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One of the most important skills for sugarmakers to master is knowing when what’s boiling in the evaporator has become syrup. This guide to mesuring density explains the tools and techniques for accurate measurement.
Near the end of each sugaring season, producers must make a decision when to stop making maple syrup. Sometimes the decision is an easy call, such as when the onset of bud break and cessation of sap flow coincide. The decision to stop production can also be the result of careful economic analysis of the cost of production versus value of the product. The variable costs (fuel, labor, filters, etc.) of any maple operation are a key component to this sort of analysis.
As the maple industry has grown, so too has the use of plastic sap tubing. Solutions are needed to help producers dispose of tubing when it is past its useful life, in ways that ensure it is not merely ending up in landfills.
Thoughts and data on how setting taps on different aspects of a tree can impact sap yield.
Hydrometers are a critical tool for making high-quality, legal density maple syrup. A $20 to $30 investment in an accurate hydrometer can yield a valuable return in income for the producer. This article explains how to use and test a hydrometer for accuracy.
Thoughts on the value of implementing the new maple grading system.
Many researchers, in addition to many sugarmakers, have observed that there is a great range in the amount of sap produced from individual trees in a forest. Understanding, and perhaps predicting the different performances of the trees in a sugarbush is an aspect of maple physiology that remains fascinating.
Without a freeze, the flow of sap will continue to slow and eventually stop because there is no longer a difference between the pressure inside and outside of the tree. However, producers often observe an uptick in sap flow during the daytime over a few days. Why does this occur? Where did the extra sap come from? Typically, these short bursts of increased sap flow happen when the temperature warms over the next few days. The warm temperature causes gas bubbles in the wood fibers to expand and squeeze more water from the wood tissues, where it flows into the vessels and out through the taphole. This might occur for a couple of days, and eventually turn into slow weeping flows before ceasing entirely.
Maple producers know that when the temperature starts to rise in the spring, sap flows can’t be far behind. But when the weather starts to warm early in the spring and temperatures seem favorable for good sap flows, they are sometimes left wondering why the sap hasn’t started to run. There are several explanations for the disconnect between warm air temperature and a lack of flow during
the early season.
In order to survive, trees must overcome their injuries. But technically they donÕt heal their wounds, at least not the way that human and animal bodies repair, restore, or replace damaged cells or tissue. Trees are built in layers of cells that are bound by rigid walls in a modular, compartmented way. This structure dictates their wound response.