Tapping now in southwestern Ohio

[Lazarus]

Am I the first this year? We started tapping a few days ago here at the southwestern edge of the state, and have about 300 of 2100 finished. It's going to take probably the rest of the week, then we'll turn the pumps on this weekend. With 60 degree days at the beginning of January, I expect continued warm weather for the season. If I'm right, that means 80 degrees here by March so we've got to get started.

This year we're also trying a little walnut syrup on a small home made 2 x 3. Could be fun.

On that note, I have several hundred sap sak holders for sale, used but great condition, $2 per. They're still in their original boxes that stack 25 neatly. Contact me if interested. I also have 5/16 and 7/16 spouts.

Have a great season!
_________________________
2100 taps on vacuum
Leader 2x6 Oil-Fired, Revolution Pans
Leader Mini Extreme RO
Walnut on bags in 2017, homemade 2x3 evap

[buckeye gold]

I tapped Christmas day, Lazarus. I've boiled 4 times and will boil next couple days most likely. Did you get the PM I sent you on the bag holders. Are your spiles used or new, I could use some 5/16th, but I'd want unused. I am just up the road in Ross County.

[Lazarus]

Hey there Buckeye, yes I got your note about the bag holders. Did you decide you wanted some holders?

I have plenty of 5/16 spouts, cast aluminum Soule and CDL, hookless, most used only one year, but all used. Cleaned and disinfected. They are $1 should you decide you want any.

[Tor Haxson]

Good luck to both of you, way to get the taps out !!

I am in athens, and just a hobby for me, I tap about 20 trees 3/16 gravity. Even at that small amount I am not ready to tap.

Looks like a cold snap, well technically a "normal weather" spell sets in for about 5 days starting Thursday. I will tap Early next week when that cold spell breaks.

My trees are all north slope, so I do not feel like I missed too much.

--
Tor

[Lazarus]

Yeah, I saw the weather. I'm on level ground so nothing hits the tank unless the pump is on. I'm planning to fire up the vacuum on Sunday.

But my arms are killing me already after 300 taps, and I'm not even 1/5 of the way there. Last year we hired out the tapping, which was awesome to be tapped in three days, but also expensive. We had no choice then as our new tubing system was a month into the season before it was ready to turn on, and we couldn't take two weeks to tap or we'd be sunbathing while doing it. This year I lost my job in November, so the combination of zero money but a lot of time on my hands means I'm out doing it all.

I'm using a Branon Precision Tapper (speed tapper), which I need to make a clean enough straight hole for vacuum, but it requires a little more force to use because of the spring action. Plus pushing the end of the drop over the tap requires kind of a lot of strength. My mainlines are near head height, so that means a high taphole and I don't have as much leverage that high up. I know it sounds like a lot of whining but after doing it hundreds of times a day, it adds up to seriously aching shoulders. :-|

[bmbmkr]

I started running mainline last week, 1700' stretched out,1000'tied and tight, a little over halfway done. Headin south this weekend to see my son in NC and bring some bees back, then running lats & drops, hope to tap weekend after next All that tubing for 150 trees, close to 200 taps lol but she'll all be in the barn with no hauling. We will have 20-25 buckets around the yard.First time boiling on real pans and homemade arch in Willow Wood, Lawrence County. I saw a really wet tree the other day that the woodpeckers had "tapped" I guess they are willing to share with us. Good luck this year,keep me in your prayers, this is my first "real" season.

[milligkl]

If you guys could post your sugar content when you start boiling it'd be appreciated. I am going to probably wait a couple more weeks to start tapping (down in Athens County, 1600 taps) but I've been curious whether the sugar content the earlier in the year (ie tapping around now) would be impacted at all. Best of luck to everyone!

[buckeye gold]

milligkl,

Sugar content is lower on the early taps. I have put out early taps for 5 years now and sugar averages 1.2%, but my trees typically have lower sugar than a lot of people's trees. In the spring I average about 1.6% and I get some 2.0-2.2 sugar, but not for long. I do not plan on my trees that I early tap making it until spring. I pull all those taps by early February and tap my Spring woods around Feb. 1st. So please don't think I'm tapping trees now and running those same taps until March.

[milligkl]

I'm right there with you on the low sugar content BuckeyeGold. How many trees do you tap early typically (and what date range) and how many at the normal time? I'm debating whether or not to tap half or 2/3 of my trees this weekend. The accuweather and weather.com forecasts differ with below freezing and it is very frustrating (makes my decision of when to tap difficult)

[buckeye gold]

I typically put out 50 early taps between December 20-25th and pull them at the first hard freezing that last a few days (Typically around Jan. 10th). Then between January 25-Feb 1st I put out 100 for spring, using different trees. If you have your ground freeze hard from single digit weather then typically it takes a few days of warm up to get sap flowing, so a hard cold period then two to three days warming up will only start you a run, if it turns cold again in a couple days you won't see appreciable sap flows, in the early season. So it is kind of a roll of the dice, but if your like me and I have 300 available taps and I'm only tapping a 100 in the spring than why not see if you can get some early syrup made. It has saved my butt a couple years. The down side is having to wash down your pan and equipment an extra time. I use all bags early so I can just throw them away and start clean in February.

By the way, do you go to any of the Ohio Maple Days. I'm planning on being in Morrow county on Jan. 19th Maple Day?

[Lazarus]

Looks like we'll have quite a warm spell midweek, so I'll post my sugar % then. All my trees are reds, and average 1% on the dot. That sounds low but I'm on high vacuum, so we're pulling a lot more sap, probably double that of buckets.

One benefit of a vacuum sealed system is that the taps stay open for months, being less exposed to bacteria. So hole closure is not as much of a concern for me, especially with our short winters here. I just found 2 or 3 taps I missed tapping last year and not only were they still open, they were running. It's not the holes closing that stops us; it's the early heat waves.

On buckets my average tap time was 2nd week of January. This year on vacuum I started just before New Year's but I'm still a long way from done. Next year I'll probably back it up to mid December if it's cold enough.

[milligkl]

Appreciate you filling me in Buckeygold. I was at the maple day last year, but I'm not going to be able to make it this year (I have a new job where I don't have very much vacation time accrued-need to use it for syrup production). I found it very useful, they had the Cornell guy there last year that gave a very interesting presentation.

[esetter]

Im gonna jump in here with you guys some this year. Theres no tennessee thread. Ive been tapping a few years and built a wood fired arch last season. It worked really well , just need more sap!!

[Stonegate]

Sap was flowing yesterday, January 10th here in the Cincinnati area. I tapped 8 trees last Friday after seeing the weather forecast for this week just to see if the season would start early. Looks promising.

[buckeye gold]

My fall taps are running good this morning so I guess I'll just let them go and see how long they run. I walked my main woods this morning and mapped out my "real season" taps. I may go ahead and put them out in about 10 days, we'll see what the weather looks like. I'm feeling more like an early season all the time.

[esetter]

Put in 4 taps as a test yesterday. 3 reds and a sugar. Got 2 gallons.

[warnimct]

I put out 40 taps in a new woods with sap saks on Sunday, have only had about a gallon of sap so far. This morning I put out 4 taps on 2 trees that I have tapped the past 3 years and had about 3 gallons when I got home from work. Plan on doing a few more this weekend with tubing and buckets.

[Grand Square Acres]

Just put out 300 taps on tube in Central Ohio. Will be putting another 300 out tomorrow. Sap is really flowing on the ones I put out. Sugar is running 1.5% on the soft and 2.5 to 3% on the hard maples. It looks like it might be another year like last season. If you want any syrup you might want to tap early.

[buckeyeboy]

Would like info on Ohio Maple Days in Morrow County on Jan 19th. Can anyone go and where is it held,any cost involved?

[Lazarus]

So we're running right at our average of 1% sugar on vacuum (all reds), but a ton of sap volume. About 7000 gallons since turning the pumps on Wednesday, and we're still only half tapped. Really, really need a bigger RO. But I guess that's what happens when it's 60+ degrees out. :lol:

[esetter]

Laz , thats mind-blowing that you have already got 7000 gallons of sap. Impressive! I just collected my 5th gallon.......

[buckeye gold]

Buckeyeboy, Here is a link. It's a good program and you get to shoot the bull with a bunch of Maple Nuts.....

http://www.ohiomaple.org/documents/Ohio-Maple-Days-Flyer-2017.pdf


Good to hear your getting a lot of sap Lazarus. My bags quit on me yesterday because of the warm. I too am only getting 1% on sugars, hope it gets better. I am seriously thinging of putting up some 3/16th on a steep slope of 40 taps. I get tired of the fickle runs on buckets and bags. I'd like to make it down and visit you sometime, if that would be ok. I'm still thinking about some of your bag holders if you have some left. Thing is I made all these PVC holders and hate to toss them. Next week looks like a good week too.

[Lazarus]

You are most definitely welcome to visit! Starting next weekend I will have generally open sugarhouse hours Sat and Sun 1-4 throughout the season, but if you want to come at a different time, just let me know and we'll set something up. I still have plenty of holders and taps if you are still interested.

We've slowed in terms of sap collection with the recent cold spell, but the taps are still running a little. Definitely the vacuum takes some of the fickle-ness out of the trees. Vacuum can trick a tree into running with an artificial pressure differential when it otherwise wouldn't, especially near the edge of freezing or not. It can also make it run longer during warm spells and definitely longer before the hole closes. But the sugar content will typically be lower and the volume significantly higher, so an RO is basic survival. I never tried just tubing as I am on level ground - a pump is required if I want to collect anything.

I'm planning to try to finish tapping this weekend if I can dig out from under the sap I have sitting in the tank before it's too far gone. I'm making a lot of very, very dark syrup right now.

[buckeye gold]

Lazarus, I wondered if you were getting all that sap processed and cooked before bacteria got to it in this warm weather. It's crazy, it is either freezing cold or 60s. I could have had a great early season if I had not had so many warm days, however it is still a pretty good early season for sap. The other thing is the low sugar content has kept my syrup production off. I have actually gathered the most sap I have ever had in the fall, which still isn't a lot compared to spring. I bet if I had some form of vacuum it could have done really well. If this is a precursor to spring everyone better be getting ready to go, because it may be a short spring sap season.

[asknupp]

Agreed! Waiting on a buddy and headed to start. Hoping the weather returns to normal after this coming week.

[Lazarus]

Good question on whether I'm staying ahead of the sap, especially considering my vastly undersized RO and equally undersized evaporator. I'm definitely having trouble, even with all the hours in the day available to me. I had planned on a new RO for this year but the loss of my job put that off.

The sap is definitely past its prime, helped along by the start of season crud washing out of the lines (mmm, tasty). I don't think I'm in stringy territory yet but it's getting close. Making very dark stuff I dont mind. I get a lot of demand for that and I usually don't make enough. This stuff rivals even what I made years ago on my slowest rig. Dark as coffee.

I am hoping to get caught up today. The seven day forecast doesn't have anything remotely close to freezing temps in it, so I may get a break to finish my taxes. :lol:

[buckeye gold]

I hope all this warm hasn't stopped your sap Lazarus. I decided to pull my fall taps today as everything was slowing and the warm temps were making everything start to slime up. I need to wash up everything and take down the pan and clean for spring and I thought now was as good as anytime. Now I'll be clean and ready for tapping my main woods the first part of February. Maybe I can find a day in the next week or so to come down you way. This is the most sap I have ever cooked for a fall tapping, I just wish the sugar content had been better.

[Lazarus]

Well, my trees are still running and so apparently I am too. It's been forever since we had a freeze but no one told my reds. I still have 500 more to tap, so I was out yesterday, and the tapped trees were definitely slowing a lot. I've only been collecting 400-800 gallons each day for the past few days.

Seemed like it would stop after yesterday, but today I had a solid 1000 gallons waiting for me today. WTF?

Oh, and WILL IT PLEASE STOP RAINING ALREADY!!?? It's been raining every day for weeks. I'm gonna need a boat to keep tapping.

OK, I'll stop complaining now.

[newman_maple]

I have been wanting to tap, but it has been crazy warm. I may start tomorrow on my home trees. I modified check valve spouts for sap bags so I am OK tapping while warm prior to what might be a freeze of several days. I need to get started as I will not be tapping on my steep areas due to a few herniated disks. I hope to get 100- 125 taps in when finished.

[buckeye gold]

well I pulled all my early taps January 18th and here I sit waiting for the real season. What a odd year with all this warm weather. I may get my regular taps out this week, but the latest I've ever went is Feb 8th. I figured it would swing to the colder side for a while, but that may be good news for my regular spring sugar season. all that warm was no good, we needed to reset the trees.

My early taps done quite well for fall taps, so i hope spring is as good when it gets rolling. Looks like mud is the word for this year, I usually hope for some stiffened ground to run on, but I fear my sap roads will a soupy mess real soon. I did take advantage of a warm day and tore down the evaporator and completely washed the pan, head tank and equipment. So I'm all cleaned up and ready to roll.

[dobbs4m16]

Put in 60 taps yesterday evening, and another 90 this AM. On bags. Those tapped yesterday were running good as we finished, those this AM were dripping good--will be going back to the Bush this afternoon to see how things are going . Sugarshack is ready to go. Hoping this week is going to be a good one. Will have to tolerate some mud. And that's the news from Brown County OhiiiYu.

[newman_maple]

I tapped the rest of the trees I plan to tap yesterday afternoon. I am at 143 which is less than usual, but my balance is off with some herniated discs so I am avoiding the steep hillsides. The 66 home tree taps have been running well. I collected 35 gallons yesterday and they continue to run today. It is one of those weeks that I may not be able to boil during the week, but it should be cool enough to keep. There should be a couple nice runs this week. So that's news from Adams County.

[dobbs4m16]

Taps have icicles hanging on them--but if the sun shines in the AM, I think it will be a good run. Just got the taps yesterday PM.Have not collected any yet. Hope things go well for you Newman.

[newman_maple]

Thanks Dobbs. I hope we have a good year. I think we will have some decent runs this week.

[SWohio]

Welcome back everyone. I am back to my backyard this year. 3 trees, 6 buckets. tapped 4 last weekend and two this weekend. Small run over the weekend, ice in buckets so I left it, still looking clear. I will empty tonight and hoping for a good run this week. Sunshine!. Cold and sunny makes good sap. Anyway, Newman sorry to hear about your back. Take car of yourself first. Good to see you and dobbs back. Enjoy. My goal is 1 gallon.

[buckeye gold]

Well, I think I'll go ahead and put 75-100 out this afternoon and see what happens. May as well get fired back up, it was a nice break for two weeks after fall tapping. I hope sugar content is a lot better, it sucked this fall at 1.0 -1.2%.

[buckeye gold]

so I put out 75 yesterday and some started dripping. I had twenty gallon this morning and thought I'd dump it in the pan and at least heat it up to start the sweet. WELLL sh%$ it seems when I cleaned I must of banged the draw off valve and broke the weld. Sap poured out onto the floor. So I grabbed buckets and shut off the head tank!!!! ARGGGG so my morning was spent going from shop to shop to find someone to tig weld my draw off valve back on. Now I have a big run going on and no pan to cook on........ various expletives ! I found a guy who promised to have it tomorrow so I'll be sitting waiting for the phone to ring. I hope to gosh it's done in the morning.

What's that old saying if it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all. Now I think I know how Haynes feels :D

[newman_maple]

Glad to see my Hamersville friend is tapping. I collected almost 70 gallons this evening. I have about 125 gallons to start boiling Friday. I just can't get to it until then. I should get another decent amount tomorrow so I will be busy this weekend. I need to put my steam hood up and I will be ready to go. It is good to see Brown County well represented! I have a friend from Georgetown who stops out now and then. They don't make a huge amount, but have a nice little setup. A nice couple from the Fayetteville area came down and talked to me a year or so ago. I do wish we have more Adams County producers. I have one friend south of West Union I have helped out and I know some of the local Amish and Mennonites have some family operations.

[dobbs4m16]

Collected 65 gal sap last nite off of 70 bags, AND 165 gal tonite off 150 bags. There is steam in the Sugarshack. Hoping for more tomorrow. Good to here from Hamersville and Newman. Press on.

[SouthOf70]

Hi Guys, been lurking for awhile. I have a little homestead/ farm and grow some fruits and veggies, chickens, bees etc, but brand new to this maple thing. I'm between Bethel / New Richmond area. Just put out 18 taps last week. Built a makeshift evaporator to get me through this first season... https://youtu.be/etMQ_C377fs
Looking forward to perhaps doing my first boil this weekend if things go right the rest of this week. Any advice for a small potatoes newbie is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[buckeye gold]

Had a big run over night. 95 Gallons off 75 taps. Still low sugar though, man I hope sugar content comes up or I'm in for a lot of cooking and less syrup. Got the pan back from the machine shop at 11:30 and was cooking by 12:30. Got 70 gallons run by supper time. since there's not much run today I left 35 gallons to finish tomorrow (that's with the 15 held from yesterday) so I had the old full pint hybrid humping. 70 Gallon in 5 hours is pretty good for me.

[GSCampChris]

We have 350+ up as of yesterday and collected about 100 gallons off 150 taps. Starting the evaporator early in the AM and the crew will collect the rest. Our sugar was between 2.1 and 2.4 yesterday- all hard maples and probably half first time tappers. I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve... so many new toys in the sugarhouse to play with.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[fresh spout]

Happy for you GSCampChris..this is truly the best time of the year. Glad to see you had decent sugar content. Reports have been coming in with much less thus far. We need more hard cold spells and frost in the ground. May you have a successful one!

[newman_maple]

S of 70, I think you are doing great from your video. You might want to add a stack if you can. Having stove pipe will draw the fire better and keep more ash away from your pans. I had a concrete arch several years ago using a 2x3" pan and made quite a bit of syrup that season. Generally, you can cook off a gallon per hour per square foot of pan. Just something to think about if you are considering more taps.

[SouthOf70]

S of 70, I think you are doing great from your video. You might want to add a stack if you can. Having stove pipe will draw the fire better and keep more ash away from your pans. I had a concrete arch several years ago using a 2x3" pan and made quite a bit of syrup that season. Generally, you can cook off a gallon per hour per square foot of pan. Just something to think about if you are considering more taps.

Thanks for the tip Newman. I pulled about 12 gallon off 18 taps yesterday and boiled up a little over a quart. I was pleased with my first time but noticed it was very dark. It's not burned but looks like maybe there's a lot of sediment that settled out. I filtered with cheesecloth but looks like i missed a lot of it. I expect that may be some of the ash you're describing?

[SWohio]

Hey South, The sediment is just that, sediment that precipitates out of the syrup as it cools. I let my jars sit for 24 hours and then decant syrup off into fresh jars. This sediment is often called "sand". Much like sugar content of sap or yield of syrup to sap, you will see guys talking about a lot of sand or little sand. Like most things in sugar-ing, it varies. Add it to the fun of watching the weather, different runs, different colors etc. etc. etc. Sometimes it is sandy sometime not. Again, I just let it settle and decant it off. It will not kill you so I often sip the sand/syrup mix left behind. wont kill you. lol

[SouthOf70]

Hey South, The sediment is just that, sediment that precipitates out of the syrup as it cools. I let my jars sit for 24 hours and then decant syrup off into fresh jars. This sediment is often called "sand". Much like sugar content of sap or yield of syrup to sap, you will see guys talking about a lot of sand or little sand. Like most things in sugar-ing, it varies. Add it to the fun of watching the weather, different runs, different colors etc. etc. etc. Sometimes it is sandy sometime not. Again, I just let it settle and decant it off. It will not kill you so I often sip the sand/syrup mix left behind. wont kill you. lol

Thanks SW, that is very helpful. Good to know.

[newman_maple]

Thanks for the tip Newman....... It's not burned but looks like maybe there's a lot of sediment that settled out. I filtered with cheesecloth but looks like i missed a lot of it. I expect that may be some of the ash you're describing?

SW is probably right. If you do have ash falling in, it will darken the syrup. Hopefully, it is all just the sediments. Even with some ash, it won't kill ya!

[buckeye gold]

Sof70
You'll not get the sugar sand out with cheese cloth. You need a denser filter. It's best to just buy some prefilter and final filter from a maple supplier.

[SouthOf70]

Thanks everyone for all your help with this first year sugaring neophite! I turned in about 50 gallons over 3 boils and ended up with about a gallon of syrup. I was very pleased with how everything turned out, this has been a lot of fun... but looking at the forecast... is that it, are we done??? Say it aint so.

[Cuse]

Hello Everyone in southwest, Ohio!

I'm gearing up for my first sapping season. Read a few books and took some notes. Read a lot of great information on here! Ordered a ton of supplies, made a 55 gal evaporator and another incase I need to use both. Going try to tackle about 100 taps this year, 60 of them on three 3/16 gravity feeds and the rest on 5 gallon buckets and/or jugs. I feel pretty good about everything that I have done, but I'm trying to not to overwhelm myself being my first year. I'm a full time teacher and I'm wondering when should I run my lines and when should I tap? I would like to take advantage of my free time during Christmas break if possible or even run lines before. Any advice for a rookie is very much appreciated.

Can I boil sap down to a certain point then finish it later possibly the next day? I am trying to work with my students at our school in the foods and cooking classes (free labor), so they can experience making it. Thank you for any suggestions and/or advice. It is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Cuse
Rookie Sapper
West Middletown, Ohio

[asknupp]

Welcome Cuse,
I'm north of you west of Troy. I work for Norfolk southern railroad and spend a lot of time in middletown. To answer a few of your questions. I run and try to get most of everything prepped between Christmas and New Years. That way when the weather starts to cooperate all I have to do is tap and wait. When you have near to finished syrup you can finish the next day but keep it cold if not nearly froze. At times I'll put it in freezer. The longer you wait though time allows for bacteria to set in again and possibly ruin your near syrup.

[buckeye gold]

welcome cuse, You are about to willingly infect yourself with a disease....just so we can say you were warned:D I am a southern Ohio guy too. I'm just about two hours east of you. Asknupp is right, go ahead and get your lines up and do as much prep work as you can. You want to be ready to walk out and tap come late January. I will say you have quite an aggressive plan for working a full time day job, I guess your not planning on sleeping the whole month of February, huh. 100 taps to start with and work is a lot when your learning. As asknupp said, near syrup can be finished later, but you must keep it cool. Also, it is very important to store your sap well, it if sets above 40 it will spoil and you will need to clean everything that has been in contact with spoiled sap or near syrup. It will also be darker if you wait. You will have a lot of fun with the students helping finish. There is a lot they can learn from testing density and learning temperature fluctuations effects on when syrup is "done". Filtering and bottling will be good experience for them.

what size evaporator have you built? With 100 taps you will get anywhere from 50-150+ gallons of sap on good days. I run around 100 taps with a Smokey Lake Hybrid full pint pan with AOF. If I am very attentive to my firing I can average 12-14GPH and hit 16-17 at times. Most of the time I get 10-12GPH, because I have plenty of time and I don't watch my fire as close as i should. On strong days I will have close to 100 gallons of sap or more and I push my rig hard and those are 6-10 hour days, by the time I finish and clean up. So I hope you have a big enough rig or a strong heart. Oh yeah, have as dry wood as you can get and split it small and fire often. Enjoy the adventure.

[newman_maple]

Good luck Cuse! I am a full time teacher as well which can be good and bad. That break is good for prepping and occasional snow days are always welcome. It can be tough keeping up, but I have always managed. I like you idea about having students help finish it off.

[Cuse]

Thank you guys for your responses, warnings, and advice. The brutal cold, life, and hunting season set me back a little, but ran two gravity lines ready and will run two more today. I should end up with the majority of my trees on lines. I'm not sure of my total tree count because have some marked trees that may be too small. My barrel boiler is ready and I have plenty of wood (I hope). I agree 100 taps my first year is a little aggressive for my first year, but a couple of sleepless nights will be worth proving my wife (who thinks I'm crazy lol) wrong will be worth it! I used some information from this site and help from my students I decided to build a RO system. It's not the prettiest thing I've ever built, but hopefully it gets the job done. I had an old student who had a uncle with some barrels and ended up with two IBC totes. I am very excited about the season. Thanks again for answering my questions and the advice. I am infected Buckeye Gold!!!

I saw a few people were tapping yesterday, so I put out 6 taps that were in random places to get my feet wet. So, well see what happens. I'll let you know!

[bmbmkr]

I did 125 on 3/16 last year, pretty high elevation drop. I ended up with 250+ gallons of sap the first day! I also made a barrel arch, 2 1/2 barrels end to end with 18"x42" drop flue and 18"x30" syrup pans on top. With a blower under it I maxed out about 18 gph, had some LONG nights at first. You might want to just tap half at first to see what kind of yield you get from your 3/16. I was overwhelmed butt was a good learning experience. I hoped to already e tapped, but I have a few more drops to cut in and some bags to hang. I got an RO so this year shooting for 300 taps! Welcome to the Maple bug.

[buckeye gold]

I put out 70 on 3/16th and they were running pretty decent by late afternoon. I already had 40 from fall out, but right now I'm not keeping that sap. If I get good flow off the 70 I will just stay with them and probably pull the 40. I plan to let them run for a while and see what they do on 3/16.

[Cuse]

Thanks for the advice! If I tap my 3/16th now how long before they dry up? Also, Can you tap a tree more than once in a season? Or are the trees I tapped the other are done for the season after the hole dries up? Thanks again

[buckeye gold]

cuse, one tapping per season. Some have reamed holes and went to a bigger spile, but I would not do it Univ. Vermont (Dr Tim) has a lot of info on this. You should get 6 weeks out of your taps and perhaps more. Flow will slow as your taps get older,but they'll be doing ok. The taps I put out for fall I tapped on December 17th and they are still going good.