When to tap

[buxtonboiler]

I have a question about tapping. I realize that the holes will start healing at some point, but I want to get ahead of the curve this year. Is it too early to start putting in taps? Will they heal in freezing weather before sap starts to run?

[Ausable]

Hi buxtonboiler -- Like Your question and I'm sure you will get several different answers to it -- But here is mine .. Sometimes the weather is perfect here in early February for tapping - I know it won't last - but I tap a few anyway. The sap runs like in March - conditions change back to Winter mode and the sap stops. Now they sit for three or four weeks till conditions change and maybe half of what I've tapped starts up again - the others sit - so I pull the spiles and clean the holes by lightly redrilling and they start up again. ---- I think the sap in some just gum up the hole and stop sap flow. I think rehealing takes at least a full year of normal growth cycle and sometimes longer to heal the wound from tapping -- only my opinion --- Mike

[DrTimPerkins]

Is it too early to start putting in taps? Will they heal in freezing weather before sap starts to run?

Go to http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc and click on "Timing of Tapping" in the Recent Publication section along the right side of the page.

[PATheron]

Theres all kinds of studies and such about this. This is kind of the standard. If you run vac and use new plastic spiles every year you can tap really early and they will work good. If you use buckets or gravity tube and old spouts etc, you want to wait and tap in right before your main runs. Down here we make all our syrup in march usually. I usually tap in mid January and they do fine. Thats with a vac pump on all the time its thawed out and new taps in the tree. IF I was gravity down here Id tap in the end of February. If I had a few taps Id wait till the last minute If I had a lot Id start valentines day. Hope this helps. Theron

[red maples]

very interesting. There wasn't much difference in the gravity for tapping early but huge in vacuum.

Now this was done before the CV's on Vacuum. So with the Cv's in place of whatever spouts were used, the end of the season drop off in sap production per tap hole, I assume, would be considerably less considering that there wouldn't be the high amount of microbes getting back to the tap hole.

[buxtonboiler]

Thanks to all for replies. Dr. Perkins, great article and very informative.

[DrTimPerkins]

... the end of the season drop off in sap production per tap hole, I assume, would be considerably less considering that there wouldn't be the high amount of microbes getting back to the tap hole.

That is exactly what we found last year comparing trees tapped done in mid-January and those tapped in early-March. Sap flow in the Jan tapped trees did NOT drop off by the end of the season in the CV trees.

We are repeating the study this year and hoping for a bit longer season without the record high temperatures we got in early April in 2010.

[DrTimPerkins]

Theres all kinds of studies and such about this. This is kind of the standard. If you run vac and use new plastic spiles every year you can tap really early and they will work good. If you use buckets or gravity tube and old spouts etc, you want to wait and tap in right before your main runs. Down here we make all our syrup in march usually. I usually tap in mid January and they do fine. Thats with a vac pump on all the time its thawed out and new taps in the tree. IF I was gravity down here Id tap in the end of February. If I had a few taps Id wait till the last minute If I had a lot Id start valentines day. Hope this helps. Theron

Excellent summary and advice Theron.