Its tappin time. About 320 taps out now. Its a lot of work using the hand auger to drill the holes in the trees. After about 50 your arm starts to get tired. Each tap gets a hole drilled about 1 inch deep, a spout lightly hammered in, a pail and a cover for the pail. We use a tractor to takes the buckets and covers into the woods. The rain about a week ago melted much of the snow in the woods making it much easier to get around. Aap was following in the trees today. After drilling a hole, the sap started running out. There was a steady drip, drip, drip into the pail. It was sunny and about 40 degrees, but the wind was cold. The weather forecast is for cold and snow tonight and tomorrow. We will finish the tapping but do not expect to collect any sap yet.