A sign of spring
Tapping Trees, Health Benefits, and Maple Syrup Grades
Generally speaking, maple sugaring usually starts in late February or early March. How many maple trees does it take to make a gallon of syrup? How long does it take to fill a bucket with maple sap? What are maple syrup health benefits? Discover nature’s liquid gold!
The Old Farmer’s Almanac headquarters in New Hampshire is surrounded by maple trees. Wherever you look, there are sap buckets on those trees—at the local school, in neighbors’ woods, and along the road. If you drive by a “sugarhouse” and see steam billowing, they’re boiling the sap to produce maple syrup!
How many maple trees does it take to make a gallon of syrup?
Would you believe it takes about 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup? Put a different way, it takes 40 parts maple sap to make 1 part maple syrup. The tree sap is mainly water, so much of the water gets boiled off.
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As you can tell, that’s a lot of boiling off! This is why good-quality maple syrup isn’t cheap. Once you taste it, you’ll never go back to that corn syrup “maple-flavored” confection sold in grocery stores.
How long does it take to fill a bucket with maple sap?
Assuming you start with a healthy maple tree, one tap will produce 6 to 10 gallons of sap. How quickly the sap buckets fill is based on the weather and how the sap is flowing, but it usually takes about 2 to 3 days to fill a bucket. If it’s a nice warm day, the syrup will keep flowing at a steady drip.
When is maple syrup made?
Sugar’s sweet, but sap is sappier;
Cold nights make the farmers happier!
–The Old Farmer’s Almanac, 1989
Maple trees are tapped when temperatures alternate between freezing and thawing. Nighttime temperatures must drop below freezing (in the 20s), and daytime temperatures must reach 40 to 50 degrees. Before winter, the maple trees store starch, which gets converted into sugar, in their trunks and roots. As spring nears, the sap thaws, and the sugar in the sap rises up the tree.
You need cold nights to make “sugarers” happy, so unseasonably warm winters aren’t good for the harvest. What happens when it’s not the right temperature? Well, some seasons are good, some aren’t. Agriculture’s not for wimps! We weather the ups and downs.
How do you tap a maple tree?
Do all trees produce sap? Yes, but it’s the sugar maple that has the highest content of sugar in the sap. Red maples can be tapped, too.
There are many ways to tap trees to allow the sap to run out freely. Here’s the most basic way:
- Drill 2 to 3 inches into the south side of the tree at a convenient height, making a hole 3/8- to 5/8-inch in diameter (larger holes for larger trees). The hole should slant upward slightly.
- Then, drive a metal sap spigot (available at hardware stores) into the hole, stopping short of the full distance of the hole.
- Hang a bucket on the spigot to collect the sap.
- The sap is clear and almost tasteless—and very low in sugar content. Boil the sap to evaporate the water, producing a liquid with the characteristic flavor and color of maple syrup and a sugar content of 60 percent.
Maple syrup health benefits
Native Americans traditionally used maple syrup both as a food and as a medicine—and taught the age-old process of sugaring to the European colonists.
Maple syrup contains fewer calories and a higher concentration of minerals than honey. It’s an excellent source of manganese and a good source of zinc, which sweetens your antioxidant defenses, your heart, and your immune system. It may even have special benefits for men’s reproductive health.
Maple Syrup Colors and Grades
Now, if you’ve never tasted “real” maple syrup, there’s no way to describe its fresh, complex flavor with its hints of caramel. High-quality maple syrup is called “Grade A” and comes in four color classifications:
- Golden, delicate taste
- Amber, rich taste
- Dark, robust taste
- Very dark, strong taste
There used to be a “Grade B,” but this is now called “Grade A: Very dark, strong taste.” The Maple Syrup Industry decided to develop uniform standards, replacing three different grading systems (Canadian, USDA, Vermont) so that the collectives would all be on the same page, no matter the state or country.
Fun Fact: The color does not reflect quality; it reflects the taste of the maple syrup and, often, when the tree was sapped. In general, the sap is lighter earlier in the season when the sap is new, and it’s still cold outside with snow on the ground. As the season goes on, the sap gets cloudier, darker, stronger, and richer. However, the color also depends on temperatures, soil, snow, and other factors. One year in New Hampshire, we had a couple of warm spells, and the sap started to turn dark after only six sugaring sessions.
The color also has nothing to do with the cooking process. All syrup is cooked the same and even has the same thickness (though it may feel different on the tongue).
Many folks like the lighter golden-hued syrups, but my husband and I actually prefer the very dark color (traditionally called “cooking syrup”), even for topping pancakes and waffles. We find it bolder and just more substantial. For baking, this is also the best syrup because the authentic maple taste really comes through.
Do you have any experience with real maple syrup? A favorite color syrup? Some tips on how to tap trees? We welcome your comments!
Catherine Boeckmann
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To Farme's Almanac~ Such a beautiful poem as the others are; thanks so much for posting; I really enjoy these daily poems; (and the lovely pictures)~
Deep down within the frozen brook
I hear a murmur faint and sweet, And lo!
The ice breaks as I look,
And living waters touch my feet.
–Jane Goodwin Austin (1831–94)~
Syrup season is exceptionally early around St. Paul, MN this year. Normally I tap trees in early March. This year I tapped January 31! By February 5 I've collected 25 gallons of sap already from 14 trees (combination of hard maple, red maple and silver maple - mostly silver). With such an early start, how long of a season is possible? If I have multiple freezing to 40s days throughout February, March and mid-April, can I continue producing or will my taps "heal over in place"? I've only placed 1 tap in my neighbors' large trees and multiple in one of mine. Should I wait to place more in my neighbors' trees, or place more now?
Hi Allan,
The length of season will depend on that alternating freeze–thaw cycle necessary for sap flow. Since it is so early in the winter, there is a good chance that the weather conditions will change and get colder and the sap may stop flowing—only to return when the ideal conditions present.
Sap should flow if the conditions are right in the months of February, March, and April. Taps should remain viable throughout the season if proper care was taken during the installation process. If taps “heal over” during the season it is typically a sign of the presence of bacteria and the tree will attempt to prevent the microbes from entering by sealing off the wound (tap hole).
In terms of tapping more trees, that is up to you. As we said above, the conditions for sap flow may not be consistent for the rest of the season as temperatures can drop given the Minnesota winters. Some experts encourage producers to avoid tapping too early during a warming cycle early in the season for what might be a short run and small amount of sap. You could look at the extended forecast and base your decision on what the temperatures look like in the coming week or two.
I tapped 4 of my trees early this year to try to get some autumn sap. 2 trees are doing fine, and 2 are not dripping at all. 1 of the trees that is not giving any was a good producer last year. The other is has never been tapped before, but it certainly more than big enough.
Is there a reason why some of the trees are flowing and others aren't? Should I re-tap them, or will the season moving along get them going in time?
Thanks!
Hi Dan,
While sap will run in the fall under the right conditions, to maximize production it is best to tap in the late winter/early spring depending on your location and the weather conditions (outlined above about the alternation cold (nighttime) and warm (daytime) temperatures).
As to why a couple of your trees are running and the others are not, temperature patterns in trees can vary considerably throughout a season and each one can react differently to the environmental changes happening around them. You can certainly try re-tapping them to see if the sap will start flowing. If the sap does not begin to flow out of your taps, try again in the spring.
You can also reach out to your local maple producers group to connect with others to see what kind of results they have seen and for any tips that are specific to your area.
Thank you so much. Since you answered, 1 of them started flowing really well and the other still hasn't done anything, so your answer makes sense. I think I'll just wait and see how it goes!
I tapped my overly large maple in 4 spots and no syrup is coming out
You should tap the trees when the sap is running heavily. That would be in the spring, about the time the temps are below freezing at night and above freezing during the day.
In your article the depth you mentioned for drilling a hole into a tree is not accurate. The depth should be 2 inches. Spiles should be sized at either 5/16 or the old style 7/16. Most producers are now using smaller tap holes on trees and getting the same amount of sap, because they are using tubing systems and vacuum systems. Some of these are run on 5/16 or 3/16 tubing. You do not need to tap only the south side of the tree nor do you need to tap over a large root or under a large branch. The tree needs to be a minimum of 10" in diameter for 1 tap 18 - 20 inches for 2 taps.
Make sure to have lots of fun when boiling and never walk away from the pot, it can go from sap to syrup real fast.
How hard is identifying Maple trees for tapping? Are there any look a likes that could potentially be poisonous? I am aware that other trees produce a good syrup like black walnut etc., Thank you, I’m really interested in this.
