Hows your maple season going.

[celliott]

bhall,

I've been helping a family operation here in town this year, and I was out checking for vacuum leaks the other day, and I found a tree where someone had drilled the new taphole about 2 inches above last years. Not supposed to do that. There was a vacuum leak from last years taphole!

Do you really plug the tapholes?
How can they heal up and grow over that way?

[GAB]

I have never plugged a tap hole.
I do not know of any sugarmaker that does.
Can you imagine trying to plug 100,000 or more tap holes once the season is over?
Besides I know of some bowl turners that are looking for maple bowl blanks with tap holes in them for future finished product.
Gerald

[Chuck White]

I've never heard of plugging tap holes.

We don't see signs of the Sap Suckers here on the Maple trees, they usually go after the Hemlock.

[SwampDonkey]

Plus they are not after the sap and usually don't even show up here from migration until sap season is over. They love my pine, basswood and tamarack. But sapsucker is not really an accurate name, they are after the bugs that come to the sap. Should be called bug trappers. Can you imagine a bird eating pine pitch?

[Cguignard]

My father in law says to plug tapped holes in our sugar bush.  That is a lot of work, I have read that a plugged hole will not dry out and start to heal.  I found an old hole from last year and it was still wet.  So this year we are not plugging holes.  Saves lots of time.   
We are all cleaned up fired the stove once more today to acid wash the pan and will put it in storage tomorrow, and clean out the ash. Barrels and pails have been washed and stored, taps have been washed and the tubes are drying before getting packed away.  Been a good season for us.

[Magicman]

I have great admiration for you guys and the effort that you go through to make syrup.   8)

[Chuck White]

My father in law says to plug tapped holes in our sugar bush.  That is a lot of work, I have read that a plugged hole will not dry out and start to heal.  I found an old hole from last year and it was still wet.  So this year we are not plugging holes.  Saves lots of time.   
We are all cleaned up fired the stove once more today to acid wash the pan and will put it in storage tomorrow, and clean out the ash. Barrels and pails have been washed and stored, taps have been washed and the tubes are drying before getting packed away.  Been a good season for us.

My money says the old sap hole was wet from rain, or the snow melt!

The holes don't completely close up (heal), the new sapwood closes over the still open hole!

[bhall]

celliott,  as Chuck White has stated the new sapwood grows over the outside of the hole, whether it is plugged or not the hole is still there. I plug the holes to minimize the leakage of sap to deter the attraction of insects. I lack the knowledge of what all types of insects are drawn to sap and which ones that could be detrimental to the health of the tree. Seems like every so often there is a new different type of insect causing a new form of damage to trees, therefore I take the time to plug. And actually it does not require much time, pull the spile and pound in the plug. My sugar bush is small, usually only about 100 taps so it is not really a big deal to me, but if I had a 1,000 taps it would be different. Also I am certainly not saying that I am doing the proper thing, it is just the way I do it.

SwampDonkey, Perhaps I should have stated in my previous post that the woodpeckers have a better knowledge of where the bugs are that know where the sap is. Please correct me if I am wrong, but it is my understanding that the different species of trees stop their growth at different times, but the process of photosynthesis continues until autumn.   Therefore the conversion of carbon dioxide & water to glucose & oxygen continues. The enzymes then modify the glucose into fructose and further into sucrose and this composition is passed by transpiration thru the tree and on down to the roots and other enzymes convert the sucrose into the complex carbohydrate starch for winter storage. It is my observation that the woodpeckers drill for the bugs from late spring thru late summer. My suspicion is there might be good flow in the area of the drilling and most often there is.
In my neck of the woods the yellow bellied & red bellied woodpeckers frequent the maple, apple, pear & willow trees, they do not seem to be interested in the pine, basswood, hemlock or the tamarack. Maybe I have different bugs than you. Bob

[SwampDonkey]

Here's one, and I sometimes have 4 at once on this pine.



Here's one that had his radar jammed.  :D



They leave the yard trees alone by June. I only see them in the spring in the yard.

They have not killed the pine yet, but they come to it every spring. They did kill a tamarack (Japanese Larch), riddled it too death with holes.

There's not a hemlock up here that sapsucker hasn't riddled with holes. I'd like to see one for a change. Ever try to drive one off, they just walk around the trunk out of view. Darn buzzards. :D

[BubbasDad]

We cleaned the evaporator, arch and the sugarhouse pails, dippers, etc. yesterday, so that end is all set until next Spring.

Now we have to gather, clean & store the buckets spouts and barrels!

Next we'll clean and sanitize the pipelines.

Lastly, we need to refill the woodshed and close the door!

When taps are pulled do trees seal the holes or does what ever runs after that just run down the bark for the bugs? Just curiouse

[Chuck White]

In time, the holes will heal over as new sapwood developes.

For a while, the sap will continue to run a little, but as the weather warms up, the sap will stop running.

We don't seem to notice bugs getting into the sap.

[SwampDonkey]

Flies and sap beetles mostly I think which are just after a sugary snack. Usually too cold to be a nuisance during sugaring time.

[bhall]

celliott, an interesting note for you. Shared your question with the family, several said in the past they had read about not plugging the taps but just did not say anything. Told them I am not too old to learn & it is never too late to change. We decided to do a trial, we pulled half the plugs. The trees we tap are 20" dbh and larger so they have 2 taps per tree. We pulled one plug from each tree to eliminate the variance of soil nutrients and sun light since some of the trees are on the south slope, some on the north slope, and others in the bottoms between. This way we can see how well the holes mend on each particular tree.  Some one came up with the idea of drilling a small hole in the plug & using a slide puller to pop the plug out, worked real well, quick & easy. With regards to my theory of insect damage, they told me the threat is much greater from air born infection. Certainly can not dispute that, and I am not sure about many influences that could harm the trees. So I thank you, we thank you for questioning my methods. Bob

[celliott]

It's a constantly changing industry, that's for sure.
Your trees may take more than one year to heal over the hole, so don't come to a conclusion too soon!

We are pulling taps and washing lines now.
Gradually switching to a replaceable plastic spout as opposed to reusable ones. Theory is, you use a new clean spout every year and it keeps the trees healthier. We'll see.

[Chuck White]

They are constantly coming up with new stuff in the sugaring industry.

Some good, some gimic.  Buyer beware!

[SwampDonkey]

A lot geared toward consumption more than anything else so something always needs to be bought. Pretty soon, not enough syrup being sold to cover expense. Check the packaging of those disposable spouts when you get'm, whose making them? A lot like the printer industry, a cheap printer, but expensive ink. :D

An lot of maple damage is due to pollutants and drought than most anything.