Ants in buckets... should I pull my taps?

[Marj]

This is my second year tapping my black walnut trees. Yesterday when checked the buckets there were a few ants on 4 of my 15 buckets. There was very little sap in the buckets so I planned on rinsing the buckets today and collect more sap this week since it looks like we'll have a few days with colder evening temps. When I went to rinse the buckets today I found that most have a lot of ants in them as well as on the spiles so I'm thinking I should maybe call it a year and pull the taps. Black walnuts produce much less sap compared to maples but I was happy last year getting 20 gallons of sap from 10 trees. This year I added another 5 buckets but have only collected 15 gallons so far and was hoping to get a bit more. The trees have not started budding yet and the sap is still dripping slowly but I'm not sure what to do because of the ants. I filter the sap before boiling but am wondering if anyone has any other recommendations for me. Thanks for your help!

[Sugarmaker]

Filter them out and keep going. Do you need freezing nights to have the black walnut trees run? Just call it the anut run. Next should be the moth run.
Regard,
Chris

[Marj]

Ha! Yes, black walnuts need the freezing nights for a good run. I like your idea of naming the runs... thanks!

[DuncanFTGC/SS]

This year I have ants on 4 of my maple taps, they get filtered out pouring into my collection tank.

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