Tapping for that “liquid gold”
by Elena Uhlenkamp
The time of year is upon us for harvesting and making maple syrup. When the nights are below freezing and usually in the 20s, and the days are between 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit this is when the sap in the maple trees starts flowing.
These temperature ranges allow the sap to thaw and the sugar stored from the past fall to start flowing from the roots of the tree into the trunk.
The sugar season is four to six weeks, but this can vary depending on weather patterns.
The sap is no longer usable for syrup when the tree begins to form baby leaves in its buds.
Any tree can technically be tapped, but the sugar maple is the most common and the best tree for tapping. The sugar maple has the highest sugar content in the sap compared to other trees. Red maples are another tree that can be tapped.
The average tree tap can produce about 10 gallons of sap, which is a fraction of the tree’s total sap production. How much sap you can tap from a tree varies and many factors play into it such as how cold a winter was, the age of a tree, the length of the tapping season and the health of the tree....