I dropped in an observation tap today on a 12+ " sugar maple that I have tapped twice before, just to see what might be going on. Tapped at noon and I had 3 pints by 4:30. I brought it into the house to check the sugar content. I put it on the refractometer expecting to see 3 or more, as I remember this tree providing, and I got............1.4. Needless to say I was a bit underimpressed. The refractometer was checked. It should have been at least 2.5 as all my sugars are at this or above.

My question is: does the sugar content start out low as a tree thaws and starts to flow, or does it start high from the get go? This low number has me concerned. What to do??