how early is too early?

[DrTimPerkins]

I talk to him tonight, He said they had 25,000 taps in and sitting on 30,000 gallons of 1.2 sap. He is going to see what he gets from this next warm spell. Then ro it all and boil it. As far as taps go, alittle over 100,000.

Tapping decisions depend upon number of taps and work-force. If you've got 100,000 taps and can only do 10,000 a week, then you better start 10 weeks before you expect the season to start. The longevity of the taphole (how well it flows over time) will depend upon spout/dropline sanitation practices (including vacuum management in there) and the weather. There is a trade-off between tapping early and sap production later in the season, and that calculation varies depending upon the factors above. A taphole is a "perishable" product...and how long it lasts depends upon time, temperature, and sanitation level.

[unclejohn]

OK thanks to all. We will likely ream the holes in early Feb if flowrates decline. John

[minehart gap]

Tapping decisions depend upon number of taps and work-force.

Dr. Tim, doesn't location play a factor as well? For example, earlier in this thread Nova Scotia was mentioned with making syrup into May but here in central Pennsylvania, I have not made any syrup past the end of March. I would think that geography and the earlier mentioned microclimate would play a major role in when to tap. Does this sound correct or am I way off?

[DrTimPerkins]

Yes, obviously location is important. I felt that was included in the “weather” aspect of my comment, which would take in both physio-geography, elevation, aspect of a sugarbush.

[therealtreehugger]

Sugar Bear - Thanks for the specifics - it is good to know what other maplers are doing nearby. I think I only have tapped once in Jan, but recently, not until early-mid Feb. I am almost 10 miles inland from LIS, so I get a little warmth, but not much. I think I will start with the more crowded trees on tubing, and add the stand-alone bucket trees later. Thanks for the insights!

[Sugar Bear]

Sugar Bear - Thanks for the specifics - it is good to know what other maplers are doing nearby. I think I only have tapped once in Jan, but recently, not until early-mid Feb. I am almost 10 miles inland from LIS, so I get a little warmth, but not much. I think I will start with the more crowded trees on tubing, and add the stand-alone bucket trees later. Thanks for the insights!

It would be nice to have a better feel of sugar content of the early season sap. I will bet people could have gotten a lot of sap in CT in early to mid December this year for sure. I wonder how much under 1% it would have been.

Every year the sap suckers drill holes in several of the trees around me ( and yes most of those trees are healthy trees ) and from those trees I have developed a high tech method of determining how well the sap flows beginning from December onward when it does flow. ( look at the side of the tree below the sap sucker holes )

I am also thinking of rigging up some modified taps into a couple of those sucker holes to get enough sap to do a sugar content on.

That would let me know sugar content before I even drill any deeper tap holes.

However, I may just start killing sap suckers during the early season even though it is a federal crime with a jail sentence more substantial then if you stole all of someone's money.

[minehart gap]

I am also thinking of rigging up some modified taps into a couple of those sucker holes to get enough sap to do a sugar content on.

A refractometer will tell sugar content with only a couple drops of sap.

[buckeye gold]

I tapped my early taps about two weeks ago. Sugar started at 1.0-1.2 and has been going up steadily. Average is ~1.4, but I had a run yesterday that was 1.8.

[Sugar Bear]

I tapped my early taps about two weeks ago. Sugar started at 1.0-1.2 and has been going up steadily. Average is ~1.4, but I had a run yesterday that was 1.8.

Are you tapping Reds or Sugars?

[buckeye gold]

sugar maples