The International Maple Syrup Conference in Bar Harbor, Maine was an enjoyable and educational way to spend four days in October.  Of particular interest to Don and Peter were the technical sessions presented by research divisions at major universities.  The biggest piece of usable research that we learned about was on a new type of spile extension which has a check valve in it.  In short, it increases the sap flow from the tree in two ways.  First, it doesn't allow the tree to pull sap out of the lines and back into the tree at night when negative pressure is created in the tree and the vacuum pump is turned off.  Second, because it prevents sap from being pulled into the tree, it also limits bacterial contamination that limits end of the year sap flow.  By reducing bacteria in the taphole, the tree yields sap for an additional week or two.  Research done by the Proctor Research Center in Vermont suggests that these spile additions could increase overall sap flow by 40% over the course of a season.

 To accomodate the increased sap flow, we are planning on purchasing a Reverse Osmosis machine that uses a high pressure pump to concentrate the sap before it goes into the evaporator.  It works by forcing smaller water molecules through a filter and concentrating the larger sugar molecules.  Doing this can eliminate 75% of the water using electricity, which in turn reduces 75% of the boiling time and wood consumption for fueling the fire.  Research has shown that there is no change in the taste or chemical composition of the final syrup, despite less time spent boiling in the pan.  This is an addition we hope to have by the 2011 season.

The season started out slowly, but the past three days have been the perfect combination of trees that are waking up to the spring thaw and cooperating temperature and pressure changes.  We have collected nearly 3000 gallons of sap in the past three days, pushing us to the limit with sap storage.  The sap was flowing into the tank at a rate of 120 gallons per hour, which is the same rate that we are capable of processing the sap into syrup.  This has meant late nights and early mornings to keep up with the sap.  A nearly constant cloud has been rising upward out of the cupula.

The sap is about 2.7% to 3.0% sugar, which is above average.  This concentration means that it takes about 30 gallons of sap to make one gallon of pure maple syrup.  In the past two days, we have made 55 gallons of light and medium amber syrup, meaning that we have evaporated nearly 1600 gallons of water!  Today should be a great day out in the sugar shack, as we have 1700 gallons of sap that will be processed.  This should reduce to 55 gallons of syrup, bringing our yearly total to 160 gallons. 

 

We have concluded the sales of maple syrup for the 2008 season.  It was one of the best seasons in recent history, both in terms of quantity and quality.  We have high hopes for the upcoming season of 2009 and would be delighted to keep you informed of our progress.  Please send us an email at dsomers@citlink.net if you would like to be added to our mailing list.