Showing 611 – 620 of all 705 resources in the database

Temperature Patterns with an Oil-Fired Evaporator

Knowing the temperature in the evaporator is an essential part to making quality pure maple syrup. This article will discuss observations of temperature in each partition and how the front and back pans temperatures are influenced by the draw off events.

Temperatures in the Sugarbush

One major limitation to the sap-run forecasting ability of many producers is that measurement of air temperature in one location does not capture the wide variation in air temperature throughout the sugarbush; nor does it accurately reflect the temperature of the diverse parts of trees, or of the soil. A study of the range of temperatures in the forest during sugaring time is helpful in understanding some of the influences of weather on sap flow. This article briefly summarizes a large set of data collected over the past years which includes many sugarbush temperatures, and will give a few examples of the sometimes unexpected variation in temperatures which occur during the spring.

Ten Years with the Asian Longhorned Beetle Program in Massachusetts

ItÕs been 10 years since the ALB was first reported in Worcester, Massachusetts, and since then 24,179 ALB-infested trees have been found and removed, including the four trees mentioned. This has dramatically changed the character of the heaviest hit Worcester neighborhoods, Greendale and Burncoat, and resulted in a massive reforestation effort. Those neighborhoods were the center of the infestation and nearly every single host tree, including street trees, were removed in the effort to eradicate this pest. The DCR ALB Reforestation program, Worcester Tree Initiative, the city of Worcester, and the other five municipalities in the regulated area have replanted thousands of trees. Today, those young trees have become established and have started to provide much needed shade and wind breaks.

Testing for Invert Sugar in Maple Syrup

Invert sugar content of syrup determines how well the syrup will crystalize when making value-added products. This article explains how to conduct that test.

The “Jones Rule of 86” Revisited

The Jones “Rule of 86” was devised in 1946 by C.H. Jones, a scientist and educator at the University of Vermont. The gist of the rule is that ifone divides 86 by the sugar content of sap, you can estimate the amount of sap required to produce a gallon of syrup.

The 3/16 phenomenon

Using smaller-diameter tubing can create a natural vacuum which can increase sap production. This article details some research into this method of sap collection, and offers tips on some practical applications.

The aesthetics of sap collecting

A guide to keeping up appearances in your sugaring operation.

The Chemical Composition of Maple Syrup

This article is meant to be an introduction to the chemistry of maple sap and syrup: in particular, what makes this sweet liquid maple syrup instead of just a concentrated sugar solution? The types of sugars, the trace ingredients, and the mineral content make maple syrup more than just plain sugar water.

The complex relationship between climate and sugar maple health: Climate change implications in Vermont for a key northern hardwood species

This study compared 141 ecologically relevant climate metrics to field assessments of sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) canopy condition across Vermont, USA from 1988 to 2012. After removing the influence of disturbance events during this time period to isolate the impact of climate, we identified five climate metrics that were significantly related to sugar maple crown condition. While three of these are monthly summary metrics commonly used in climate analyses (minimum April, August and October temperatures), two are novel metrics designed to capture extreme climate events (periods of unusual warmth in January and August). The proportion of climate-driven variability in canopy condition is comparable to the proportion accounted for by defoliating pests and other disturbance events.