Great post! I've been meaning to ask... Last weekend we had a warm spell and day time temps I think hit 60. How do the trees not start pumping sap on those warm spells? How do they know the weather has to be warm but also the season has to be far along that we don't get another cold snap?
We used PVC spiles our first attempt last year and they worked fine but left a bigger hole than necessary in the tree. Sap sure poured out of them though! We used 5 quart ice cream pails as that was what we had and had to watch them close to empty before they got too heavy. We also need to device a lid system, even if we use some aluminum foil to save on the bugs falling in.
We only did about a dozen trees and all on our lot so it was easy to keep an eye on them.
So much yet to learn though...
