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...
Yes like stated. If you tap then get a prolonged cold snap the hole will start to heal and dry up. It is best not to re tap a tree from last year that the hole has not healed up. It is best to tap on the south side of the tree. We find the south side of the tree runs the best when it dos run. Large trees in wet holes run the best as well. Last year we had the sap run at night twice where it ran better at night than it did during the day.
We are trying for 70 on line and 45 on buckets this year. It would have run last week but we are back into the cold again and feel for us up here its too soon. If you wait to long you can miss it as well if the season is short. Happy taping.
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