Resealing of Tap Holes Questions

[fireant911]

My wife and I moved from northeast Alabama to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in September, 2020. Our property (20 acres) is chocked full of sugar maple trees. This is the start of my second maple season so I am still very much learning about this fine art of sugaring.

Last week I visited our trees with a drill in hand to tap our trees. I was looking for the hole from last year so that I could drill this year’s hole away from that area. Oddly, to me, I noticed that several of the holes were all sealed up while others looked just like they did last year when I removed the taps at the end of the season. The trees were either almost completely sealed or perfectly round with no in between. Note: there were only 16 trees involved in this sight experiment (though this year 25 trees were tapped).

Is there a reason as to why one tree would heal itself quickly while its direct neighbor has an ‘empty socket’? Is there any correlation to the health of a tree by its ability/inability to recover from tapping? Do some trees just naturally require more time to reseal? Do some trees simply never reseal?

[Zucker Lager]

I live a little South and West from your location in Sugar Camp WI. My red maples do exactly the same thing some holes stay open like they were drilled yesterday others are healed in a year or so and look like a "bellybutton" Dr. Tim will have an answer "WHY" for sure. Jay

[bigschuss]

Is there a reason as to why one tree would heal itself quickly while its direct neighbor has an ‘empty socket’? Is there any correlation to the health of a tree by its ability/inability to recover from tapping? Do some trees just naturally require more time to reseal? Do some trees simply never reseal?

I think your questions are kind of hinting towards the answer. Genetics will play a role. Tree health will play a role. Tree stress. Local soil conditions. Age of the tree I bet plays a role. Probably another half-dozen factors or so that also affect how quickly a tap hole heals.

[DrTimPerkins]

I think your questions are kind of hinting towards the answer. Genetics will play a role. Tree health will play a role. Tree stress. Local soil conditions. Age of the tree I bet plays a role. Probably another half-dozen factors or so that also affect how quickly a tap hole heals.

Correct. All of the above. Biggest factors are probably soil moisture availability during the growing season, sunlight, and competition. Keep in mind that trees are not perfectly round, and don't grow equally in all directions each year.

[fireant911]

Correct. All of the above. Biggest factors are probably soil moisture availability during the growing season, sunlight, and competition. Keep in mind that trees are not perfectly round, and don't grow equally in all directions each year.

May I ask a follow-up question to my original? Should the trees that show no signs of healing be eliminated from being used the next year?

[ennismaple]

The taphole itself is healed with compartmentalized wood inside the tree but it hasn't yet sealed over with new sapwood. Those trees should be tapped conservatively - only 1 tap each. All our trees are tapped every season.

[fireant911]

Thanks ennismaple! I am still very new to syruping as this is just my second year PLUS I am a transplant coming from Alabama! We only tap one hole in a tree so that will not be an issue. I will keep an eye on these trees to see how they are healing. Maybe the formation of new sapwood just takes a longer for otherwise healthy trees. You certainly tap a LOT of trees - 4,600!!!

[DrTimPerkins]

Taphole closure is highly dependent upon tree growth rate. Closure in a year or two is typical (for small spouts 5/16", 1/4" or 19/64"), perhaps 3 yrs if trees are growing slowly. If it's taking longer than that, investigation of what is causing the low growth is indicated. Note that you may still be able to SEE the spot where tapping occurred longer than that, but the taphole itself will be closed over.