2019 Missouri Tapping Season

I have a question about tubing lines. I have a number of 5/16 tubing lines that daizy chain from tree to tree. At the trees midline I use T fittings. The perpendicular nipple is used for the tap. Is it important for the tap nipple to orientself itself straight up so that the sap from the tap drips down into the stream? I have not tried to orient them in any particular direction. I never seem to have very good flow on the tubing lines. Also how important is it to get the fittings fully inserted into the tubing. Up until half way through this yead did I have a tubing tool that could fully insert the fittings. All I could do using my hands was get the fitting inserted over the first ridge on the nipples.

RiverSap, I don't think you are doing anything wrong as long as your lines are not sagging. My tee's are generally standing up and I make sure that my drops do not sag. If your trees are on a hill you may consider changing over to 3/16 in the future, I am impressed with mine so far. The tubing only has to be on the fitting far enough so that it does not pull off.

Those worried about deer damage: I have had tubing for 16 seasons. I have had maybe 5-6 times deer caused any damage. Now if I could say th same thing about squirrels it would be great.
The last 3 seasons I have used a homemade spray to help with the squirrel damage. It starts with the hottest hot sauce you can find, then we mix the super hot sauce with water. Then I just spray the tubing where it is touching a tree or close enough for a squirrel climbing the tree can reach it. Each time I spray, I shake the bottle first to keep it mixed. Once on it seems to last about 2-3 weeks, unless you get rain. After each rain I re-apply. This has stopped almost all squirrel chews in season. Since I do not spray it between seasons I do get chews then, and have to make repairs just before each new season.
My brother in law mixed it, I'll get the info for those interested. It worked very well. Once the squirrel gets one lick they don't bother it again. I have to retreat because there are loads of squirrels that need educating.

I have 15 walnut trees tapped. As of dusk last night none of those buckets had any sap. This morning they all have a good amount. Walnut trees maybe flow at night. I will make note of when I get additional flow. I will be collecting maple sap today. I went for a walk with rhe doggies this morning and all of the maple buckets I passed had various levels of sap. I need to rince out the65 gal storage containers. The next time you hear from me I will be a tired RiverSap.

I tapped eight of my nine trees (one is showing stress) Thursday. The temperature got down to -6 Wednesday, but up to 29 Thursday and 61 by Saturday. I had 10 gallons in the buckets Sunday morning. The warm weather has stopped the flow, but we are expecting freezing/thaw this Thursday. I boiled down my 10 gallons to a bit less than two quarts over my home-made evaporator. Poking sticks into to a fire for a day brings out the little-boy in me.
By the way, my records show the following first collections here in mid-Missouri:
2013 - Only noted January
2014 - January 12
2015 - January 27
2016 - January 24
2017 - January 30
2018 - January 26

Well the thaw after the polar vortex really pumped the sap out in mid Missouri. I slogged through the muddy ridges on Saturday in the afternoon and well after dark to collect 108 gallons and hauled it over to the farmhouse to start the 3rd boil of 2019. When collecting, I noticed that the trees were still running, so on Sunday morning we collected 60 gallons. And noticed before the Super Bowl that the trees were still running, so today I collected 36 gallons and first ants of the season have found the buckets! They even cling to the end of the tubing that hangs from the spile to grab a drink. Also had a pileated woodpecker (or maybe the only ivory-billed woodpecker remaining in Missouri?) land on a nearby tree while I was collecting. We looked at each other for a while before he whooshed off to tap another tree. Its nice for this city guy to have quiet time in the woods and take a break from lifting big jugs of mostly water. I never fell once during collecting, but there is a layer of thawed mud below the leaf litter that is particularly dangerous when walking downhill. I will remember the aches of collecting later this year as I enjoy some of this liquid gold. Will finish the boil and move to the kitchen tonight or tomorrow morning to filter and bottle. Also, a family member started tapping his boxelder trees along the creek and has been boiling that down. They were really weeping well during the thaw. It looks colorless so far but has a sweet taste. I will start a discussion thread elsewhere on mapletrader about boxelder syrup to see if there are any experts about that.

Ran like crazy down here the last couple of days, With temps in the mid 60's and even low 70's this week , it seems to have came to a halt. Hopefully it aint over , but , I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see them bud early and shorten our season. Gonna do my first boil tomorrow. 39 gallons. Down a little from last year but maybe we will get a late run.

I don't think the trees will bud early, especially the sugars. Temps are supposed to dive end of this week - should trigger a good "reset" to the sap pump.

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A couple of my kiddos enjoying maple season.

Looks like you have your own DIY vacuum pumps there.