Site Discussions

I was walking my dog on the Chesapeake Bay in fall of 2012 when I was standing in the middle of millions of dragonflies going south. 

The best part about it is they flew right around me & my small dog without even hitting us.

I consider this one of the greatest events in my life!!!

I’ve been sugaring for almost 50 years in 3 different states. Technology has changed things a lot over those years. The news media will often say that earlier tapping/boiling dates means spring is coming sooner and is caused by global warming.  That is certainly part of the equation, but the news media doesn’t mention that a lot of the earlier boiling dates are a result of technology changes.  Good sanitation, high vacuum, replacing spouts yearly and drops every 3 years has really changed things for the better by extending the season on both the front and the back end.  Sap sugar content was low this year, but I still was able to get over 28 gallons of sap per tap, which yielded .5 gallons syrup per tap.  Its my best production in 30 years here, yet most of the crop was A medium or A dark (to use the old grades).  Another producer nearby made 90% A Light and no dark, with no RO to speed things up.  Go figure.  I sum up sugaring by saying this:  The more we know about maple sugaring, the more we realize how much we don’t know.  Its Mother Nature keeping us amazed and amused. . . . and sometimes confused.

Very helpful information. Wish I had found this before brewing my first batch. Now I have a mission - get more twigs and try again. I know the flavor will be improved because on my first attempt the aroma was amazing till the water started to boil. Thanks again!

How long does it take to do one notch?  Times two per log plus time to debark times however many logs it will take?  How many man hours to build a cabin average?

Our environment has been “burned” so many times by introducing species from other parts of the world. How many more times do we have to introduce an exotic species before we learn we are inviting another disaster?

Removing certain dams can be serious problem, as there is usually a huge pile of sediment that has been building up over the many years that it has been there. Some dams are simpler to remove, due to their placement in the river.

As Central Vermont Public services’ last hydro electric engineer, I have had several years of experience doing this kind of work - and some of it is not easily accomplished

I always enjoy these updates, and now with 6 years of sugaring under my belt, I feel like I can add my own 2 cents.

I’ve done research on maple sap at the Harvard Forest in Petersham, MA since 2012. I find it interesting that this coincides with the period that Dave describes as “weird”. I concur that 2017 continued that trend for us as well, with most of the sap collected in the first two and last two weeks of the season. I also agree that overall the season turned out fine. In fact, at Harvard Forest, most of the measures of the season - sap sugar content, sap collected, number of days we collected - were all about average (for the past 6 years - which is a big caveat as Dave’s longer stretch of data shows).

The research I do at Harvard Forest is part of a larger effort to collect data across sugar maple’s range undertaken by ACERnet (Acer Climate and Socio-Ecological Research Network - blogs.umass.edu/acernet).

ACERnet is also interested in how sugar makers respond to the kind of variability we’ve experienced over the past 6 years, and we are asking producers what they might do in the future under different climate and market scenarios. Producers who want to learn more or participate in our survey can access it here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/maple_management

Our Feb sap was low in sugar and full of niter. We don’t have an R.O., so that meant a long time boiling for the magic to happen. We ended up with sandy pans, and darker than dark syrup.

Been cutting trees for30 +years so I love cutting trees and using my 3 awesome saws. And to be really safe. I love felling trees and buck them up. So exicted to be here with you all!!!  John

I have had a small lovely grey fox visiting my bird feeders since early January. Since most of the time it come between 7 and 9 pm I am able to sit and watch it feeding only about 8 ft from my window. For a couple weeks in mid to late March there were 2 others who would not come so close as the first one but would be around at the edge of the yard. About a month ago the fox (female I think) had an injured eye like a stick had hit it. Although it does look better now it still does not look right although I haven’t seen any signs that sight is impaired. I have tried to track them to find the den and although I think I know the general area, I have not find any dens. I have posted many photos on my Facebook page Nicki Steel Photography if anyone is interested.

Cleanliness and speed are your only means of affecting grade. Do you use buckets or tubing? If buckets, make sure you collect them quickly, store the sap in a cool place, and boil it in a timely manner, i.e. that day. If you use tubing, it needs good pitch, the tubing should be replaced regularly, avoid black mainline, use vacuum if you have the scale to make it cost effective, if not experiment with 3/16ths diameter tubing and create natural vacuum. Look at the sap as if it were as perishable as milk. Or, just resign yourself to the idea you make dark syrup and tell your customers it tastes better and they don’t want the light stuff anyway.

I have a question. Usually on my first boil of the Season I produce light maple syrup or otherwise known as gold and delicate. However that is usually the only time it happens. After that my syrup always moves into the medium grade. I can’t believe that my stuff gets that dirty just from one run. Any suggestions?

Thanks, Gib! It really is one of the great pleasures of early spring. Our woodcock just returned yesterday (4/4) so “Pete” should be arriving at your place any moment now!

Nice article Elise,

My wife Sue can’t wait for “her” woodcock to return every spring. At the end of the day, in the spring, after barn chores, she will often head up into our meadows behind the house, and start ” peenting ” for Pete. That’s her nickname for what she believes is the same woodcock that comes back year after year to show off to her. It really is comical how he will display so close to us as we sit still in the field, even when we have our Lab with us. As we boil away this seasons sap, we know it won’t be long before “Pete” shows up, and entertains us with his dance and song, if that’s what it is, a song?

Thanks, Gib

The same mourning dove couple that had two babies here on our porch last year just returned about a week or two ago. We had left the nest so they built it up a little more and hung around for a week and a half. Two days ago the wasps started up on my front porch and my husband sprayed a chemical on the stairs leading up to the porch to kill them since my grandsons were staying with us. The mama dove was sitting in her nest but no eggs yet. Later that night, they took off and we haven’t seen them since. I hope the spray did not scare them away. They were such a joy for us to watch. I just feel terrible. Do they ever go away for a few days and return? I remember them doing that last summer but it was in July or August. Thanks for your response.

Steve: Yes, good luck! Dave: Check out this piece i wrote a few years back exploring just that. http://northernwoodlands.org/outside_story/article/how-much-sap 

To answer your question directly, if a sugarmaker is using best management practices, all the research suggests that there is no adverse affect. Of course tapping can be overdone, and the science into this ongoing, so it’s hard to give an unqualified answer. In our woods that has high-vacuum we use one 5/16ths tap per tree, regardless of diameter. We’re happy with the yield, and happy with the rate at which the tapholes heal—a good measure of tree health.

To highlight Jackie’s question above: How do wind-pollinated species ensure a good enough mix of genetic material (Eg. Birch). Do they not all end up as clones of their parent tree?

In your opinion, can this high tech and high volume maple syrup production adversely affect the health of the maple tree being tapped?

I have only 35 buckets in my “operation,”(enough to sweeten my coffee through the year!), but I’ve been sugaring for 16 years and have witnessed the wild weather swings each winter/spring.  This year I’ve only made 3 gallons so far, and I doubt I’ll get up to the 8 I usually make. I do have a question:  does removing and tossing aside the frozen sap significantly reduce the amount of syrup made?

Syrup pricing:  In the late 1940’s and early 50’s top price for fancy syrup was about $8 or so a gallon, based, I was told, on what it cost to hire labor for 8 hours work. Given that guide, imagine what a gallon would cost today! - $80 to $100?