what up witht he red (soft) maples?

[bison1973]

Anyone know what might be happening with the red maples? They are not running much at all so far this year. Last year they were terrible the entire season. We almost got nothing last year from them. I'm getting a little but nothing to speak of so far this season.

What's so strange is that this is the first time myself or my dad can ever recall this happeing. In years past it was these trees that really seemed to run alot.

Anyone else see this happening?

[southfork]

Since I tap on buckets I have a good handle on my individual tree production. About 10% of my tapable trees are reds, mixed among the 900 or so sugars. In most years they start later and end sooner. I have had one year out of the last 11 in which the reds actually produced more sap for the year than the sugars, the sugar content was better too. That was 2009. All the rest of the time I simply tap them because I have to walk by them. These are trees in the 14-18 inch range.

[jgavic]

We didn't tap one red maple this year...We figured it was a waste of a tap...Only sugars!!!