late tapping question

[tuckermtn]

I just tapped an additional 10 trees today that have not been tapped this season just to see what happens...the 10 day forcast looks like some reasonable sugaring weather and some of my earlier tapped trees are starting to slow down.

one thing I noticed was when I first drilled the new holes in the trees, the first 2-3 dripps out of the tap were cloudy, then the sap cleared right up. I have been having some cloudy sap in some of my other taps, assumed it was bacteria in the buckets, totes and tubing.

but was curious why the first few drips were cloudy in a new hole with a new clean tap. IS there one layer of the tree that produces cloudy sap as the tree warms up, and I drilled into that first then the cleaner stuff was on the inside? Any theories?

-tuckermtn

[brookledge]

Could have been the air mixing with the sap and the shavings and the drill bit mixing it all up. That has happened to me before, the first few drops look cloudy.
Keith

[tapper]

I think you will get a little sawdust in the 1st few drips on a fresh tap. But, I made a few fresh taps 2 days ago with clean buckets and taps. The sap from the new taps was as cloudy as the older taps. Now today with a small run all the sap seems to have gotten clearer. Every season is a new experience with this syrup business the conditions and outcomes vary widely from region to region.

[Homestead Maple]

It is just as Brookledge says. The sap is just getting aerated with the spinng of the bit and all.