Showing 11 – 20 of all 705 resources in the database

2019 Cornell Maple Program Research on 5/16åÓ Maple Tubing

During the 2019 maple season the Cornell Maple Program conducted replicated trials on 5/16Ó and 3/16Ó tubing looking at a variety of tubing options for taphole sanitation and tapping. This report will focus on the 5/16Ó results.

3/16 inch Tubing with Check Valves Trial

In a normal sap flow event, trees exude sap during the above freezing period and replenish that lost water by ÒsuckingÓ it up from the roots during the below freezing period. If on a tubing system, during this negative pressure period they tend to draw sap back into the tree from the dropline. Sap, once it enters the droplines, is quickly contaminated with microbes. When they are drawn back into the tree, tap hole closure is initiated. The problem is compounded in 3/16- inch tubing because, unlike 5/16-inch tubing, the smaller diameter collection tube remains full of sap. A Cornell study found that up to 12 feet of sap in a 3/16-inch tube can be drawn back into the tree during this recharge time. CV spouts are one proven method of limiting this drawback with 5/16 inch tubing. The question was: will they also be effective with 3/16-inch tubing that is full of sap?

A 20-Year Record of Syrup Production at UVM Proctor Maple Research Center from 2004-2023

he University of Vermont (UVM) Proctor Maple Research Center (PMRC) in Underhill, Vermont, has along history of research on sap production. Maple syrup has been made at PMRC since shortly after its
founding in 1946, in part for research and in part for demonstration. Syrup production has always been an important component of the work of PMRC as it keeps the faculty and staff aware of the issues involved in sap collection and syrup production, it provides more of a “buy in” from producers when they understand that we face the same hurdles as they do each season, and the revenue gained from the sale of maple syrup helps to fund the operation.

A Correlation Between Sugar Concentration and Volume Yields In Sugar Maple An 18- Year Study

The sugar concentrations and the volume yields of Acer saccharum Marsh. sap from trees with single tapholes both show large variations from year to year and during sap flow seasons. Daily measurements of sugar concentration and volume yield from 29 trees for 18 years show consistent patterns. High sugar concentrations and high volume yields are characteristic of some trees; lower sugar concentrations and smaller volume yields are characteristic of other trees. A regression analysis shows a highly significant relationship between sugar concentration and volume yield in individual trees.

A Cost Analysis: Processing Maple Syrup Products

A cost analysis of processing maple sap to syrup for three fuel types, oil-, wood-, and LP gas-fired evaporators, indicates that: (1) fuel, capital, and labor are the major cost components of processing sap to syrup; (2) woodfired evaporators show a slight cost advantage over oil- and LP gas-fired evaporators; however, as the cost of wood approaches $50 per cord, wood as a fuel would no longer have this cost advantage; (3) economies of scale exist in processing maple sap to syrup; (4) in 1977 the total cost of production, including both sap production costs and processing costs, for a medium-size (750) gallons of syrup) operation was $8.36 per gallon of syrup for oil-fired evaporators, $7.97 per gallon of syrup for wood-fired evaporators, and $8.37 per gallon for LP gas-fired evaporators.

A Decade of Spout and Tubing Sanitation Research Summarized

More then a decade ago there was a renewed realization that microbial contamination of maple sap collection systems was having a significant detrimental impact on sap yields. Several research studies to investigate ways to improve sap yields from tubing systems were undertaken at both the University of Vermont Proctor Maple Research Center (Underhill, VT) and at the Cornell University Arnot Forest (Van Etten, NY) starting at about the same time and proceeded both as independent and joint projects from 2009-2018. The results of many of these studies have been reported in the past in numerous individual publications and presentations. This article seeks to combine and present this extensive body of work into a single, comprehensive, but concise summary of our results.

A Guide to Sugarbush Stocking

Sugarbush managers have long needed a guide for determining the stocking of their sugar maple stands. The question is: for desirable sugar maple sap production, how many trees per acre are needed? To provide information about stocking, the USDA Forest Service’s sugar maple sap production project at Burlington, Vermont, has made a regionwide study of the relationships between crown diameter and d.b.h. (diameter breast high) of open-grown sugar maple trees (Acer saccharum Marsh.). We found a strong relationship between crown diameter and d.b.h., and converted these data into stocking guides for various stand-size classes. The stocking guide are based on the assumption that trees with full crowns produce the best sap yields.