Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

[tcross]

1 barrel spilled. some of the comments are funny... many cliché!

[rfogg]

Looking for advice. This is my second year, last year I had put out 10 taps originally in Feb on buckets and by mid march they dried up and I had to tap 5 more. This year I am looking to do about 60 taps on 3/16 gravity vacuum. I really want to tap because with the weather coming next week I should get some sap but I don't want to tap to early and have my taps dry up. I was wondering what people with experience think.

[smokeyamber]

On tapping early on buckets... I have tapped as early as January and had the trees run well into April, but they definitely do slow down with time and some will stop running before the season is over. If you have only a few trees I would wait until it starts running and then tap in. I do this now myself. I have a couple of trees that run early and I tap them when it looks like it will run that week, when they start I tap in the rest of the trees. Can make for a frantic day with my 70 taps, but it maximizes output. I will already have storage setup and my dump stations are cleaned and ready before the first tap. I also have some "extra" trees that I can move taps to as trees stop running. You can also tap a second time on one tree if they are large enough to do so... do one early and one later in the season.

I will likely tap in the test trees next week, though I think the trees will take a bit more time to startup now that we have snow I am always fully tapped in by Town meeting day regardless of weather since that gives two months max of sap. If it's running in May I am likely already out of wood .

Have fun cause its almost time

[rfogg]

Thanks for the info smokey. Maybe I will just tap the trees Saturday and see when it starts to run. Then I can do the rest like you said. Thanks again.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[rfogg]

Thanks for the info smokey. Maybe I will just tap two trees Saturday and see when it starts to run. Then I can do the rest like you said. Thanks again.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[PARKER MAPLE]

Battery's on charge and drills are ready for Saturday
Here we go!!

[spud]

Saturday is going to be 42 and sun. Might see a little sap. I'm buried under two feet of snow so I sure hope there is no lines to be fixed. We may even get some sap on Sunday. Lets hope a bunch of this snow melts fast.

Spud

[pen61guin]

Hello all - I hung 5 buckets this morning here in Peru VT. Just a very slow drip in a couple of them. The forecast calls for several more days in the 40s this week. Shouldn't we expect a run? Maybe we haven't had enough nights below zero (I read somewhere that the sap doesn't flow unless and until there have been 100 nights below zero....)

I will put up the rest of my buckets (45) tomorrow and Monday, I think.

[DrTimPerkins]

Maybe we haven't had enough nights below zero (I read somewhere that the sap doesn't flow unless and until there have been 100 nights below zero....)

I think it must have meant below freezing. Being below zero (0 deg F) isn't important.

More likely the slow start of sap is because tree stem temperature lags quite a bit behind air temperature. While the branches might thaw out some, if the trunk isn't thawed out, the sap won't run. We've had some really cold nights....takes a bit of time to thaw out those big stems once they are solidly frozen. In addition, the deep snow keeps the temperature down around the base of the tree. Give it some time....when it finally thaws, there will be a gusher.

[sugaringcrazy]

Dr. Tim and everybody else for that matter, do you think it will let loose next week? I'm currently out of town until late next week (but in theory could come back sooner), but luckily ready to go, but wasnt planning on being tapped out until march 1. Do you think I will miss a ton? I'm in Central VT, and the snow is deep there, but it looks to get pretty warm next week:/