When to pull taps

[sr73087]

I have been tapping for a couple years now but I still have a hard time knowing when the buddy sap is really approaching. I have gotten perfectly good sap out of trees with budding taking place but am really unsure at what point to cut it off.

[Galena]

I keep records of how much I get from each of my 6 trees, each and every collection, so when I can see the numbers start to drop right off - or sometimes just stop overnight, literally - I leave the spiles in another day just to make sure that that tree IS done. I hate seeing sap leaking from a freshly-pulled spile hole.

So mostly I let my trees call the shots and of course I watch the buds too. I don't really want to end up with smelly, cloudy, cruddy sap before I pull the spiles.

Also...if I see *my* birds of spring, the turkey vultures, returning to my area, then I know the season is coming to an end! :-)