Maple Syrup

All maple trees produce sap, but usually when we’re talking about the maple that produces sap that eventually turns into syrup, we’re talking about the sugar maple (Acer Saccharum). Earning its name from the sweet sap it produces, the Sugar Maple is an American northeastern and Canadian native, and it’s so popular and pleasing to look at, that two states have made it their state tree – Vermont and Wisconsin. 

Maple trees produce sap during a very small window of time. Temperatures dictate when the sap season begins and how long it lasts. The sap season starts in January when temperatures are beginning to rise above freezing and ends in April when the temperatures hit a consistent temperature above freezing.

Read on to find out which maple trees produce the best sap and what time of year they do. We’ll also dive into the equipment and some tips to harvest that sap to turn into syrup, in case you feel like topping your pancakes with your own homemade maple syrup (yum!)

The Maple Tree is one of America’s biggest timbers, with sugar maples reaching anywhere from 50 to 130 feet. The fewer neighboring trees a Maple has, the larger it gets.

The top of the Sugar Maple is round with compact leaves and branches. A tree whose inner workings rely on the cold as much as it relies on the summer heat, it’s a fairly hardy tree.

A beautiful and imposing presence, the Maple Tree is a North American classic.

If you’re looking to grow a maple tree check out our maple tree growth timeline!

There Are A Few Maple Trees With Usable Sap

Another source of sap would be the Black Maple (Acer Nigrum) or Red Maple (Acer Rubrum), although, they may not be considered the most favorable choices.

The Black Maple which also produces sap will do a similar job as the Red Maple, and although it may be quicker, it doesn’t produce sap that is the same quality as sap from the Sugar Maple. For this reason, the Black Maple is not typically sought out. And although you can get sap from a Red Maple (Acer Rubrum) as well, this sap is, unfortunately, less sweet and the window to get the syrup is much smaller. 

Red Maples buds break earlier in the year. Bud breaking is when, as the name suggests, the buds of the tree begin to break through the surface. It’s when the next stage of a tree’s cycle begins (and the start of spring at that) and at which point, the sap’s taste begins to change and it’s no longer a viable syrup source. Well, at least not like a tasty syrup!

If you want to learn about more trees that produce syrup-worthy sap, check out our article on the five trees that produce maple syrup!

How To Tell Sugar, Red, And Black Maples Apart

Red Maple and Sugar Maple are very similar looking and often confused. Both produce sap but the Sugar Maple is favored for that resource.

To tell the two apart you usually look to the leaves. A Maple Tree’s leaf looks like a hand with its fingers extended out. A Red Maple will have more indentations and grooves along the edges of the leaf while Sugar Maples are smooth.

To tell a Black Maple from a Sugar Maple, again, we turn to the leaves! As stated above, Sugar Maple leaves have more round, less jagged edges. Black Maple leaves have more of a drooping look and their leaves have almost a hairy texture to them. 

When fall rolls around, you might even get a stronger clue. Sugar Maple leaves turn a very vibrant orange during the Fall season while Black Maple leaves tend to be more yellow. This may seem like a tiny detail, but when two trees are hard to tell apart, you gotta take what you can get!

Check out our article about different types of maple trees to learn more!

So, What Is Maple Tree Sap Anyway?

Sap is made up of water and the starch found in the roots of a tree that gets transformed into sucrose, i.e. sugar. The reason why Sugar Maples are so favored for their sap is they tend to have a higher concentration of sugar, meaning, it can be used to make more syrup because there’s more sugar to go around.

And isn’t that the end goal of it all? 

Now, how does that sap get from inside the tree to outside the tree and onto our pile of French toast? During the season when the sap is thriving, temperature plays a key role in getting the sap from inside the tree to inside our local waffle House – so, let’s talk about its movement below!

How Does Maple Tree Sap Move?

During the day, when temperatures are above freezing, the heat pushes the sap up through the tree and if there is an opening somewhere on that tree, the sap will pour out of it. That’s why we tap trees!

At night, when the temperature drops below freezing, the drop creates suctioning; pulling the water up through the leaves, mixing that water with the sugar and creating MORE sap. 

So, which maple trees have sap, and how can I tell? Keep reading to find out!

What Environmental Factors Will Increase A Maple’s Sap Output?

There are a few things that will increase a Maple’s Sap supply like location and nitrogen availability – let’s talk more about that below!

Location! Location! Location!

As discussed earlier, a great way to tell how good a Maple Tree’s sap supply will be is where it is in relation to other trees.

A tree that’s going to give you more sap is a tree that isn’t competing with a lot of others. Specifically, you want a tree whose crown is not competing with other trees – I guess you can say the tree will be very full of itself. A Maple Tree that has a large and healthy crown will actually provide more syrup than a tree that has grown in a tight and enclosed space.

According to Pennsylvania State University, trees grown without competing forestation can produce from 15 to 20 gallons of sap in a season. A Sugar Maple Tree grown in a forest, with competing growth, will give offer about 10 gallons of sap in one season. Tapping a tree squished between other Maples is gonna halve the amount of sap you are able to retrieve. 

The expensive supermarket prices for Maple syrup are starting to make a lot more sense now…

Check out our article on how and where to plant your maple tree for the best results in your own yard.

Nitrogen Availability Affects The Sap Supply

This isn’t a tip you always want to put into practice but can be beneficial for maple trees. Maple Trees LOVE nitrogen and a study published by the University of New York shows that an increase in nitrogen will also increase the sugar levels in the sap. Which, then, of course, increases the syrup output.

The reason why you may want to hold off on increasing the nitrogen in the soil (which would be a quick way to get it into the root system and into the body of the tree) is that just like how nitrogen can flow from the soil into the roots, it can also flow from the soil into any neighboring water sources, which can pollute nearby water.

Those water sources could be used for plants that aren’t happy with lots of nitrogen in their system and no one wants to negatively impact one plant at the expense of another! 

All that being said, if you live in an area where there are natural stretches of land with higher nitrogen in the soil, you’re gonna have a great and healthy spot to plant your maple.

For a more detailed guide, check out our article on how to fertilize your maple tree.

When Is Maple Sap Season?

This is the question that requires a little work on your part, but don’t worry, it’s not a difficult task. Sap season happens at the end of winter/beginning of spring but it’s less about the exact dates and more about the conditions

Before we dive into the little bit of work, you should actually learn some info about what conditions are necessary for sap to be available to tap. But DON’T WORRY, it’ll be quick, easy, and painless!

Seasonal Conditions Required To Produce Sap

There are a couple of things you’re gonna need from Mother Nature for sap to occur in healthy supply. 

Rain:

Water is one of the main properties of sap so to get a lot of sap, you’re gonna need a lot of water. To get a healthy size of sap from a maple tree, the previous summer there needed to be a good amount of rain. 

Snow:

Temperature is also a key part of sap abundance. When it’s time to tap a tree for sap, you’re going to need certain temperature qualities at play for the sap to move up through the tree.

A Look At A Sap Season Timetable

I know what you’re thinking – can you just answer the question…? Absolutely. Well, sorta. Just a little more background information is involved than just a straight answer! Basically, the sap season depends on what the temperatures are like in your specific area. Get a calendar that tells you the temperatures in your area from January to April/May. 

To find the start of sap season, look at January and figure out when the temperatures are no longer just steadily below freezing but actually fluctuating from below to above freezing- that is your start time. To find the end of the season, look to March/April/May (if you’re lucky enough to live in an area with extra long springs), when you see steady above-freezing temperatures – this is your end date.

So, for all the time between those fluctuating temperatures to when the temperatures hold firm above freezing, that whole stretch, is sap season.

Now The Fun Part: How To Collect Sap

What if you live in an area where Sugar Maples flourish in abundance and you want to tap your own sap to make Maple Syrup? You can!

Sap tapping (this is not the technical name…) is an activity lots of people love and have even built small syrup businesses out of!

It is an endeavor and you will have to get special equipment, so only embark on this journey if it really excites you and you plan to do it safely (remember you’re dealing with a pretty cold time of year!). 

There are many delicious syrup brands you can get without ever having to step ONE FOOT in the woods. Like this delicious Coombs Family Farms Organic Maple Syrup!

The Need To Knows When Collecting Maple Tree Sap

However, if you really want to tap a tree on your own – there are a few things to remember! The size of the tree, the equipment you use, and certain things to avoid.

How Big Should The Maple Tree Be To Collect Sap?

The size of the maple tree really matters when you’re collecting sap! Here’s a quick rule of thumb when deciding which tree to tap.

• 12” or less in diameter: don’t tap
• 12” to 18”: tap one hole
• 18” and up: tap two holes

You never want to tap more than two holes per tree. It messes with the pressure building inside the tree which is necessary to move the sap throughout it.

How To Use A Sap Spout

Just like when you hang a picture, you want the drill bit you use to create the hole to match the size of the spout the sap is gonna pour out of. A great set that you can try out is this Dewalt Drill Bit Set!

For the spout, you’re going to want to use something that is durable & easy to clean. Liberty has a highly rated Stainless Steel Tap that has a little hook on it, making it easy and convenient for hanging a bucket under. It’s made of steel, so it’ll be easy to clean and won’t crack.

You’re also gonna want to be VERY CAREFUL when you’re putting the spout in – splintering the wood around it will just create more cracks in the tree, the sap will pour out from all the cracks, which will miss your bucket – and in turn, your plate.

What To Avoid When Tapping A Tree

• Don’t tap old wood. Make sure to tap only clean, white wood. Discolored wood could mean decay, and you’re not going to want to chance getting decay mixed up in the sap you could eventually be consuming.
• Don’t tap old holes because it could lead to cracking and as we’ve already discussed, you DEFINITELY don’t want that.
• Don’t use any sort of sanitizing agent.
• Don’t leave spouts in the tree! Make sure to remove the spouts at the end of the season. Firstly, you paid money for that thing, you don’t want to lose it. Secondly, a lot can happen in a year- that spout could be knocked about, and it can create cracks that you’ll regret when you go back the next year!

How To Turn Maple Sap Into Syrup

There are a few things to remember when collecting the sap, and then turning it into syrup. Let’s talk about these below.

Collecting The Sap

You’re going to want to get sanitized buckets and jugs for collecting the sap. For some great options, check out these cute Tiawudi 2 Pack of Collapsable Plastic Buckets, that are perfect for collecting sap!

Each day of collecting, you’re going to be able to collect about one gallon of sap. Until you have the chance to boil your sap, you’re going to want to keep it below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Maple Sap is a natural resource – and can spool. And it will spoil much quicker if it gets above 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Before boiling the sap to turn it into syrup, you must filter the sap to clear out any debris that might be floating around – check out how to filter and boil the sap below!

To Make Syrup, Simply Boil The Sap

PLEASE NOTE: only boil clear sap, make sure to discard any yellow or cloudy sap. We don’t always know what’s going on with a tree and want to only use the cleanest and healthiest parts.

When boiling the sap, you don’t want the temperature to rise above 219 degrees Fahrenheit (a candy thermometer is gonna come in handy here), and the way you handle it is gonna be very similar to how you would caramel. DO NOT STIR THE SAP, let it do its thing!

After you’ve boiled and filtered it again for debris or crystallized sugar, put it in a cool place to dry (not a cold place) and now, you’ve got yourself some homemade syrup. Yum!

If you’re unsure how to boil sap correctly, please check in with a professional to ensure your sap turns into a syrup that you can eat.

Wrap Up!

There’s a lot to learn, and love, about maple trees and their sap! Let’s go over what we learned!

• They all produce sap but only some of them are more favorable.
• There are fun ways to collect sap, that you can do on your own!
• There are certain times like from January – April that are best for collecting sap.
• Collecting sap can be an enjoyable activity!

As fall is in the air, Maple leaves will change color and Maple syrup will be filling up shops and homes alike. Hopefully, this gave you some fun ideas about sap tapping (again, not the official title!) or at the very least, helped you understand Mother Nature a little more!

References:

Farrell, M. (2013) Estimating the maple syrup production potential of American forests: an enhanced estimate that accounts for density and accessibility of tappable maple trees. Agroforestry Systems.

Ball, D. W. (2007) The chemical composition of maple syrup. Agroforestry Systems.

Lovett, G. M. & Mitchell, M.J. (2004) Sugar maple and nitrogen cycling in the forests of Eastern North America. Agroforestry Systems.

Wild, A.D. & Yanai, R. D. (2015) Soil nutrients affect sweetness of sugar maple sap. Forest Ecology and Management.

Tapping trees for maple syrup is a fun early spring activity. Many different kinds of trees can be tapped for maple syrup. In fact, any deciduous tree can be tapped for syrup. However, some trees produce better quality sap than others. Let’s go over the best trees to tap for delicious maple syrup!

Some of the best trees that can be tapped for syrup are sugar maples, black maples, red maples, Norway maples and silver maples. Each of these trees has different sugar content in its sap resulting in a sweeter or more dry syrup. Sugar and red maples have the sweetest sap for syrup.

Read on for more information about what trees you can tap for maple syrup, how to find these trees, and how to tap them for sugaring that will yield the most sap and do the least amount of harm to the tree.

The Best Trees For Maple Syrup

Almost any leafy tree can be tapped for its sap, but certain trees have sap with higher sugar content, making them more ideal for tapping. Below are some of the BEST trees for making maple syrup. 

The sugar content of the sap affects how much sap you will need to produce a sweet syrup. Trees with higher sugar content can yield more maple syrup with less sap.

Sugar Maples Provide The Sweetest Syrup

The sugar maple has the highest concentration of sugar in its sap, as its name implies. The sugar maple is native to North America and loves the sun and well-drained soils. The sugar maple will grow in partial sun but prefers areas where it can sunbathe just about all day!

This tree grows at a medium rate, tacking on about 12”-24” each year. The sugar maple can be identified by the color of its leaves, which are dark green on one side and a lighter green on the underside. In the Fall, their leaves will change to gorgeous yellows, oranges, and reds.

You can also look at the shape of the leaves along with the color to identify a sugar maple. The leaves contain three to five lobes and have smooth edges in between them.

Black Maple Trees Produce Less Sap Than Sugar Maples

The black maple tree is native to the Central and Eastern United States. This tree is fairly common and grows at a medium rate of 12”-24” per year. Black maples can grow to be between 60-80 feet tall at their full maturity.

Can you tell the difference between oak and maple trees? If not, here a great article to help.

The biggest difference between sugar maple and black maple can be identified by the leaves. The black maple has three lobes that seem to droop and sag, whereas a sugar maple more often has five firm-standing lobes on its leaves. 

The leaves of a black maple tend to have longer leaf stalks, a dark green color all around, and turn a bright yellow in the Fall. Black maples and sugar maples have similar sugar content in their sap, so consider yourself lucky if you have either one in your backyard!

Red Maple Trees Have Brilliant Red Leaves

The red maple tree grows in Eastern and Central North America, growing as far north as Quebec and as far south as Texas and Florida. The red maple is most famously known for its brilliant red leaves and is the most common tree in Eastern North America.

Here are a few tips for growing and fertilizing maple trees.

Identifying the red maple is fairly easy. You can pick this tree out from other maples by its reddish twigs and five-lobed leaves with segregated edges. The red maple is used for maple syrup production on a smaller scale than some other trees that can be tapped for syrup. 

The University of Maine, in a fact sheet from its Signs Of The Seasons: A New England Phenology Program, notes that the most obvious way to identify a red maple is that it has five lobes that reach out from the center, closely resembling how fingers extend from the palm of a hand.

One of the reasons the red maple is among the most common trees is because it’s not too picky about where it grows. The soil conditions can vary widely and it’s not too bothered by sun or shade. At its mature height, you can expect a red maple to be anywhere from 90’-120’.

Norway Maple Trees Have Five Wide Lobed Leaves

Norway maples are deciduous trees that are considered invasive. These trees can be seen as a problem because they can grow at a faster rate than some other native trees and take over areas. They’ll elbow out other maple trees with their shade tolerance, and in turn, block the sun from smaller trees.

Because they can grow in so many different conditions, these trees are often found in urban areas where their shallow root structures can still grow. You can identify a Norway maple by its wide, five-lobed leaves. However, if you look at the bark this will provide you with more clues to identification as the bark of a Norway Maple is a grayish-black color and has a furrowed texture. 

In the Fall, Norway maples are pretty lame. Unlike sugar, black, or red maples, a Norway maple does not change colors. Instead, their leaves tend to develop dark spots and fall to the forest floor before they get a chance to change colors.

Silver Maple Trees Have White Coloring Underneath Their Leaves

Silver maple trees can grow in many different types of soil and can survive through some periods of drought. These trees grow best in slightly warmer climates in the United States and Canada. 

A lot of maple leaves look the same, but our silver maple has a distinguishing feature that you can use to identify it! Although it is light green on top, just like other maples, the underside of the leaf is white. Additionally, you can look for five deep, sharp, and segregated lobes to confirm your observations. 

The bark of silver maple is grayish in color, but its leaves, with their white coloring underneath, are their biggest identifying factor. 

Silver maple trees can grow from 50’-80’ high and is one of the fastest-growing of all the maple trees. Some trees can reach 50’ in only 20 years of growth!

Where To Find Trees For Maple Syrup

Any species of maple tree can be tapped for syrup, along with some other non-maple trees, such as birch trees or black walnut trees. These trees, which have over 125 different species, can be found in different areas of the world, are commonly native to Asia, and can be found in different areas of Europe, as well as Northern Africa and North America. 

While maple trees can be found in many different places,  maple syrup production, as well as the trees that are tapped for their sap to make maple syrup, is located primarily in Southeast Canada and the Northeast United States. 

Trees should be tapped for maple syrup at the tail end of winter and the very beginning of spring for the best results. However, if you are planning on tapping trees for sap, you will want to start finding and identifying trees in the Fall. 

Fall is the best time of the year to find and identify trees for tapping. Why? Imagine trying to identify a maple tree by its leaves in the winter…there are no leaves! So, save yourself the hassle and plan ahead by scoping out trees in the fall.

How To Identify Trees For Maple Syrup

Once the leaves of the deciduous trees start to change color in Fall, it’s time to head out to identify trees that can be tapped for maple syrup. 

Bring a tape measure, something to mark the trees with, and a notebook to make notes on where the trees are. Or if you’re into futuristic stuff, you can document the trees you identify and their location with your phone. 

Identify Maple Syrup Trees By Their Leaves

If you are identifying trees to tap for syrup in the fall you will have the advantage of using the different color leaves to help with identification. You can use a field guide like this Guide To Maple Tapping: A Tree To Table Handbook For The Maple Tapper to help you identify the trees, tap them, and even learn to process the sap into syrup. 

You can also use an app on your phone to help you identify trees by the shape and fall coloring of their leaves.

You will also be looking at the shape of the leaves to identify which trees you want to use for tapping. Some maples will have three lobes, while others will have five. The edges of maple leaves can also be jagged or smooth. A good guidebook will help you identify the different leaf shapes. 

Make Sure The Maple Syrup Tree is 10 Inches Wide

Once you identify a type of tree that can be tapped for maple syrup, you will want to measure it to make sure it is tall enough and wide enough.

Measure the tree to be sure it is at least 10 inches wide. Next, you will want to measure that the tree is at least 4 feet tall from the ground. 

While 10 inches is the most commonly recommended width for tapping a tree for sap, the University Of New Hampshire’s article, Maple Syruping Tips For Beginners And Backyard Maple Sugar Producers notes that a tree should be no smaller than 12” in diameter to be tapped. 

Measuring the trees to confirm that they meet these initial requirements will help you choose trees that are both mature enough to give sap and are mature enough to withstand the process of taping without taking too much damage. 

Does Tapping For Syrup Hurt The Tree?

Tapping trees for syrup can harm the tree, but if you follow a few rules, the damage is minimal and heals over time as the tree grows.

First, you only want to tap a tree for syrup that is over four feet high and 10 inches around. Attempting to tap anything smaller and you could kill the tree. You will also want to use only one tap per tree. This yields the most sap and causes the least damage to the tree.

Finally, the time of the year you tap the tree is important for both retrieving the most sap and for preventing damage to the tree. Tapping the tree for sap when it is still freezing temperatures or below at night and slightly warmer during the day will give you the best results.

The Best Time To Tap Trees For Maple Syrup

The ideal time of the year to tap trees for sap that you can turn into maple syrup is in the late winter, as soon as the season is about to turn to spring. More specifically, you will want to tap a tree when the nighttime temperatures are still freezing (at or under 32 degrees) and the day temperatures are a bit warmer.

The ideal temperature to get the sap flowing is when it is 20-32 degrees at night and no warmer than 40 degrees in the day.

When you tap the trees in warmer temperatures, the hole from your tap cold close up. When this happens you would have to re-tap the same tree, which is when you can start to cause damage. 

You can tap maple trees with simple equipment you may already have, or you can buy a Maple Syrup Tree Tapping Kit to get started.

Wrapping It Up!

Tapping trees for sap and making maple syrup is an old tradition that still remains popular today. When done correctly, you can tap maple trees for sap over a long period. The first step in sourcing trees for tapping is to learn what types of trees are best for making syrup.

Next, you will want to identify the trees that you want to tap. Following the steps above will help you get started with this much-loved early spring tradition of tapping maple trees for sap and making your own syrup.

References:

Copenheaver, Carolyn A., et al. “Decreased radial growth in sugar maple trees tapped for maple syrup.” The Forestry Chronicle 90.6 (2014): 771-777.

Ouimet, Rock, et al. “Effect of tapping for syrup production on sugar maple tree growth in the Quebec Appalachians.” Trees 35.1 (2021): 1-13.

Van den Berg, Abby K., et al. “Growth rates of sugar maple trees tapped for maple syrup production using high-yield sap collection practices.” Forest Science 62.1 (2016): 107-114.