Drip, Drip

The sap finally ran a bit this afternoon. It got up to 38 after having been down in the low teens last night. Infuriatingly, the spiles that I griped about because they were so difficult to pound in are also problematic for the sap. Since the spiles are made of bent metal, there is a seam that runs along the top of each tap. The sap is seeping through the seam and then oozing around the spiles so that only half of the sap is dripping down the inside of spout. Sigh. I tried reseating some to no avail. The best I could do was to insert a toothpick below the spile to make a drip point for the sap that was seeping through the top running down the tree. This is less than ideal, for when I remove the jugs to empty them, it will be nearly impossible not to dislodge the toothpicks, and I'll have to fiddle with each tree again. 

The sap should run tomorrow too, but then an ice storm is predicted tomorrow night though Monday, and low temps are said to follow it. So I think instead of starting to boil off the water, I'll store the sap in the fridge or freezer until the next time it runs so that I can sugar off continuously instead of in spurts. I sure hope we get enough to make a decent amount of syrup or my oldest daughter will be VERY disappointed.

I tried looking for more of the one spile I have that is so nice. I haven't turned any more of them up. I did, however, find that rolled spiles like the kind I purchased at the hardware and variety store require a spile driver- a mandrel that fits into the spile so that they retain their shape and don't cut your mallet. Of course, the store where I bought the spiles doesn't carry those. I'll keep hunting for the better spiles, but if they don't turn up, now I know how to make mine tap in better. I'm not sure if that would help with the seepage problem or not.