Roy,
They screw a fitting into the side of the tree and set a 5 gal bucket under the fitting. The sap runs out of the tree into the bucket.
Up north in Michigan it's been between the mid 30's to 50's, way too warm for this time of year.
The warm weather is having a profound effect on the number of service calls lately. It's been this way since early Janurary.
They say we are going to have an El Nino...........is that because of the warm water?
How far south in Texas are you?
Bob