean up and get ready for next year

[Mike Van]

I did my last pickup today, took everything down as i went. There was one tap from Feb 6th still dripping, good tree. I wound up collecting 2080 gal/sap for the season, my second best out of almost 25 years. Those 3 hot days back in Feb really hurt, I had lower volume after that. The 30+ new ones i tapped just over 3 weeks ago really saved me. Like i said earlier, what a weird winter. Here anyway, hardly any snow, or mud, or ice. I did fall down in the woods one day, tripped on a vine, slipped on the snow & crash. Spilled a half pail of sap. I've found the older you get, the faster gravity acts on you.

[Sugar Bear]

I did my last pickup today, took everything down as i went. There was one tap from Feb 6th still dripping, good tree. I wound up collecting 2080 gal/sap for the season, my second best out of almost 25 years. Those 3 hot days back in Feb really hurt, I had lower volume after that. The 30+ new ones i tapped just over 3 weeks ago really saved me. Like i said earlier, what a weird winter. Here anyway, hardly any snow, or mud, or ice. I did fall down in the woods one day, tripped on a vine, slipped on the snow & crash. Spilled a half pail of sap. I've found the older you get, the faster gravity acts on you.

Do you think if you had taped everything 3 weeks ago you would have done even better?

[Mike Van]

Do you think if you had taped everything 3 weeks ago you would have done even better?

Not sure about that - I do know i couldn't do 2000+ gal/sap in 3 weeks, not at my age.

[Sugar Bear]

Not sure about that - I do know i couldn't do 2000+ gal/sap in 3 weeks, not at my age.

Good point! Then there is my equipment that just barely kept sap out of the ground the second week of March.

[Mike Van]

Just to add to that line a little - I hate the warm weather syrup making, flies & mold, the syrup is all dark, in the shed can get pretty hot - I'm just a cold weather guy i guess. I pickup afternoons, takes me about 2 hours now, all on buckets. The following morning i'm up at the barn, 4 AM sometimes - Cold & dark, no traffic going by, sometimes i hear the coyotes or an owl. Million stars out - I burn a lot of pine in the evaporator, good dry wood, burns fast & hot. Always a stream of sparks going up out of the stack. And the smell inside the barn - whats not to like about this hobby / business?

[Sugar Bear]

Just to add to that line a little - I hate the warm weather syrup making, flies & mold, the syrup is all dark, in the shed can get pretty hot - I'm just a cold weather guy i guess. I pickup afternoons, takes me about 2 hours now, all on buckets. The following morning i'm up at the barn, 4 AM sometimes - Cold & dark, no traffic going by, sometimes i hear the coyotes or an owl. Million stars out - I burn a lot of pine in the evaporator, good dry wood, burns fast & hot. Always a stream of sparks going up out of the stack. And the smell inside the barn - whats not to like about this hobby / business?

Interestingly I saw almost no bugs this year. One moth the other day and that was it. A pair of hawks has built a nest in one of my Red Maples in New York and while flushing my lines yesterday the hawks were strafing me with claws extended. Pretty scary stuff.

This was definitely my favorite season so far. On the sugaring front.

[DaveProsper]

About the no bugs- same! I had some flies at the very very end but just a few houseflies. Saw maybe 1-2 sap flies, and yep, one moth got stuck in the pan. Thats it! Very weird. At least I heard the peepers last night as we shut down.

[lafite]

Ants from almost the beginning...only a couple moths near the end.