maple syrup and honey

[Mr Mom]

   I want to try to make maple syrup and get into honey.
   I know that there is a some members that do syrup on here.
   I would like to know were you get your equipment ??
   I looked at e-bay but alot of the stuff people will not ship.
   I looking into honey at this time and how to get started.
   Any info on the subjects will be very helpful.


     Thank You very much
     Mr Mom

[bee_pipes]

Can't speak to the maple syrup part, but I've kept bees. I came across an article in Rodale's Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening about beekeeping and thought "that doesn't sound too hard" Sort of like gardening, with an element of danger - certainly more interesting than growing the biggest tomato in the neighborhood.

First thing I did was read everything the library had on it. Then started looking into vendors. The hives are almost entirely made of wood. I was working in a feed store and we had a carpenter that made birdhouses and feeders. Asked him to take a look at it and see if he could build it cheaper - he couldn't even meet their price - they mass produce the wood - their works are all set up for it. Unless you have a LOT of time on your hands and are a good carpenter, I'd recommend buying from a supplier.

I started out with two hives - recommended by most of the authorities in case one gets killed by pesticide application - try to keep them far apart too - a lot of farmers like having beehives on their property - you lease the sprot for a gallon of honey. The second year I doubled to 4 hives. The 3rd year the mites wiped me out. That was in Indiana. Now I'm in Tennessee and looking to start two hives next year.

You order the bees from a breeder - gets you a couple of pounds of bees and a fertile queen. It's a tight business, so usually you order in the fall. I was lucky enough to live near an orchard and ordered through them - they buy in bulk so I got a good price. You spend the winter building and repairing hive parts, getting ready for the spring. New hives were installed on Memorial Day in north west Indiana. There's nothing more relaxing than sitting back next to a hive and eating lunch, watching the foragers come back with pollen, fight off yellow jackets, etc. Equipment like extractors are expensive - food grade stainless steel. I managed to get by without them, but I wasn't running a business. I found it to be extremely rewarding.

An excellent beginner's book is "Keeping Bees" by John Vivian. A good reference book is "The ABC and Xyz of Bee Culture: An Encyclopedia of Beekeeping" by Dadant and Son.

I had excellent dealings with Lapp's Bee Supply Center, though it has been many years. They were competively priced and had quick service - http://www.lappsbeesupply.com/

Brushy Mountain Bee Farms is an excellent source of information and a good supplier, but the freight makes them less competitive. There's tons of stuff on the internet, but the best resource you'll find is a local beekeeper's association in your area - then you'll get straight gouge on your climate and region.

Hope this helps, and best of luck to you!

Regards,
Pat

[Sawyerfortyish]

Mr mom try www.mapletrader.com Those guys are just like the guys here only centered around maple syrup instead of wood.

[Mr Mom]

     Thanks alot guys i will look into the sites.
     
     Bee_pipes   I stay at home with my kids and dont realy have a hobbie thought that if i did bees i get a hobbie and honey.

     Sawyerfortyish  I have alot of maple trees and thought that i would try to make syrup.

     My wife thinks that it is a bad idea that i try this stuff.
     Dont want to get into mass production just want to see if i can do it.

     Thanks Mr Mom

[Frank_Pender]

Just remember, the trees to not sting.

[ely]

is there anyone here that sells maple syrup that they make. i would like to see if there is a difference in it and the storebought stuff around here. i am sure there is, most things go that way, also would like to contact someone about cheese maybe in wisconsin. yall can pm me if interested.

[srjones]

I've kept bees since 1999, but haven't been doing it as much in the last few years.  It's too warm down here for maple syrup so beekeeping is what I can do.

Beekeeping is a hobby you can do just about anywhere--on all continents except Antartica and even in the middle of a big city.  Children do well with Beekeeping also (when they have the proper PPE)

If you're interested in getting started, here's my advice:  1) find a local beekeeper and ask if you can help and ask them questions.  2) find a beekeeping supply store to get you started or find one of the many beekeeping catalog companies like Dadant.  3)  Subscribe for a year of one of the beekeeping magazines---either American Beekeeping Journal or Bee Culture.  4)  Figure out how much $$ you want to spend and then go for it.

BTW, NOW is the time to get started, because the Spring and Summer are the interesting times for beekeeping.

Just remember, the trees to not sting

True, trees don't sting but they have been known to fall on people.  However, I'd guess that the pursuit of maple syrup is relatively safer 

[mike_van]

Mr Mom - I bought all my maple stuff here - http://www.bascommaple.com/  They are in New Hampshire.  Shipping on an evaporater would be a lot of $$$$$ not heavy without the firebrick, just big & kind of fragile.  Try searching google for maple supplies, you might find a good used one near you. A good book is "Maple Syrup Production Manual, produced by Ohio State University Ext & North American Maple Syrup Council.  

[beenthere]

Anybody tapping trees yet? I've heard that some are in VT. Running well. 

[wiam]

The best cheese is made in Cabot VT.  Look here for sugaring equipment  www.leaderevaporator.com

Will

[mike_van]

Sap would have run the whole month of January in Connecticut - But who knew?   About 10 days i'll tap - I hear "rumors" of a big freeze coming - If you can trust the weather men.

[Mr Mom]

     I will try bees this year.
     Now the maple syrup thing is another,  my wife has a co-worker that taps and he said that he may not do syrup this year.
    I thank you all very much.

     Thanks Mr Mom

[maple flats]

Mr Mom, If you want to try making syrup on the hobbie level i would suggest a used syrup pan no bigger that maybe 6 or 8 sq. ft. (ie 2 x 3 or 2 x 4) or whatever other smaller size they have. A flat pan can be boiled in by making a fire base and stacking a row of concrete blocks 2 blocks high and the full length of the pan, down each side, at the back block the end with 1 row of blocks and them put a row of 6" solids on top of the first blocks so as to leave only about 2" or so the full width of the pan so as to force the heat up to the pan and have some sort of front whether blocks, steel or somethinf else you can keep too much air thru the pit. You want a roaring fire but do not want it uncontroled nor do you want more air than can burn the wood, extra just cools the fire. Try Bascommaple.com and look for used pans. Make sure you ask about condition, it must have a flat bottom and not be scorched or dented. If you want to do a little in the kitchen realize that you will boil away at least 42 gts of water to get 1 qt of syrup if you have 2% sugar in the sap. The best is to get a copy of Backyard Sugarin. If you want to start real small try boiling on the stove with the biggest ss pot you can get. Cheap ones are available that will do to learn on (warning, it is addictive) You can figure about 1 qt of syrup per tap. You can either buy taps or get a fresh sumac stem, remove the pith with a piece of wire, taper the tree end and drill an appropriate hole angled slightly upwards and up to 1.5" deep not counting the bark. As I say, this is addictive, I started doing about 6-10 taps for several years when the kids were growing up but I 2003 I got the bug. That year I bought a used 2' x 3' hobby evap and did 66 taps, now this year I am at 300+ taps, I now have a 16 x 24 sugarhouse, a 2 x 6' evaporator and the intent to grow to about 6-800 taps in a couple of years.
The Leader catalog shows 6 dealers in ohio. Where in the big O are you? If I can get an idea I will pm you with the info on their addresses of any close to you. If you are close to the NY or Pa border there might be some of those dealers  closer.
If you want to get into it slowly and grow to be a seller you might want to start with a kitchen pan (either 12 x 20" or 21 x 21" are offered by leader, other sizes might be avail from other dealers, of even start with a canning unit (pan with gas burner, filter rack, therm. fitting, and cover) to boil on and when you grow use it to can the syrup. You might also like to try   www.gbmllc.com   They offer a basic type evap or flat pans. But the best evaporation is going to be when you have a real evaporator. They have a multi channel syrup pan with a flat bottom and a dual or multi channel fluse pan where the most evaporation takes place. There are drop flue ( flues drop down 7 or so " where fire can surround the flues full of sap and boil faster or raised flues (flues stick up above the pan bottom with fire surrounding the flue again), If you have a choice the welded pans are better but mine is soldered and until only a few years ago they were all soldered.
I have dealt with Bascom and they are good folks. Another good place is  www.mapleguys.com who are the sole sponser of and the moderators of the forum mapletrader.com  Tell them maple flats sent you, It may not help but it makes me feel better. In answer to your question, yes I sell my syrup, that is one of the reasons I make it (the other reasons are that it smell great while you make it and I love to use it on everything from pancakes to french toast to icecream to mixing with mustard for maple mustard for dipping sause to adding to coffee etc. You want to compare what you get in the store with what you can make, if you are comparing REAL maple they will be the same but if you are thinking Aunt Jamima or one of those, you will really be impressed with what you make, WAY BETTER than store bought pancake syrup. And realize that unless they say 100% pure maple it isn't real. If they say contains real syrup it might only be a very small % pure (most likely the lowest grade or B grade) to add flavor. The real thing is the best. If you have not had the real thing I can send you some when the season starts as I sold everything from last year as well as all prev. years. I need to make more, can't keep up with demand and I have never advertised except I put up a small note on the bulliten board at the school bus garage where I work and leave order forms, I always sell out during the Christmas sales rush.

[Nailhead]

Mr. Mom
I have a low tech sugarbush. 3'X4' pan. I used a old fuel oil barrel, cut the top out and added a fire door. Put about 5'' of sand in bottom.
I found a good source for supplies is MAPLE HOLLOW. They are located in Merrill Wis. E-mail info@maplehollowsyrup.com
Last year we put out 300 taps. With the setup like it is, I can boil off apx. 12-15 gallons per hour. There are some pictures from last year in my photo gallery.
NH

[mike_van]

Just one more tip -  Finished syrup is 7 degrees F above the boiling point of water that day [it does vary some]  You can boil sap for what seems like forever, and the thermometer won't budge from 210 - 212 no matter how hot your fire is. The temp won't go up until much of the water is boiled off and more syrup is left. Then, it can go fast, foam actually, boil over, burn your pan, all kinds of nice stuff - You have to be there - Many [me included] will get sap/syrup to 215 216 F in the evaporator, draw off there, and finish on a gas fired setup, or the range at home. There's not much water left at this point, your house won't steam up so bad the wallpaper comes off. Then, when you get to your finish point, 218 - 219  whatever, you just shut the heat off. You can't do this on a wood arch.  Needs to be filtered also to get the "sand" out -  Smells good - tastes better 

[Engineer]

There's a guy up here that boiled and packed a couple hundred gallons last week.  Earliest ever, or so they say.

[Mr Mom]

     Thanks alot guys i got invited to see a whole set up in the next week or two.
     They said that they were going to tap within the next week or too.


     Thanks Mr Mom

[mike_van]

It sure has been the wierdest winter I remember - Started out early Dec. below 0 here, and a foot of the driest powder snow ever -  Then, rain, rain, no frost in the ground - 6 or 7 years ago Jan 24th my mothers water line froze - almost 4' of frost -