Question
HI Doctor,
I have an eighty year old red maple tree in my back yard.  I have been taking care of it since I moved here 13 years ago but it has been neglected in the past. I had to do pruning because it hung over the roof. There is a large hole on top of the tree and recently it has been oozing a lot of yellow sap that has dripped to the base of the tree. I live in New York and it has been cold.  Thank you for taking my question.

Answer
Joanne:
Good Morning. I have been reading a lot about your part of the world getting snow.  I hope you and your family are managing to get around and have plenty of heat available.

If this "sap" appears to have stained the wood, giving it a dark and wet look and if this liquid has a fermented odor and sometimes attracts insects, then I suspect this may be a condition called bacterial wetwood or slime flux. Use your computer and look for images in Google of this and see how it matches your situation.  Bacterial wetwood is a disease as you will read.  No cure, but if trees are watered and fertilized adequately, they can survive many years.  These bacterial organism enter the tree usually through wounds.  Some trees are more prone to getting this than others.

Regards

Steve