Anyone Tapping Yet?

[Cranberry Hill Farm]

The ten day forecast is perfect. Anyone thinking of tapping yet?

[DrTimPerkins]

The ten day forecast is perfect. Anyone thinking of tapping yet?

Too early. Spring will come when the winter is done. As cold as it's been the last couple of days, it'll take 3-4 days of warm weather to thaw the trees out.

[batsofbedlam]

I'm still waiting for winter. A reasonable snow cover will give us a nice succession of cold nights and warmish days.

[buckeye gold]

Well actually it depends on where your at, with all due respect Dr. Perkins. Here in southern Ohio I have watched this stupid weather all fall and more than once debated even fall tapping, but always talked myself out of it by saying winter will set in soon as I tap. I have given in and started the process to gear up today. I been cleaning and making up drops. Ordered supplies and will set up the evaporator first thing next week. I'd do it now but have an out of state trip for a couple days. My guess is winter will come, but it will be February and early March and season will be heavily impacted, so I'm getting what early syrup i can. I have a maple behind the house I had trimmed a limb off from a month ago and that thing has dripped sap day after day. I could have already made some syrup! Two years ago it was like this and I tapped on the 20th of January and made half my syrup by February 10th, the next six weeks turned cold and snowy and then boom spring. It took me six weeks to make what I made in 4 or five early boils. Other syrup producers that waited took it in the shorts. I just sense this will be a lot like that year. My ace is I have enough trees to tap early then pull and tap more if I'm wrong. Since I'm a small hobbyist, clean up isn't an issue. If it turns bad I'll shut down, clean up and wait. That is a long answer for saying, that by next weekend (if the weather is unchanged) I'll have taps out and hopefully be boiling.

[DrTimPerkins]

Well actually it depends on where your at, ....

Absolutely....the original poster is from Ashford (northeast), CT, where it is inland a bit, rural, slightly hilly. It is (in my opinion) too early to tap there, especially if you can't pull taps and move them to other trees.

Fall tapping just isn't something that pans out too often for the vast majority of producers.

[Fishgill]

Six weeks to go maybe seven.

[Greenwich Maple Man]

Too early. Spring will come when the winter is done. As cold as it's been the last couple of days, it'll take 3-4 days of warm weather to thaw the trees out.

Boy do I agree with you Doctor Tim! Know offence to anybody but I just can't believe that some people think winter is coming to an end. If that is the case than I guess we wil be mowing hay in April ! My personal thought is we are going to have a late winter and sugaring won't start until March. But, that is just my gut feeling. I plan to start tapping sometime in early Feb. just so I can get them all drilled before it starts to run.

[buckeye gold]

I realized after coming back that I had replied to a post in the Tapping CT category, sorry. I have this habit of clicking on the "today's post" link and not looking what column they came from. So I put on my dummy hat and will sit in the sugar house corner for a bit.

with that said, Southern Ohio weather is more temperate than you Northern sugar addicts. Our season has a habit of turning too warm suddenly. In my short experience I have rarely had much flow past march 15th. Oh you'll get some cold snaps and a day or two of sap, but all the equipment has to be cleaned over and over if you hang around for those dew days off and on. I am almost always tapped by January 30th, so the 15th isn't that far off from normal. As for winter, I have no delusions that it is about to end early, in fact I think it's coming late and then change to spring fast.

Oh yeah, I have not seen hay cut in April, but I have seen hay cut by mid May around here.

[killingworthmaple]

I am in southern CT by the shore and have been watching the weather be in the 30-40s day after day I am tempted to tap but still think winter will come. The question for the Dr. is if we never get winter how will that impact the flow. Three years ago I tapped Jan. 20 th and the sap flowed so good and so hard I could not keep up. Nice light syrup. I watch the 10 day forcast in late Jan. and decide to tap if it looks like a good run. I am so close to the water that the weather can change off warm and stay that way if I miss the first chance. However I also have extra trees to tap if I am wrong on the first guess.

[Greenwich Maple Man]

I am in southern CT by the shore and have been watching the weather be in the 30-40s day after day I am tempted to tap but still think winter will come. The question for the Dr. is if we never get winter how will that impact the flow. Three years ago I tapped Jan. 20 th and the sap flowed so good and so hard I could not keep up. Nice light syrup. I watch the 10 day forcast in late Jan. and decide to tap if it looks like a good run. I am so close to the water that the weather can change off warm and stay that way if I miss the first chance. However I also have extra trees to tap if I am wrong on the first guess.

Was wondering if you have ever seen the North East not get a winter?

[Tapping Wolf]

I have to admit I tapped a just few today (in northern Indiana) the weather for the next week is pretty good....I chose ten trees that I wasn't planning on tapping this season just to see how the flow was and sugar content....started dripping fast immediately....i was getting 2.2 on the first 5 trees, and 1.9-2.1 on the other five....all red maples (70% of my sugar bush is red maple).....I plan on tapping seriously (weather permiting) the last week of Jan....a week from today our temps are supose to crash....hoping the rest of my trees will be 2% or higher....we'll see the last of jan/first of Feb

[Cranberry Hill Farm]

Was wondering if you have ever seen the North East not get a winter?

Well, I never had to shovel snow off of my barn roofs until last winter. I never went without power for 14 days until last fall. I never saw 12" of snow in October until last year. So could 2012 be the year that the sap run starts in January?

[killingworthmaple]

" Was wondering if you have ever seen the North East not get a winter? "

Ya this part of CT there has been years that it doesn't really freeze up and the ground stays pretty soft. I didn't tap in those years so I don't know how that would affect sap flow.

[adk1]

Well actually it depends on where your at, with all due respect Dr. Perkins. Here in southern Ohio I have watched this stupid weather all fall and more than once debated even fall tapping, but always talked myself out of it by saying winter will set in soon as I tap. I have given in and started the process to gear up today. I been cleaning and making up drops. Ordered supplies and will set up the evaporator first thing next week. I'd do it now but have an out of state trip for a couple days. My guess is winter will come, but it will be February and early March and season will be heavily impacted, so I'm getting what early syrup i can. I have a maple behind the house I had trimmed a limb off from a month ago and that thing has dripped sap day after day. I could have already made some syrup! Two years ago it was like this and I tapped on the 20th of January and made half my syrup by February 10th, the next six weeks turned cold and snowy and then boom spring. It took me six weeks to make what I made in 4 or five early boils. Other syrup producers that waited took it in the shorts. I just sense this will be a lot like that year. My ace is I have enough trees to tap early then pull and tap more if I'm wrong. Since I'm a small hobbyist, clean up isn't an issue. If it turns bad I'll shut down, clean up and wait. That is a long answer for saying, that by next weekend (if the weather is unchanged) I'll have taps out and hopefully be boiling.

I will never tap in the fall, but am curious to know if you can tap the same trees in the spring if you do tap in the fall? There must be less sugar content in the sap if you do I would imagine?

[spud]

If your going to tap in the fall then use a 1/4 inch spout. This way you can ream the hole for a larger spout in the spring. Read Proctor's studies on fall tapping. I found it to be very interesting.

Spud

[batsofbedlam]

I listened to Steve Broderick on the AM radio this morning (WILI). Winter is just starting. Remember there is always a delay between the shortest day of the year (winter solstice) and its effect on global weather. I'd give it a good month before we see spring breaking.

[DrTimPerkins]

I will never tap in the fall, but am curious to know if you can tap the same trees in the spring if you do tap in the fall? There must be less sugar content in the sap if you do I would imagine?

It is NOT recommended to tap trees in the fall and then put in a new taphole in the same tree in the spring. This creates two wounds instead of one. Sugar content is typically higher in the spring than in the fall due to patterns of carbohydrate sequestration and use. Trees tend to convert most of their sugar (which moves in the sap stream) to starch (which is immobile) for winter, and then convert it back from starch to sugar for the spring.

[DrTimPerkins]

If your going to tap in the fall then use a 1/4 inch spout. This way you can ream the hole for a larger spout in the spring. Read Proctor's studies on fall tapping. I found it to be very interesting.

Just a quick clarification....we don't suggest doing this. The 1/4" spout was introduced with this idea in mind back when syrup supplies were very short and the industry needed more syrup quickly and badly. The manufacturers and promulgators of doing this never tested it to my knowledge, but it did mean people would buy 2X the number of spouts each year...which is very smart for the sellers of such a thing I suppose. :) All the research I've seen indicates that this is not a terribly viable approach for the majority of producers, although there are definitely some who swear by it.

Years ago (first patent I know of was in 1870), there were spouts that had two sizes cast into one spout. The idea being that you'd drill a smaller hole first and put the spout in small end first. Then when the tapholes dried out, you'd come back, pull the spout, ream the hole a little bigger, then turn the spout around and insert the large-end into the hole. Some of the real popular spouts (Warner) introduced in the early-1900s came in two sizes (3/8" and 7/16") so you could ream and replace them in mid-season. For the most part, this fell out of favor and very few people every continued the process, which is fairly labor intensive.

[farmall h]

.........sequestration .

I had to get the college dictionary out for that one Dr.T:)

[DrTimPerkins]

I had to get the college dictionary out for that one Dr.T:)

Good. :D If I haven't gone to the dictionary at least once it hasn't been a productive day.

[spencer11]

i just tapped 2 trees this morning. i looked at the forecast and it looked fine to me.(mid 40s during the day and freezing at night) i heard that you could tap in the fall so i decided to try it witha couple trees. i will let you guys know if i get a good abount of sap and the sugar content is good.

spencer

[lafite]

I'm in Southern CT and there are bulbs popping out of the ground and tiny buds coming out on my Japanese Maple...it hit 61 on Saturday. long range has it getting back to "normal" by the weekend. I hope my sugars are smart enough to hold tight for another 35 days or so....

[Tom59]

What happens when you tap early then get a freeze for a couple weeks. Does that tree not produce after it thaws again? Why do you have to move to another tree?

[Mike Van]

Tom - a freeze of 2 weeks shouldn't hurt anything, once it warms again the sap will flow. A two week thaw would be worse.

[newbee]

2nd year tapping. Started with 6-7 taps last year and grew to 25 or so before season ended. Really got the itch. But can't believe the weather reports, could this actually be true above 40 during the day and below freezing at night all week? Is it possile? We put in to 4 taps to try, but reading through here it looks like it is time. Kids wanted too and I couldn't pass up the itch. Ideas? will it hurt production, do I need to do anything different, or watch for anything different? Thanks for any and all advice.

[Tom59]

Thanks Mike

[tonylaroccia]

New to the board (and tapping)..might I ask a question. Probably a simple answer but I am a simple man. When I bought my buckets from an old timer that was cutting back on his production, he told me to always wait until Valentines day to tap. He said, some guys tap early and the run ends early. What I am reading here is, people are already in production. I am just a backyard hobbyist with 40 taps this year..but..is he wrong? Do we start now?
thanks in advance.
Tony from Salem CT

[killingworthmaple]

Well some people tap early some wait longer it all a gamble. I have found that some old timers tell you to that it is too early to tap and they may be right. I feel the date is moving earlier than it used to be because of globel warming. I tap early because the farmer who's land I tap on and our yankee family like fancy syrup and the best time to get that is early. However I have split my bet this year I tapped 72 taps on Jan 24 and am going to tap the rest 50 more on or around Feb. 6-12 depending on the weather. I only tapped in Jan. this year because the weather looked like it was going to be warm for a couple weeks. Hope this helps maybe some others could way in.

[Starting Small]

Seems like many people are saying that according to the long range forecast that it is going to get cold in the next week or two but I just looked at acccuweather and it looks pretty warm to me. http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/broad-brook-ct/06016/daily-weather-forecast/2208062?day=11

[ejmaple]

ya with that forecast i would go for it, if your ready.

[newbee]

I agree, I think I'm jumping to feet in. Planning 8-10 more taps tonight and the rest tomorrow.

[valleyman]

I put in 7 this morning down in Norwalk and I filled a 5 gallon container to the cap from 9:30- 5pm. They were flowing like crazy. This was a test.

I'm still a little hesitent to tap the balance. The majority of my "sugarbush" is in Ansonia 30+ (woo woo)

[batsofbedlam]

Go for it, cuz.

[Tanta K]

It'll usually start right back up. Sometimes you may have to pull the tap out, clean it out a bit and put it back in. Sometimes the freeze forces the tap out and it's loose or on the ground. Rarely do you have to re-tap but if you feel you must, just go to the other side. It'll heal.

[Tanta K]

Tony. The old addage (as told to me by a VT Farmer) was "Tap your trees on Valentine's Day then take your sweetheart out to dinner cuz you won't be seeing her for another 6 weeks." But alas, Climate Change has affected us all and yes, in Southern CT we are often able to tap by the first or second week of Feb. Then we get a little freeze and sit around waiting for more sap to boil then we finish up. Usually by 2nd week of March. We have 30 buckets and make 7-10 gallons a year depending on the runs and the weather and the sugar concentration. Just have fun or you will wish you'd never learned how.

[CTfarm]

I put out 16 buckets here in Durham around noon today and had 10 gallons by 6. Some were full others just a little.

[killingworthmaple]

Where in Durham I am in Killingworth.

Nathan

[CTfarm]

@Killingworthmaple. Off 77 South of town.