🍁North-Central Wisconsin Tappers🍁

[Sweet Beav]

What’s the prediction for 2020 season?

[S.S.S]

No frost in ground as of yet, if we end up without any frost I think season will be over quick.

[Sweet Beav]

I predict a short season. With no frost tree will wake up quickly. I’m thinking about tapping my lines by Feb 1. I did a few upgrades this year and I don’t want to miss the big run like I did in 2018.

[GramaCindy]

I'm quite a bit northwest of you guys, we had several days well into the low teens in early November that put a good amount of frost in the ground. Then 40+" of snow. I'm thinking up here it will be mid March before anything gets going up here. Have a great season!

[goose52]

What’s the prediction for 2020 season?
i predict that the early season will be very cold with deep snow, the kind of snow that when the tip of your snowshoe catches a buried branch it takes you a good 10 minutes to get vertical again.. the cold won't actually be so bad that the 10 gal of sap you just dumped on yourself will freeze solid to your jeans but will soak through so you can be miserable for the rest of the collection. the end of the season will be warmer and most of the snow will be melted which will turn the road you came in on into a muddy quagmire so that your vehicle, now weighed down by all the finished syrup you are taking home, will get planted in the one spot where you don't have cell service. i'm no Nostradamus but based on my past experiences, i'm thinking this is a fairly accurate prediction.

[ChasinSmoke]

Not implying you’ve been watching me but.. pretty sure you described me once or twice! Dang I needed that chuckle!

[G263]

Put in around 60 taps or so last weekend 2/29 & 3/1 in the Sayner-Star Lake area. About 10 or so trees dripping in the late afternoon sun when tapped. I too took 10 minutes to get up after a wipe out or two on the snowshoes. Ugh !

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Just wondering how deep is the snow in the woods up there?

[G263]

Based on last weekend in the woods tapping, i would say around 20". Then add what fell today.

[Bgreisch]

Collected 54 gallons of sap Friday night from the last week on 25 taps, boiled that down to 2 gallons was at 217 for temp when I pulled it off to finish on propane later. Left our place Saturday at 3pm and it was not running yet hopefully it opened up yesterday with the temps as nice as it was.

4th year

[TwoSaps]

Is anyone getting any sustained sap flow in the far north (Iron, Vilas, Forest county area)? We've tapped early in the past, gotten the initial flow of sap stored in the trees, and then not much until the ground thaws more. And usually trying to melt frozen sap in the buckets.

[G263]

We have not checked since we tapped on 2/29. Will be checking this weekend to see what has been collected. At least frozen does not go bad !

[TwoSaps]

I love the optimism. A couple years ago my brother cleverly floated our frozen buckets in the jacuzzi until they thawed enough to put in the pans. And yet we still sucker for tapping too early every year.

[Zucker Lager]

Was going to try a few test taps today ...................but now that its raining guess I'll hold off till next week. Looking back in my log book I usually tap the third to fourth week of March. Then looking at my notes if I did tap on the third week I really didn't get a good run till after the fourth week anyhow. Jay

[Bgreisch]

Collected 75 gallons yesterday from the past week on 25 taps. So far season is going good, looking cool this next week.

Bryan

[G263]

Was able to check the results since we tapped 2/29. My best guess is 60 gal of frozen sap. We will probable thaw in the turkey fryer , RO it and boil all next weekend. Yes next week weather up here looks flat. Looks like some better weather in a week or so. This would be our 1st boil of the season. Last year we boiled 4 times. So you got to start sometime.

[TedA]

Spring continues to be a fickle partner in this sap to syrup business. Although it seemed too early, the long range forecast at the beginning of March called for several days in a row with highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s (ideal) starting on Thursday, March 12th. In anticipation of that, I hurried north to our sugarbush property just south of the Powell Marsh on Wednesday March 11th. It was a sunny, warm day and as I tapped trees, sap virtually gushed out. Whoa, was I a day late? This wasn't supposed to happen until tomorrow. Well, even though most of my taps didn't go in until mid afternoon, my 120 taps still yielded 125 gallons of sap. Sounds like I'm off to a good start, right? No, not so much. The forecast changed in a negative direction and I've see little flow since then. Those multiple days with highs in the 40s turned out to be cloudy with highs in the 30s and lows in the 20s and teens. Some folks are predicting a short and early season. I doubt that. I don't see much of a warm up in the next several days. By then it will be the last week in March - which seems to be when the season typically gets going. Still I'm hopeful that we will have another good season.


Started this addictive hobby in 2012 - flat pan on cement blocks, got 2 pints of buddy syrup from 20 taps
2013 - 50 taps, buckets w/droplines
2014 - 75 taps, upgraded to a Smokey Lake 2x4 drop flue hobby pan
2015 - 90 taps, begin construction on 18x24 cordwood sugar shack, made 39 gallons - banner year
2016 - 100 taps, finish constructions on cordwood sugar shack
2017 - 110 taps, transitioning from droplines w/buckets to bags
2018 - 115 taps, 30 gallons made
2019 - 120 taps, 39 gallons made, another banner year

[TwoSaps]

TedA, my theory is that when you first tap, you pull off a tree trunk full of sap, which is pressurized when the warm temps cause carbon dioxin to come out of solution (instead of being dissolved in the sap, they form bubbles, creating pressure). Anyway, that will be all you get until the tree can charge itself again, which happens with sub-freezing temps condensing all the carbon dioxide, creating vacuum, and pulling more liquid from the roots. However, if the roots are frozen, no go. We've noticed this every time we tap early. Once we had a couple nice days in Feb, cooked a small batch, and then it froze up for another several weeks. We are in Winchester, just north of you, and we tapped yesterday. Running like a sick nose. (bad metaphor?) I'm guessing we'll freeze up tomorrow and Sat, and then it will be game on! I'm actually hoping the sap that collects today will make a nice ice block in the buckets, and help preserve whatever we collect next week, in case we don't get back for another week. That's some real guess work there. Good luck. By the way, we still have about 18" of snow in the woods.

[Zucker Lager]

I also tapped yesterday We are South East of TedA and TwoSaps in Sugar Camp Wi. My trees that are usually early risers dripped a little one a fair amount most were dry and yes we also have 18 to 20" of snow still on the ground. Rain today then cold.....................maybe things will start this weekend??? Jay

[TedA]

Got pretty good flow yesterday despite cloud cover. Wasn't expecting much today but those low pressure systems can surprise you. Cloudy skies and low pressure kept my yard trees dripping (albeit slowly) all night and all day today. If fact they are still dripping at 8 pm(but pretty slow now). Collecting is challenging. Neighbor came over to help and used his snowshoes - a bit clumsy but much more sure footed. That 16-18 inches of snow in the woods settled a bit with the light rain that fell off and on all day. Turned to wet snow at 5 pm and the next two days will be much colder. That's OK by me. I could use a few days to recover. Picking up the last two days has been exhausting.

[TedA]

Has anyone checked the sugar content? I've got a refractometer sitting on the kitchen table but forgot to take it out and use it.

[Zucker Lager]

Has anyone checked the sugar content? I've got a refractometer sitting on the kitchen table but forgot to take it out and use it.

Haven't checked my sap yet but my friend here in town ran as high as 3.3 on reds ...........he didn't say what the lows were. This wind today is making it hard to do anything outside. Jay

[TwoSaps]

Greetings from the Great White North (still). We put out 29 taps last Wednesday (3/18), and collected 64 gallons of sap in the day and a half before it froze up. Cooked about 2.3 gallons of syrup on Monday. As of yesterday noon, everything was still frozen up. Looks like the initial burst was it, until maybe the ground thaws a bit more by us? Hopefully this week will flip the switch to On.

[Bgreisch]

Sunday I collected 72 gallons on 25 taps for the past week and then Wednesday morning collected another 70 gallons from the past few days, been running good. all ready at my sap amount from last year, due to the safer at home policy in effect my dad will be pulling taps early next week and that will be it for the season, we travel 3 hours to get to our cabin where we tap the tree so figure best to call it a season would be a great one if we could do the whole season.

Bryan

[TwoSaps]

Holy sap-o-rama, Batman. Went up to Winchester area this week, to find every 5-gallon bucket, and even the 18-gallon drums overflowing. Collected 157 gallons on 29 taps, and who knows how much went on the ground. Funny side story. When I went out in the morning to collect sap, there were 25 deer milling all around. Strangely, they did not all scatter when I started clunking around buckets, walking on the crunchy snow, and talking to them. One even came CLOSER when I turned my back to attend to a bucket, getting to about 15 yards. It just stood there while I did my business and talked to it. Best I can figure, they had been licking the sap that was accumulating on the lids of the overflowing buckets, and they were worried about the human messing with their candy supply. Sad to pull all the taps, but a guy can only cook so much sap. Good luck to everyone who is soldiering on as the northwoods finally thaws out. Looks like a great season for the crazy few.

[Zucker Lager]

Neighbor has taps in.................sure is early for us this year. I'll give it a try this week and see if my early trees drip????? Jay

[Bgreisch]

Tapped 30 trees 2/27 collected 3/5 for only 42 gallons on the week, still lots of snow in the woods hopefully the warm weather this week will take care of that and really get it flowing. We did our first boil in our new Smokey Lake Dauntless Evaporator, very nice made quick work on the 42 gallons in 3.5 hours.

Bryan

2017 7 taps cinder block arc
2018 17 taps
2019 25 taps, 7 gallons of syrup
2020 25 taps, 8 gallons of syrup
2021 31 taps, new SL Dauntless Evaporator

[TwoSaps]

We did 4 test taps on 3/5, thinking that the ground and tree bases likely were still too frozen by us to allow much sap production. Looks like it is still too early for us -- only got a few cups of sap from Friday through Saturday.

[Diesel Pro]

Merrill area

I don't have a good count, but put in somewhere around 90 taps on 3/16 Saturday. Had decent flow and vacuum starting already when I left. Tuesday eve my brother checked gauges. 11 (low) 19, 14, 0. Found a blocked tee and cleared. Took gauge off the one that was low because leak relates to the gauge line. Typically the vacuum ranges highest at first line and similar from there dropping slightly the further in and north. Looks like a bit over 100 gallons Sat thru Tuesday eve. Would really like to see about 320 total for the weekend but that's probably wishful thinking. I'm sure they went all night last night, but I suspect they slowed or stopped today thru Thursday. Doesn't look much like it will freeze overnight tonight.

[TwoSaps]

Still pretty frozen up by us. We installed 4 taps last weekend, just to see. Produced only about 3 gal sap total for the whole week. But the forecast looks so bueno here, we're jumping in today.

[Zucker Lager]

Still pretty frozen up by us. We installed 4 taps last weekend, just to see. Produced only about 3 gal sap total for the whole week. But the forecast looks so bueno here, we're jumping in today.
We're only about 35 miles south of you I drove a test tap yesterday bone dry but neighbors are getting a trickle here and there so I"m with you and I'm tapping today in Sugar Camp Wi. Jay

[Zucker Lager]

tapped yesterday later in the afternoon and every tree was dripping. Snow in the forecast...........go figure hey?

[TwoSaps]

Game on. We put in 42 taps on Saturday (3/13), and less than 24 hours later, we had 41 gallons of sap. Some taps produced almost 2 gallons in less than a day. Of course others were dogs -- the usual ones in the woods where there is still a foot of snow. Looks like a fantastic week. Wishing everyone strong shoulders, easy toting, dry firewood, fun camaraderie, and good cooking with no mishaps.

[Bgreisch]

Collected 148 gallons for the past week on 30 taps almost every bucket was full, very busy weekend boiling. Drew off 4 gallons of syrup.

Bryan

[TwoSaps]

Great run last week. Collected 200+ gallons on 48 taps, with many buckets overflowing. On Saturday afternoon alone, got two gallons on a couple of taps. That's a lot of drips. Sugar content was pretty good -- made about 7 gallons of nice syrup. Beautiful weather for watching sap boil. Now it's all shut down. Still maybe 8" of snow in the woods, in some places. I think we'll get one more nice run later in the week. As always, going back to work with chapped, slivered, gouged, and blackened hands, and searching for the least arduous method for cleaning pans.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Cleaning pans reminded me of a old timer telling me when he was a young guy, his dad put him in charge of watching the syrup pan and well his mind wandered and burnt the pan. He said his dad made him scrub it out with sand while standing in the Kickapoo river in March.That was the last time he burnt that pan.God Bless.

[TwoSaps2]

Don't let that other sap fool you. He's already found the easiest method for cleaning pans. Leave camp and the pans behind. Let little brother clean em. Actually, I filled pans with water, sprinkled some borax on them, COVERED THEM to keep the steam in, and let them simmer for a few hours. Rinsed pretty darn clean.

I'm starting to wonder if the season is over? We had a pretty significant warm-up Sunday-Wednesday. Last two nights have been below freezing, but still not a drop from any of the taps. Could it be? Season is over?

[Bgreisch]

All done for the year, pulled the taps April 1st, was a good year for me made 9.7 gallons on 31 taps on a new Smokey Lake Dauntless Evaporator.

Bryan

[TwoSaps2]

Ten day forecast seems to have changed over nite. Looks like we'll be tapping soon. Probably start tapping Presque Isle area March 18??? Could be a short season. Already starting a week later than last year.

[Zucker Lager]

Had to get the blower on my loader to open up the roads into the woods. Still frozen in here. As usual still have too much to do before I start haha. Good luck Twosaps. Jay

[BackofBeyondJim]

I have a 200 mile drive to get to my Price Co trees. Couldn’t access them last year (thanks beavers) so I’m wondering if this week’s coming warm weather will get things rolling. Anyone able to share some intel? :-)

[TwoSaps2]

Brother went up to start tapping today. About 2 feet of white stuff on the ground in western Vilas Co. Hope he digs nice trails to the trees, so I don't have to trudge through it. Hoping to start cooking Friday afternoon. At least the sap won't spoil.

[Rockfallsmaple]

I'm in central Lincoln county. 2" of new snow on top of the 12" already on the ground. The trees just started leaking about 3 this afternoon. Hoping to cook this weekend.

[TwoSaps]

Just put in 22 taps this evening. Had to trudge around in snow shoes to avoid sinking in up past my knees, and didn't crash even once. However, no sap in any of the holes. Weird. Mrs. TwoSaps told me this morning that it was too early, don't jump at the first 40 degree day. The little lady apparently is right again. I hate that.

[BackofBeyondJim]

I snowshed into central Price County Camp BOB Wednesday evening (3/16). Tapped a handful of trees each day, Thurs thru Sat. Now 20 tapped and sap has flowed a little better each day as snow depth went from 16” to about 12”. Have about 10 gallons to start boiling today which is fine when you just have a 16 quart pot! Down below 20 last night and 50 predicted so today should be a great day! A Redpoll mob seems to have followed me from southern WI. (Oops! — Photo won’t upload.)

[Zucker Lager]

Drove 25 taps yesterday. Half of them dripped nicely the other half nothing. Roads are muddy already....................bummer. Another nice day today !!! Happy Tapping Jay

[Bgreisch]

Friday collected only 12 gallons on the 31 taps this year. Saturday the trees were all dripping nicely when I decided to head home since I did not have enough to start up the evaporator. Hoping the warm temps this past weekend get the trees flowing. Will be back thursday to see how it has been doing.

Bryan

2022 - 31 taps (very slow start to the year)
2021 - 31 taps 9.7 gals, new SL Dauntless Evaportator
2020 - 25 taps 7 gals
2020 - 25 taps 7 gals

[TwoSaps2]

Neighbor of my sapping site called yesterday. All buckets full. Heading up right after work tomorrow. Hopefully I can get the sap collected before it freezes solid. Going to be a long day cooking Saturday. If everything is full, that's about 200 gallons of sap.

[Bgreisch]

Went to the cabin to collect thursday and had 55.5 gallons on 31 taps for the week. Dripped some more friday but did not collected the 1 to 2 inches in the buckets. Will get that next weekend. Looking back, season is kind of acting similar to 2019 for where I am at for sap. And that year season ran till mid april. Also most of my sugar content was between 2.2 to 2.6% which I usually run in that range. I did have 2, 4 gallon buckets test at 3 and 3.2%.
Bryan

[G263]

Sayner - Star Lake area......Collected 75 gallons + or - the ice we discarded from 80 taps on Friday the 25th. Boiled on Saturday netting 1.5 gallons of Amber. It was our 1st boil on our new W. F. Mason 2x4 XL continuous flow evaporator. We went from a 20 x 30 flat pan. Totally under estimated the steam that was produced. The low temp in the teens had to have been a factor. Can't wait to get back and boil the next run.

[Bgreisch]

Collected 64 gallons on 31 taps this past weekend. Not going gang busters yet. Heard the southern half of the state had huge runs late this past week, guess mothern natures was making up for lost time for them.

Bryan

[TwoSaps2]

Disappointing week this past week. I was off, so I spent the week in Vilas Co, expecting to be cooking non-stop. Had 70 gallons when I got there, cooked about 2 gallons of beautiful liquid gold. Hardly a drip after that. Hopefully this week gets the juices flowing.

[TwoSaps]

Things might finally be loosening up in the Great White North. Collected about 2.5 gallons per tap over the last 6 days. Of course had to pull everything from the woods because we'll have 48 hours below freezing. Just a temporary set back.

[Bgreisch]

My dad collected 108+ gallons saturday for the week, and another 71 on sunday evening. Things are finally really moving. Sugar content was between 2.5 and 3.2%. Looks like it might slow up based on temps for a few days and then one week left to the season.

Bryan

[TwoSaps2]

Well, my season is over, hate to say. Was up this past weekend, collected about 160 gallons Thursday nite, not a drop for the rest of the weekend. Too cold. I'm betting it'll still go for a couple weeks, but I won't have time to make the drive up, so I pulled my gear. Cooked 4+ gallons Friday-Saturday, beautiful color, excellent flavor. Wish I could be going back this weekend, but I guess it's time to gear up for morel season.

Happy cooking everyone! I finished the year with only about 10.5 gallons. pretty low, even for us.

[Bgreisch]

Well all done for the year. Collected and boiled 119 gallons of sap this past weekend. Now on to finishing and bottling it all. Think once we have it all bottled we will be in the 12+- gallon range on the 31 taps. Record year for us.

Bryan

[Bgreisch]

Well we tapped March 4th as that is when we had the time to tap, thought it would be early to tap looking at the forcast as there was not many days of possible flow for 2 weeks. So we did not check buckets till March 17th as we live 3 hours from our cabin where we tap and was plesently surprised to collect 72 gallons on the 31 taps. Lots of snow on the ground, would go up to your knees when you stepped of the snowmobile trail. Some buckets were full and some only had a few inches in. Here we go weather looking good here on out for the season.

Bryan

7th season Making Syrup

[Bgreisch]

Went sunday to collect and boil, collected 78 gallons on 31 taps for the week, boiled that down and had our first draw of syrup for the year. Collected another 31 gallons tuesday morning before leaving for home that will get boiled this coming weekend.

Bryan

[BackofBeyondJim]

Thanks for posting. (I wish more were doing it.) I need some inspiration to make the 4+ hour trip north and a half mile back in the woods east of Phillips. Snow map says it’s over 20 inches deep so I assume I still have time.

[Bgreisch]

My dad went up friday to collect and only 28 gallons on 31 taps since tuesday. Slow week, he collected another 21 sunday morning. The snow depth does not seem to have much effect on the tree as they have been running. I can tell you the ground is not frozen under the snow so sure that is helping the trees produce sap.

[Mercer Maple]

Hi All,
I'm in Mercer and things are incredibly slow, very little dripping for my 75 taps. I make my route with my snowshoes on and get very little reward. Getting impatient, maybe things will improve this week.

[Bgreisch]

I hope the weather forecast changes as looks like it might be over after this weekend for Merrill area. Was hoping for another 2 weeks. Only had 3 boils so far this year. Might be lucky to hit 8 gallons this year on 31 taps when I have done almost 12 gallons on that many taps the last couple years.
Bryan

[Mercer Maple]

I'm at zero boils. Many of my trees have not started to produce. Certainly worried about the "no freeze" at night conditions I am seeing in the 10 day forecast. Going to keep hanging in there and see what happens.

[Bgreisch]

My 16 year old son went up and collected last night ahead of the busy easter weekend, he boiled some last night and will finished today boiling to get home before our exchange student from Germany comes tonight. He collected only 62 gallons on the 31 taps for the week. Nothing crazy yet for runs, but looks like things will be over after this weekend. Temps are going to rise into the 70's this next week and no freezing at night after saturday or very few days of freezing at night that it is not worth the hassel with the warm temps. Only at 293 gallons collected for the year usually we get about 450 to 475 gallons in a season on those taps. Guess we will see where we are at Monday when we go up to finish boiling from the weekend run and pull taps.

Bryan

[Zucker Lager]

Got a really late start here in Sugar Camp WI. Tapped 21 trees yesterday and about half dripped. Snow is still 2 feet deep so I had to blow the road open to get into the trees. Temps have been warm for over 3 weeks now and other tappers in my area are tapped in a few weeks ago and are boiling. Their trees are in more open parklike areas but our trees are in a more crowded shaded woodlot. Usually I don't get a good run until at least 2 weeks later than my friends. Hope the warm days coming don't shut things down too soon. Jay

[TwoSaps]

Crazy year so far. We are in the snow pile around Winchester. Still 2.5 ft of snow in the woods as of 4/1 when we tapped. Had to shovel a 40 foot long corridor through a 5 foot deep snow bank just to get to our stove/shack. Mercer Maple, we feel your pain. We put in 57 taps, and as of 4/5, we had a scant 50 gallons of sap. Heading out tomorrow to see what squeezed out of the frozen ground over the last few days. Then it looks like we'll be done after only about 5 total days of sap flow for the whole season. Our friends and family are going to have to get used to dressing their waffles with jam and whipped cream. The good news - we'll have plenty of firewood ready for next year.

[MajorWoodchuck]

That's an awful season twosaps. I feel your pain but we had it a little better in the northeast. I am headed up to my woods tomorrow to try to save the couple of gallons i have hanging on pails before the 80's come on wednesday. I think there is still snow around tio pack around barrels i collect in. Crazy we had 6 inches of new snow fall saturday. It looks like it might dip back to freezing othis weekend but i am pulling taps on saturday anyways. We had 4 decent weeks and 1 week of frozed solid sap. Still got the 4wd atv stuck in the snow every week so far. I was supprised when i tapped in early march most trees were dripping even though the base was completely covered with snow. I think the warm january kept the frost in the ground to a minimum. I am still waiting to see what a "typical" spring is as every sap season for the past 3 years has been radicaly different.

[Bgreisch]

I am still waiting to see what a "typical" spring is as every sap season for the past 3 years has been radicaly different.

Not sure there is a typical season.

My dad went up yesterday morning to collect and boil what ran since friday and collected 88 gallons on the 31 taps. He said the trees were still dripping yesterday even though the last freeze was saturday night. He will do one final collection today while he pulls the taps for the year. Sugar content was mostly 2.5% in the buckets but he had one or 2 buckets that were 1.8%.

Bryan

[Bgreisch]

Well the collection today was not much and my father decided to not boil it so finished the season at 381 gallons of sap collected, have not bottled yet so do not know the number of gallons of syrup made. Our sap content is usually higher than 2%, but if you just do quick math we should end up in the 9.5 gallon range. Taps are pulled and cleanup begins.

Bryan

[TwoSaps2]

Hard to resist these March like temperatures, but I'm not falling for this brief warm-up. Tentative plans are to tap some time around the second week of March. I have a week's vacation end of March, and hoping sap's flowing. I've had the same week off the last two years, and NOTHING!. Last year too cold, the year before too warm. I'm starting to feel like Goldilocks of the syrup world.

[BackofBeyondJim]

Thanks TwoSaps2 for sharing your plans. I have to drive about 4 hours to get to my Price County trees, so I have to plan my visits. I’m guessing sap is flowing now given this year’s February temperature swings.

Seeing that others aren’t posting I’m thinking this may be a supremely difficult year ( — especially for someone like me.) I’m wondering how the trees will fair with this short dormant season (so far). Hopefully this El Niño year is not the new normal.

Good luck to all, especially the commercial tappers who have a big stake in the seasons bounty.

[TwoSaps2]

Wondering. I'm in the same situation. I live in Oconomowoc area, tap at my property in Vilas County. I'm a teacher, I've been tapping for about 10 years now, just as a hobby. My brother and I joke it is the most expensive syrup on the planet, given drive time, and equipment investment for a few gallons a year. I typically go up 3-5 weekends a year, plus spring break. The last two years, spring break has been a bust. Last year, too cold. The year before, too warm. Hopefully this year will be just right. One of our first years, we tapped mid-end of February with a warm-up similar to this. Sap flowed, for a few days, then shut down again. We've agreed since then not to fall for these early warm-ups.

[TwoSaps]

We are near Winchester. This is always too early, but with the tropical forecast, we caved in to FOMO and put in 51 taps on Sunday March 3. Most were immediately dripping furiously. Then the sun set, it snowed on Monday, and we ended up with a mere 22 gallons after the first day. Just starting to drip again on Tuesday noonish. Not the geysers we anticipated. We'll see. Latest working theory - since there is at least an hour less daylight in early March than when we usually tap, there is much less time for sun/warm to heat up the trees and internal sap before things shut down again for the night. Or maybe our trees are just cranky and uncooperative until after St. Patty's.

[TwoSaps]

Update on the craziness in the far north. March 5-6 were great. About a gallon per tap per day. Some taps yielded 2 gallons per day. Then today, March 7, the weather seemed about the same, and 51 taps produced about 10 gallons. ??