Some guys tape the spine at all times and others sometimes depending on the situation and/or the razor involved. The only time to ever lift the spine when honing AFAIC is if you are removing a large chip and you are on a low grit stone for maximum metal removal. That is more restoration than honing though and rarely encountered by the average user IMO. Most of the time chip removal is accomplished keeping the spine on the hone and if it is a large chip and a low grit hone tape is probably a good idea. There are quite a few threads on the pros and cons of taping if you do a search you'll come up with a considerable amount of info. Other than noted above the spine and bevel should be on the hone at all times.