Tapping big leaf maple trees9/26/2023 ![]() Usually you will have to drill a new hole nearby after about 4 to 5 weeks. You may find that your holes will dry up before you want them too. If you drill too deep you may hit heartwood and decay.ĭrilling the hole wounds the tree and the tree will heal the wound. The hole is drilled 2 inches to 2.5 inches deep at a slight upward angle. Tap holes are more productive if drilled on days when the sap is flowing. Others say to work around the tree and slightly higher with each new hole (assuming you tap the same tree year after year). Some folks recommend that you tap on the sunny side and directly under a large branch. Ideally you want to tap at a convenient height. Most commercial spiles are designed for a 7/16 inch hole. Sugar content can be measured with a hydrometer ($15) or brix refractometer ($80 to $200). Our western sap ranges from 1% to 4% sugar and averages 2%, whereas the eastern sugar maples average just under 3% sugar. Back East, cold nights followed by warm afternoons give the best flow. On the West Coast, sap often flows a day before or after a weather change. Sap flows are normally sweetest in January and February. Tapping can be done once the leaves are off the tree and until buds are about to open (November through early March). Hosted by the BC Forest Discovery Centre and the Vancouver Island Sapsuckers. For a look at a past year's event, visit Cowichan Today. The festival is open to the public on the first Saturday & Sunday of February. I ran out of propane twice which delayed the process and the trees were producing faster than I could keep up.Join us at the BC Forest Discovery Centre in Duncan, BC for a fun filled two days of tapping, syrup making, syrup tasting, great music and tasty treats. Whether you are using wood, propane, natural gas or other, make sure you have plenty on hand. This in turn means it takes a lot of fuel. Have Plenty of Fuel on HandĪs noted above, it takes a lot of time to boil off the water, probably more than you are anticipating. I suppose you could use coolers with ice, a refrigerator if you have them available, or your Homestead Cold Room. ![]() I stored the sap in the snow bank until I had time to boil it down. Luckily I piled snow on the north face of my house where it is out of the sun this time of year. It was hard for me to find the time to boil it down before the sap had a chance to spoil. I was amazed how long it takes to boil off the water. Make sure to drill a hole in the top of the bucket that is not too large, allowing the hose to fit snugly otherwise ants will get in through the hole. When using a bucket that sets on the ground you should connect a rubber hose from the spile to the bucket. Also, when I didn’t use a sealed lid, curious or hungry critters knocked over the buckets and ants got in the buckets. I found that during peak flow times, smaller buckets filled faster than I had time to collect the sap, resulting in wasted sap. I recommend using large buckets that sit on the ground and have a sealed lid for collecting the sap. Simple to use, drill a 7/16″ hole 1-1/2″ to 1-3/4″ into the tree at a slight upward angle, about as high as your waist, insert spout firmly in the hole and hang a bucket from the S-hook. Tap a new hole, no closer than 6” from other holes, then you are likely to improve your results. Don’t leave the slow producing tap, hoping that it will improve its flow it won’t. If you have a tap that is producing less sap than other taps, re-tap it right away. Tapping beneath a large branch or above a large root will typically provide the best flow. You want to tap the south face of the tree, however, be willing to vary from due south. Trying to determine which trees are maples from the bark or from memory will almost certainly lead to tapping non-maples, which will produce a small fraction of the sap the maples will provide. Mark the trees you wish to tap in the summer when they still have leaves. Available at 10 Maple Syrup Tips for Rookies Mark Maple Trees in the Summer Our maple sugaring starter kit has everything you need to collect sap from 3 mature maple trees (sugar maples are best, but you can also tap black, big leaf or red maples).
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