worth keeping taps in

[chuckwagon]

it's been pretty warm here in northeast pa, haven't gotten any sap in over a week, supposed to get cold this week. my tap holes are about 2 weeks old so my question is should i leave them in or is it just to late in the season. thanks. Jim

[berkshires]

I'm not in PA, but if I were you I would take advantage of the good week coming, if you've only been tapping for two weeks. I don't know when your trees bud out, but if it might be soon then keep an eye out for buddy sap.

GO

[maple flats]

Just watch the buds, and each type of maple will bud at a different time. Reds and silvers will bud first, but not much wory on the reds, thay won't give sap if their buds open. Sugar maples will bud quite a while after the reds do. For example, last year my sugar maples budded 20 days after the reds. Most years it seems to be more like 7-15 days later than reds.

[chuckwagon]

ok thanks, will the buddy sap be a different color other then clear, or does it just have a different odor.

[Z/MAN]

Chuckwagon, we're waiting for that cold spell too. We tapped a couple weeks later this year due to the cold so we think the holes will still be flowing later this week. Our trees always dry up before we see buddy sap. Good luck.

[chuckwagon]

hopefully i'll get one more boil in, got a late start this year, ya know that work thing gets in the way sometimes.