Today was cloudy and about 40.  It drizzled a little.  It looked like it would rain, but we have not had the 1 – 2 inches originally forecast.

We were in the woods by 9:00 am.  We used our new pump to move yesterday’s sap to the storage tanks.  This pump is quieter.   The instructions to the pump say it is self priming, yet there is a big caution label on the pump saying it must be filled with liquid before use, i.e. primed.  Since the pump has a fill plug we are priming it.

The state inspector came today. They check for basic cleanliness and food handling procedures.  We have some concern that they are getting stricter and stricter and will drive out small maple syrup producers. Maple syrup is not a good vector for harmful organisms given the amount of boiling it takes to make maple syrup.

By 6:00 pm the storage tanks were empty and we had bottled another 18 quarts of syrup.  We have 196 quarts now, just under 50 gallons.