How to Tap Maple Trees for Sap
There is nothing quite like real maple syrup on a stack of pancakes for breakfast. Tapping maple trees and making syrup from the sap is a traditional spring activity in the northeastern part of North America, but can be done in many other areas. In fact, there are other trees that can be tapped, and the sap made into syrup. The box elder is a notable example of this. Maple trees, however, produce the sap with the highest concentration of sugar.
Tapping trees consists of drilling a hole in the trunk of the tree and inserting a specially designed spout. A bucket is then hung on the spout, and the sap is collected in the bucket. The tree you choose to tap should be at least 31 inches in circumference (or 10 inches in diameter.) If the tree is over 63 inches in circumference, it should be able to support 2 taps. Very large, old trees that are more than 25 inches in diameter, or 79 inches in circumference, can handle 3 taps, but you should never put more than three taps in any tree. Measure the circumference at about arm level, or 4-1/2 feet above the ground.
Standard tree tap spouts are called “spiles” and require a 7/16 inch drill bit to drill the proper size of hole. There are other designs and sizes, so make sure you follow manufacturer’s instructions as to the size of drill bit to use and how deep to drill. The hole should be about two or three feet from the ground on the sunnier side of the tree. It should be drilled about 2 inches deep and be slightly angled upward.
The right time of year to tap maple trees is in the early spring when the daytime temperatures are reaching about 40 to 45 degrees Farenheit. Drill the holes on a warmish day and tap the spiles into the holes. If the tree is frozen when you drill the hole, you can split the wood accidentally. Hang the buckets on the taps and make sure you have something to cover the buckets with so other debris does not fall into the sap you collect.
A normal taphole will produce about 10 gallons of sap in a season, but this can very widely. In a good year, it might produce as much as 80 gallons! That might sound like a lot, but it takes 40 gallons of sap to produce a single gallon of maple syrup. This explains why maple syrup tends to be expensive to buy. It isn’t because of a short supply of sap, but because of the cost of the fuel needed to boil the sap down.
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