Tappable Trees Questions

[frjeff]

OK, I have finally come up with what I may tap (first timer) next Spring:

I have:

3 Red Maples (one tap each)
1 Norway Maple (one tap)
3 Box Elder (Ash Leaf Maples) (possible four taps)

A) So, with this limited possibles, is it worthwhile for me to tap the Norway and Box Elders?
B) If so, should I keep the sap separate for processing?
C) Is the sugar content of the Box Elder and Norway enough to make it worthwhile?
D) And, do the Norway and Box Elders produce a similar volume of sap as the Reds?

Thanks for all of the help.

Fr. Jeff+

[maple flats]

I never tapped Norway maple but box elder makes good syrup. If for family and friends I'd blend it. If you grow big enough to start selling some you may want to separate but since they are all maples you do not need to. The box elder will produce as much or more sap. I never tested the sugar %.

[PapaSmiff]

I tap Norway maples and the sugar content is fine where I live.

[SilverLeaf]

I tap box elders and in my experience unless they are mammoth trees they will give less sap than your reds. I test my sugar content each year too and they are a little less as well. But tap them anyway - for a backyard setup they're still worth the effort!

[C.Wilcox]

Tap them all and mix sap with impunity. You won't be disappointed. Do a search on "box elder syrup" and you can see lots of discussion on this topic.

[BryanEx]

I agree with Wilcox plus if you only have access to 7 trees in total you will want to combine sap for the volume. 7 taps on a good sap day may give you 7 gallons of sap which boils down to a little over a pint of syrup. Think about boiling a pint of syrup without burning it. Combine it all and go for the volume.

[adk1]

thats alot of taps per tree

[frjeff]

thats alot of taps per tree

What's a lot of taps per tree???

[CBOYER]

from start :
3 Box Elder (Ash Leaf Maples) (possible four taps)

how big they are?
more than 2 or 3 is really too much

[adk1]

I think I read it wrong. I thought you meant you have 3 box elders and were gonna have 4 taps in each! haha...I think what you are saying is that you ahve 3 trees, and one will get 2 taps.

[frjeff]

I think I read it wrong. I thought you meant you have 3 box elders and were gonna have 4 taps in each! haha...I think what you are saying is that you ahve 3 trees, and one will get 2 taps.

Adk1,

Now you have it.

My box Elder is divided into three massive trunks. Going by the circumference/taps info on this forum, I should get two taps in the largest trunk.

Unless, they count as one tree since they all come from the same main root structure??

[C.Wilcox]

Lots of my box elders are of the multi-trunk variety and if they're larger trees I put one tap in each trunk. If they're small I tap about half the trunks and rotate the taps to a different trunk every year.

[ComputerSteve]

This year we had sap from red maples, and sap from box elders. We kept the saps separate. The red maple syrup tastes very good, and the box elder tastes really funky. The box elders were mostly in a flooded swamp, and I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it.

[Tithis]

I've only done this one season but I tapped almost exclusively Norway maples. I can't personally speak for their sugar content since I had no way to test or compare, but I've heard they give a good amount.

The syrup itself tastes perfectly fine and I didn't notice much of a difference between the time the sap went buddy compared to the one sugar maple I tapped.