Wouldn't running a plastic hose off the stile into a hole or under the edge of a bucket top be easier?

Hi guys! This question is coming from a city dweller with no experience...but many dreams that will hopefully come to fruition in 2015!

Could a hole drilled into the side of the bucket to allow the spicket to drain while using a bucket lid keep the rain & other falling debris out? I like your roof-without-screws option since it is nicer to the tree, but a bucket lid could probably protect it more from any significant rain - if the drain could work properly.

Thanks for your blog! I'm a long-time reader & ebooks fan!

Anonymous --- You use a different kind of spile if you're using tubing. Those spiles (and the tubing itself, of course) tend to be plastic, and we wanted to stick to long-lived metal for now.

Erin --- Mark considered that, but the problem is hanging the bucket, since the spiles are made to hang the bucket below. It might still work, but might pull the spile out of the tree (and would probably be harder to empty daily). We might still change over to something like that, though, if Mark's lid doesn't keep the rain out!

Thanks for your kind words!

I had never really thought about where Maple syrup comes from - out of interest, what sort of quantity do you get from a tree of what period of time? I have seen rubber trees where the bark is scored to produce the latex milk, but never maple.

Alex --- The yield varies a lot depending on factors like where you live (climate), genetics of the tree, and the habitat of the tree. I think we got about a quart last year from one tree over the month-or-so season, which was a so-so yield, but good enough for us!

That´s near a litre of syrup - very impressive from one tree! Thank you.