Quote Originally Posted by berkshires View Post
Depends on when the warm spell is. If it's a month before the historical average, forget about it. If it's two weeks early, and you're ready to go, and you can tap on a dime because you're just a hobbyist without thousands of taps - go for it. Last year I didn't (the warm spell was one week before my average tap date), and I lost a little production because I didn't tap early. This year I did tap 15 days before the historical best tapping date, and I was rewarded with the biggest runs I've ever had.

GO
Oh yeah...no doubt. I agree. I would never tap in December or January. February is a different story. However, in the 20 years I have been sugaring, I have only tapped once in February. My historical average for 1st tapping is the first weekend in March and I am rarely tempted to stray from that.

Friends of mine tapped 2 weeks ago during that mild spell we had and they got a very nice run and made syrup. I almost tapped 2 weeks ago, but the extended forecast began changing and all high temps. were predicted to be not quite as high and not last quite as long so at the last minute I decided not to.