Why does new tap hole run faster?

[johnallin]

Just for the heck of it. I placed a second tap on one of our larger sugar maples. Tree is about 30" in dia. This tap is on the north side of the tree, the tap placed 3 weeks ago is on the south west side.

Do any of you know why the new tap is running like crazy at about 2 drops per second, while the earlier tap is maybe one drop every second or two? This was last Saturday and even today the new tap has out performed all of the others, including the "sister" on the same tree.

I'm pretty new at this and wondering if I re-drilled my tap holes would I expect to see the same? I think I read that the holes close up.

Thanks for any info you can share.

john allin

[tapper]

Bacteria grow in the tap holes and after a time will slow and even stop the sap flow but, had you tapped both holes at the same time there may have been some difference anyhow. Sometimes a lot of difference it just depends on the tree. Tap holes have their own personality and a lot of times perform differently at different times of the season.

[barrelstove]

youre lucky you got sap on the north side of the tree. i have several tapped trees along side a major road that run north and south. so to keep snow and slop from the road getting in my buckets i tapped the north and south sides of the trees( so the open end of the bucket lid wasnt pointed at the road). the south sides give very well and the north sides hardly do anything! its frustrating. im tinkering on ideas to tap the east and west sides next year, probably a short peice of tubing tapped on the road side running to a bucket on the side away from the road.

[johnallin]

How about tapping the south (or any) side and running a line(s) down around the tree to a bucket sitting on the ground, with a fittings for the line? Should keep everything out.

[barrelstove]

im working on that theory too. been looking at my options but the presense of the family dog makes me nervous (eeewww)

if i really get serious i could go as far as to pipe short runs together ( 5-8 trees) and into a 32 gallon trash can. thats what i use to store sap currently. (pretty easy to bury in a snowbank to keep from spoiling!)

this is getting a little off topic for the thread, so to put us back on course....

you may find some helpful information from any of the universities in syruping states. i know the university of maine has some information availible through their cooperative extension. www.umext.maine.edu is the link.

is there any chance that the holes that are slacking off were drilled to early? they may be just old enough to have started healing. perhaps your holes arent clean? pull the spile and see if theres drillings pluging up the hole.

that my $0.02

[barrelstove]

so your problem has been sitting in the back of my mind.

you said you drilled the new hole in the north side. the south side may be done running as it gets the sunlight first. perhaps you caught the north side in the middle of its run and it will slack off shortly as well.

one of the articles i read when studying up for this year said that when the sap runs depends on the wood temperature. if the sunlight is warming the south side of the tree beyond its threshhold to run, the northside may not be there yet.

therefore the problem may have nothing to do with your hole, just the direction it points.

its a theory.

[Cardigan99]

John I think every tree is going to be different. I have a giant twin red maple (at least 20" each side) that I tap because it flows sweet and fast. but only up to a point. about 10 days ago it stopped. I drilled another hole in north west side of one of the sisters and got nothing. since then it's weeped a bit but nothing worth throwing taps back in for.

[johnallin]

Thanks for all of the replies, I'm going to try and ream the holes to see if that helps.
John Allin

[fred]

we are in northern ohio and freezing temps have ended. you will not get any more sap anyway

[Gary in NH]

I have a large maple with north and south buckets this year. The south started first and ran very well. The north was a week or so behind but once it got going it did well too. Last week the south side stopped producing sap and the north side is still going strong.

[Brent]

Gary
my guess is the run that started in the south hole is now dry because of the bacteria that it got a head start on, and the hole was warmer so they multiplied faster. The north side was colder and even if it had the bacteria at the same start time, they would not multiply so fast, so it ran longer.