Yes at something just above 160 the resin would become liquid again until the next volatile fraction was driven off. It would be the same as a refinery where the crude oil is heated and the different hydrocarbon fractions are tapped off.. LP Gas, gasoline, diesel, tar, wax, asphalt.
The next common kiln schedules have a final "step" at 180*F. For softwoods, especially Southern Yellow Pine many large outfits run a high temperature kiln that operates above 212*F. That is not because the pitch needs to be set that high but because heat speeds up drying and those pines can tolerate rapid drying. Higher kiln temps do darken lighter colored woods.
This link is to an interesting older article on turpentine production with pictures of the process. It goes on in later pages to discuss the various termperatures that produce each fraction from the pine resin;
http://chestofbooks.com/health/aromather...Turpentine.html(the colophony mentioned in the article is the older name for what we call rosin, the hard final result of the process that fiddlers use to rosin up their bow. We use "resin" for liquid pitch and "rosin" for the hardened fully set product from which no further volatile compounds can be extracted.
For the other ideas this is where I guess I think scientifically to try to temper my thinking. All I can rationally say is "I do not know". There may be studies that I don't know about that have proven one way or another with repeatability what is at work there. In that case there would be an understanding of how it really works. I offered one hypothesis, a souped up guess, but it certainly doesn't make it true that water rinses out sugar or starch or that planting by the signs has any effect. One hypothesis I have heard with regards to planting by the signs is that it has no effect but that any farmer that pays that close attention is probably taking real good care of his crops. I can see that as being one reasonable explanation.
