By golly - Fred just saw our first robin!! There is one small patch of bare ground near our driveway and the poor think hung out there for a long time listening for a worm. The weather today is pretty warm - it just hit 50 degrees! Last night was in the 20s, so there should be a good sap run today. And there's a glimmer of sunshine, finally!
      I don't know if the new technology used in sugar making depends as much on temperature as the old methods, but I expect if the water in the tree isn't moving because it's too cold, no amount of vacuum pressure will get it going. Once it's moving, I can see that modern methods can probably extract more of the sap. I was interested in the experiments UVM has done tapping very young saplings - and apparently finding that it did not harm the trees. It seems strange to me - the sap is the tree's life blood and it's amazing that it can survive being tapped. I guess it just pulls in more water, as needed. If the water is available. So much to think about. I guess I'll leave it to the professionals.