When is it too early to tap?

[gmarvin]

Thanks for the information. We did about 65 to 1 last year. We started Feb 1 last year as well and that was late as we had to be out of town earlier. The season was over for us about March 3. Lost sap in buckets as the weather warmed so quickly and stayed warm, we could not boil off fast enough. At that point the sap had lost so much sugar we ran about 85 to 1.

[Leadft]

I feel behind allready with the weather in the 30's for the last few days and I have no trees tapped....

[KenWP]

I think it's safe to say that if you drill a hole in a tree and get no sap it's to early to tap.

[ennismaple]

I think it's safe to say that if you drill a hole in a tree and get no sap it's to early to tap.

In our neck of the woods if the month ends in "Y" it's too early to tap!

[KenWP]

That could be May some years I remember out west.

[Brent]

June may be too soon for me this year. Today my neighbour agreed to let me tap her bush. Going to add 200 - 250 more taps.

What have I done. The panelling in the sugar shack is not done. The pans are out in the snow. No pipeline, no wire, no tanks, no releasers.

I hope I see a different face in the morning when I shave. That couldn't have me that took that on.

[maple flats]

I say it's too early to tap if you are not ready to boil. For me it's too early. I'm farther behind this year than I have ever been. Today I will be walking and fixing my main woods. I have many side ties that failed over the winter. I must have used the wrong wire. This year I will use galvinized for the side ties because what I used last year rusted and broke in several locations. I had used non galvinized rebar tie wire from a bunch of spools I had for years. Big mistake!

[aunt stellas gardens]

We went ahead and tried the preliminary boil, experimental boil, reduce the fever boil... what ever it is called, and boiled down about 35 gallons and produced 7 half pints. The sugar content must be low and the sap did not run very well the last half of last week. But I did learn alot! Especially not to rush the season. The syrup is good and it is alot darker than our first batch last year. I think maybe it is the low sugar ratio and that required us to boil longer. Now that it is out of my system for January, I'll relax and watch the temps for the next month.
Question: should we pull the 15 taps that are in now or leave them in for the next boil? I think the temps are going back to freezing day and night so the sap should not spoil. right?

ASG

[Jeff E]

Early runs will be low sugar normally. Since the damage is done to the tree, leave the taps in for the season. It is always fun to do that first run!

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Won't be long it will be running again and the sugar content should rise significantly for you.