Tapping sugar maple trees to make maple syrup is a big tradition in my part of Connecticut, so I wanted to show you how to tap maple trees to get maple sap to make maple syrup. We use plastic taps and tubing that are connected to buckets at the base of each tree. The advantage of using individual buckets is that some of the water in the sap will freeze in the collection bucket. The whole goal of boiling sap in an evaporator is to remove the water from the maple sap, so removing some of the water as ice is a super simple way to reduce your boiling time.
Tubing Connector for tapping sugar maples
We buy our taps and tubing from Leader Evaporator. The smallest length the tubing comes in is 500′, but don't fret, its quite inexpensive, about $60 for that much tubing. To buy a lesser amount of tubing locally would cost just as much. We use Tree Saver taps. Buy a bunch of their tubing connectors too, you will need them to tie several taps into one bucket.
In a future sugar maple tree tap video, we'll connect several trees into one large collection barrel.
Check your buckets every morning, scoop out the ice with a sieve, and then store the sap in a large barrel that is in a cold place packed with snow. The sap has to stay cold or it will spoil. You can tell if you sap has gone bad if it has a milky color to it.
We have a bunch of maple syrup making videos, including how to boil down your sap into maple syrup, click here to watch our maple syrup videos
Here is a great PDF from the Univ of Maine on how to tap trees and boil sap
Have any questions or comments? Please post them below:
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Mrs. Bishop's 4th and 5th Graders says
Thank you for showing us how to do maple syrup and teaching us how to “tap” the maple tree!
We appreciate your video because we are learning about the long a sound and “maple” was one of our words. 🙂
Cheryl says
I just read the charming picture-book book “The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night” and saw a picture of what looked like syruping in progress, with wooden buckets hanging from trees. However, all other clues in the pictures suggest that the story takes place in Autumn. I can’t imagine it’s a good idea to leave the buckets out, exposed, all year. Can you explain, or even guess about, this contradiction? I have searched google already and you seem to be the person most likely to be able to help me….
Thank you!
Eric Gunnar Rochow says
I guess they call that ‘artistic license’, tapping trees happens in late february, early March where I live in Connecticut , thx!
Shelley says
Hello, my boys and I really enjoyed watching your videos about how to get maple syrup. My boys had some more questions and wrote you a letter and we emailed it to the address in your video but I have just received notification that this is not the right email. Could you please send me an email address so we can forward these letters. Kind regards Shelley
Steve says
when you say the sap has gone bad because it was not kept cool, how bad? Is it still okay to eat, just a different flavor. What does the syrup smell like if the sap was “bad”?
Eric says
Sap that has started to mold or ferment is bad. you don’t want to use it. It has a green color to it and kinda milky. it smells bad too. thx!