TAPPING for 2018 sugaring season

Keith  Dufresne, owner and operator of Dufresne’s Sugar House, in Williamsburg, MA, is in the middle of tapping the trees for the 2018 sugaring season.

 

 

As you can see, some of the terrain is pretty tricky.  Here he is, on the side of a hill, making his way from tree to tree to accomplish this task.

 

 

 

Dufresne’s Sugar House has approximately 6,500 taps.  Each season a new drop line and tap must be installed on the tubing system, then another trip  made through the woods, to each tree, is necessary to drill the tap hole and insert the tap into the tree.  The gif above is at a sugar bush that is gravity fed, so the steep hillside serves to help the sap run into the tanks.

The following photos are in sugar bushes which have vacuum pumps to assist the sap into the tanks.   They are less steep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, last but not least, hugging a tree: