If you're sure it isn't borers, then it looks like a case of Gumosis, but that usually occurs on older trees. If it is Gumosis, there's no real cure for it. Gumosis is a fungal infection that occurs, when the trees are under some kind of stress. Some peach varieties are more resistant than others. Winblo is one of them. I don't grow apricots, so I can't help you there.

Probably will fluctuate with trunk temperature and/or the amount of water available to the roots for take-up. If it were my tree, I'd not do anything with sealer at this time of year unless in a neighborhood where oak wilt has been a serious problem. Wounds over 3 or 4 days old are SUPPOSEDLY not susceptible to wilt spores delivered by sap-feeding (nitidulid) beetles. If seeping is due to a poor cut, pruning sealer could further hamper your tree's efforts to isolate the damage. It's young, so should be able to eventually get it done as it grows. Might reconsider pruning sealer if it's still seeping when the beetles enter their most active period again next February. However, would try white glue or latex paint before resorting to the tar-like sealers.

OK, so those holes could have happened prior to branch death...or after. But what I'm mostly seeing is lower branch die-off due to shading, which is completely normal for these sun-lovers. Another thing that I "think" was being shown in some of the photos is the normal tendency for conifers to have lots of "dead" stuff on the inside of the plant. That is, say you were to look at an apparently perfect spruce tree. Now walk underneath the plant and look up. Not a pretty sight is it? All of that dead twiggage and so on is again just the normal dying off of inner, shaded structures. Not at all a sign of trouble. But here's the thing: IF it's a windbreak you want-and they are good things out in the prairie-you need plants that can handle the conditions. Increasingly, Colorado spruce is not making the grade here. Likewise for Austrian pine. You can't beat this either, excepting by heroic measures which would still ultimately fail as soon as you stopped. I would make one suggestion: If you have space, and by space, I mean an area of sufficient size and one getting close to full sun, plant some Norway spruce. These will grow fast, live long, hold their branches right down to the ground (if not too crowded) and are proving to be the best spruce species for a vast swath of eastern N. America, including Iowa. We could get fancier-and maybe someone here will chime in with some relatively rare pine species. I believe that Bosnian pine, although fairly rare in the marketplace, may be proving to be a better choice for this region as well. What I'm saying is, if this planting consists largely of two hugely problematic species, it may be time to cut your losses and get something good going for the future.

Just leave it alone. It is healing the wound.