Sap Flow Overview
The warm Sunday has come and gone, but many producers in Southwestern Ontario reported a smaller sap run than expected. This is likely due to the one warm day being insufficient to thaw out trees, as the week leading up to Sunday saw fairly cold weather (with daytime highs below 0 degrees C). If you’re in a colder area with later sap flow, consider finishing your tapping early and taking the extra time to check leaks in your vacuum system before the season gets under way.
Southwestern
Trees thawed out this past week with steady but slow runs on Sunday. Sap brix was at 2 and producers made golden to amber syrup. In some bushes, much of the snow is gone but the ground is still frosty.
Waterloo-Wellington
Low temperatures over the past week resulted in slow runs, with things picking up by Sunday through to today. Many trees are still frozen and thawing out. Brix is around 2.1 with one producer sampling 3; this is sweeter than most were expecting at the beginning of the season. Syrup produced is golden. Producers are optimistic about sapflow in the coming week.
Grey-Bruce
Many smaller producers in this region are still tapping, and there are a few inches of snow on the ground. Producers who managed to get set up before Sunday report sap trickling in over the weekend at 2.1 Brix. This first run seems to have mostly been used to flush lines, and boils seem few and far between. This week’s weather for this region is promising for sap flow.
Central (Quinte, Haliburton-Kawartha, Simcoe)
Folks in this region completed tapping on Saturday and some experienced good runs on Sunday and today. Sunday was the first sapflow day for many. Brix from last week to this week ranged from 1.8 to 2.4, with more on the lower end as as expected for the start of the season. Some producers collected enough sap to boil, and made amber syrup.
Starting next week, these regions will be reported on individually.
Eastern (Lanark, Eastern, Ottawa)
Some are tapped in, but others are holding off for warmer weather. Sunday was the first day above 0 for much of this area. Producers in Lanark are reported sap trickling in on Sunday, but Brix content is low and sap was used to wash out equipment. Many in Ottawa region who are located south of Hwy 7 have tapped, but are also still holding for the first large runs of the season.
Starting next week, these regions will be reported on individually.
Algonquin
Many smaller producers have not yet begun tapping, as the weather forecast for the next week shows cold temperatures with most daytime highs below freezing. Some producers are reporting more winter damage to their bushes than usual due to winds in the past month.
What’s happening in your bush?
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Introducing: the spongy moth
The Entomological Society of Canada has renamed LDD moth (previously gypsy moth) to the spongy moth. Among thousands of other names, this one was selected for the following reasons:
- it acknowledges the moth’s spongy brown egg masses which are present for 10 months of the year
- it aligns with the French common name for the moth: “spongieuse”
Click the link below to read more. If you’d like more information on the spongy moth’s identification and management, click here.
Thanks Jenny. It is nice to hear where producers are at throughout the season across the province. And the related educational pieces like this one on Spongy Moth are great too.
Hi We are in Ottawa Valley near Barry’s Bay, Foymount area 1800′ above se level Highest populated point in Ontario.We had our first boil on the weekend, but syrup was black as molasses. We have been making syrup here for 18 years, have never seen the like. It usually starts golden then goes darker as the season goes. What is causing the blackness or is anyone else having that problem?
Hi Barrie,
Thanks for your comment. That is unusual but not unheard of; other producers have mentioned to me that their first runs produced darker syrup than normal at the beginning of the season, especially if they used the first run to make syrup instead of to flush their lines. I wrote about some of the factors affecting syrup colour in a previous blog post: https://onmaplesyrup.ca/2021/03/30/march-30-2021-ontario-maple-syrup-production-report/ – feel free to give it a read. How did it taste?
Jenny