The winter freeze-up was pretty late this year in southern New England, with the real cold holding off until January, but it was actually too cold for much sap flow for a few weeks after the traditional start of maple sugaring season on Valentine's Day, which is a rare occurrence these days. Since the beginning of March temperatures have been more seasonable, with some warm sunny days, some rain and some snow, and the sugar maples have been quite productive. Last week my lone tap produced about 12 gallons of sap, which boiled down to one quart of syrup, for a 48:1 ratio (the ideal ratio usually cited is 40:1).
There is a big winter storm moving through today, with a bit of cold rain, snow and a lot of wind, and the next day or so will provide a good solid freeze to reset the sap flow. Next week is set to be much warmer, with barely any chances for even a light frost at night, so it is possible that the sugaring season will be coming to an end soon. If there are too many days this time of year without frost, or the temperatures get too high, the sap flow stops and the season ends. If that does happen, it will have been a rather poor maple syrup year, starting more slowly due to cold and ending a week or two earlier than usual because of early spring warmth.
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