Tapping trees for syrup

[wkfg]

I'm getting about a litre a day which isn't much by the sounds of it. Maybe it's because I hacked the crap out of that tree last year. Our weather is single digit below zero at night and single digit above zero during the day for as far as the eye can see. I'm just drinking the sap. I find it reminiscent of coconut water.

If you bring sap to a quick boil such as making coffee, it will bring out the maple flavor and seem much sweeter.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I tapped our Manitoba maple or box elder or technically Acer negundo trees in the spring of 21. It was a particularly good year with overnight frost and warm daytime temps with plenty of sunshine. I used simple plastic hose (air brake line) because that’s what I had. I drilled slightly upward angled holes just the right size about 1 1/2” into the tree just the right size to firmly jam the plastic line in and ran it down to plastic milk jugs or any suitable bottles I could find. I used a propane fired turkey deep fryer with a fairly large pot to reduce it to something close to syrup and finished the job in a pot on the stove. It takes a lot of tree sap to make any amount of syrup. I didn’t keep track of how much sap I collected but I ended up with about maybe a gallon of syrup. I think it’s very good. It certainly is sweet and sticky but not as mapely flavoured as I thought it would be. I have used some to flavour some pipe tobacco and also in homemade chewing tobacco. It works great for that.

Sounds great. And that's the type of tree I'm using. I just drink it fresh because I didn't think I would get much syrup from one tree. How much syrup did you get?

 

[deluxestogie]

Belated welcome to the forum, @wkfg. Feel free to introduce yourself in the Introduce Yourself forum.

Bob

 

[Redleaf]

Sounds great. And that's the type of tree I'm using. I just drink it fresh because I didn't think I would get much syrup from one tree. How much syrup did you get?

I ended up with about 1 gallon of syrup. I didn’t keep track of the amount of straight sap that I collected but it was a lot. I have read online sources that say a typical yield from Acer negundo is anywhere from 60:1 to 80:1.

 

[skychaser]

Sugar Maples can run as high as a 3% sugar content to the sap. My Norway Maples are around 2%. I've read other types of Maples are also about 2%. You can tap Birch trees too, but they only have about 1% sugar. It takes about 45-50 gallons of sap for me to get a gallon of syrup with my trees. I have a big 4 gallon stainless steel pan I put on top of my wood stove and let it get most of the water out. Then finish reducing it in a sauce pan on the stove. If you let it go to far you get maple candy. If you wander off and forget about it, you get a house full of very maple smelling smoke and a pan of carbon atoms. Whoops. It thickens up pretty fast near the end. I make mine a little thinner than I did at first and just go by taste as when to stop now. You get better pancake mileage that way. I never thought of flavoring tobacco with it. I love cherry Cavendish, so I might have to try making a batch of maple.

 

[Redleaf]

Sounds great. And that's the type of tree I'm using. I just drink it fresh because I didn't think I would get much syrup from one tree. How much syrup did you get?

I was looking at evirivo Canada temps for Edmonton and I see daytime temps on the plus side of freezing and below at night. You could start tapping your trees anytime now ….

 

[Redleaf]

Actually just had another look and daytime temps don’t look very good past Saturday.
No rush.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I already did but nothing has happened yet

 

[skychaser]

Mine is flowing good. I got the first batch cooked down and it's extra sweet this year with less mineral crystals settling out than in previous years. Perhaps it's a result of our extra long snowy winter and it starting to flow later than before. ?? Dunno, but it sure is tasty!

 

[Redleaf]

We finally have some temps above freezing here. I should get started in the next cray or so. I got my hoses and turkey boiler pot all cleaned up after spending the winter in storage in the greenhouse. All I lack now is the ambition To go tramping through the snow to tap the trees.

 

[Redleaf]

Just got started late this afternoon. Should have been out earlier. The sap is running. Just doing the easy ones for now until some more of this snow melts.

 

[Redleaf]

Have enough sap to start boiling it down now. Couple decent days where the temp swing brought the sap out but not so good again with hardly any overnight frost. Forecast calling for rain and snow next four to five days. Temps should range well between overnight frost and daytime melting. I will give up the sap production for some warmer temps to get rid of the snow here and dry up the fields.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Mine isn't producing. I'm guessing because in my battle to control the tree, I pruned in fall.

 

[Redleaf]

Mine isn't producing. I'm guessing because in my battle to control the tree, I pruned in fall.

That may well be an issue. In the bush near my house they’re a lot of smaller maple trees and the moose and deer like to nibble on them. Every one of them is wet with sap, so I bet if you look at where the pruning took palace there will be tree sap leaking. The way I understand it, temperature swings are what build up pressure in the tree causing the sap to run, be it from a hole drilled into the tree or broken or cut branches.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

That may well be an issue. In the bush near my house they’re a lot of smaller maple trees and the moose and deer like to nibble on them. Every one of them is wet with sap, so I bet if you look at where the pruning took palace there will be tree sap leaking. The way I understand it, temperature swings are what build up pressure in the tree causing the sap to run, be it from a hole drilled into the tree or broken or cut branches.

It's such a catch 22 because I really dislike the tree, how it shades my garden, and is leaning towards the house. It makes a hundred little branches 6-8' up and at the base every year. And it's leaning towards the house. I wonder if I could do some ninja tapping in the bush next to the park next year.

 

[Redleaf]

It's such a catch 22 because I really dislike the tree, how it shades my garden, and is leaning towards the house. It makes a hundred little branches 6-8' up and at the base every year. And it's leaning towards the house. I wonder if I could do some ninja tapping in the bush next to the park next year.

Manitoba maples are noted for their unruly growth habits. In certain locations they can be trimmed and groomed into a nice looking tree but unattended they will take over. If the trees are on private land next to the park I can’t imagine anyone not giving permission to doa little sap collecting with a promise of a sample of the end result. If you are looking at trees on public land that’s another matter. Maybe a little goodwill like a public offering of the results …… a few jars for the food bank …. I don’t know, I’m grabbing at straws here.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Manitoba maples are noted for their unruly growth habits. In certain locations they can be trimmed and groomed into a nice looking tree but unattended they will take over. If the trees are on private land next to the park I can’t imagine anyone not giving permission to doa little sap collecting with a promise of a sample of the end result. If you are looking at trees on public land that’s another matter. Maybe a little goodwill like a public offering of the results …… a few jars for the food bank …. I don’t know, I’m grabbing at straws here.

You come across as a respectable member of a community.

 

[Redleaf]

You come across as a respectable member of a community.

Ha !!!! Well I’d like to think so. Opinions may vary.

 

[Redleaf]

Weather has definitely taken a turn for the worse here.
Previously shovelled out path to greenhouse/sugar shack and milk jug half full and frozen solid.
Just a couple days ago it was sitting on bare ground. You really have to look hard for the milk jug. It blends in with the snow. Look for two black lines coming out of the second tree

 

[Redleaf]

First batch