First day of collecting maple sap in 2023

It's been a big success so far, out of 14 trees drilled only 1 didn't have a good flow of sap.  Got over 1.5 gallons of sap in the first 3 hours.

The new taps seem to work fine, after looking at them I realized that I hadn't gotten what was advertised but maybe these are better ?  They stand proud of the tree about 1/2 inch and have a 90 degree bend.

I kinda wish I had started sooner but I couldn't find my 5/16" drill bit that I usually use.  I ended up taking a 5/16" drill bit for a brace and bit and hack-sawing off the weird little knuckle that those brace and bit drills require but a regular drill can't use.

Just a little tramping through the snow back and forth to the woods is tiring but hopefully worth it.  I got to see an amazing sunset, too.

Best Regards,
Chuck, WB9KZY
http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm