sap flow

[Mapler Jim]

This is my second year. Last year I had 3 taps on one tree. This year I have 14 taps on five trees. On the 15th of Feb I tapped the trees. At that time I noted that four of the trees were just wet or drippinmg very slowly. When we tapped the 5th tree the sap came flowing out. It came out in a thin stream not drips. The next day I collected 5 gallons of sap from this tree and and 3 gallons from the other 4 !! Question is. Is this normal? Didn't have anything like this last year.

I boiled this trees sap seperatly down to one quart. It came out a very light tan, almost no color. Its very sweet with a very light Maple flavor. After I put it in the refrigarator it got as thick as honey ! How come? I've done another batch from this tree and with the same result. The sap from the other trees is normal. They are all White Maple trees.

[PerryW]

2-3 gallons from one good tap is not uncommon on a good run, so if your tree has two or more taps, it is normal. Also. if you tap during this good run, the tap will run like crazy at first, then slow down to a steady drip after a few minutes (2 drips per second is a good run).

Syrup get much more viscous when refrigerated, but sounds like you may have boiled a little past syrup if it thickened to honey's consistency.

[happy thoughts]

I'm not familiar with white maple and honestly had never heard of it. Are you sure that's what you're tapping? A quick search shows that it's mainly a southern species and unless purposely planted in your area would not seem likely to occur in the wild in IL.

What's normal? The best answer I can give you is good luck finding an answer to that because every tree and every year is different. Yes some trees can be finicky. Red maples for one in my own experience. How well any tree produces will depend on many factors including the location of a particular tree, how much exposure it gets and how crowded it is in the tree lot.

People seem to be getting a lot of light syrup this year at least from the reports on this forum. My own is running lighter than last year. And I've made very light almost colorless syrup as you describe in a past year from sugar maple sap given to me by a friend who had too much to process. It may have been the year or the tree. I'll never know because the tree was felled after that season. It was great tasting syrup though.

Very thick syrup as you describe sounds like very dense syrup of high brix value to me. The sap may have had a very high sugar content. Check for density of the finished syrup with a syrup hydrometer or refractometer. If you don't you'll only be able to guess at the answer.

Lastly, unless you have huge trees, your tap count seems high to me. In order to take 3 taps a tree would need to be at least 30" in diam. (not circumference). You probably already know that but I mention it just in the name of tree health. You want to maintain healthy trees if you want to sustain your hobby.

Good luck and have a great season!

[PerryW]

white maples are the same as red maples around here.

the loggers & sawyers call them white maples or soft maples due to the color and hardness of the wood vs sugar maples (hard maples).

[happy thoughts]

Thanks for clearing that up for me, perry:) Red maples would tend to explain the erratic sap production Jim is seeing.

[Mapler Jim]

Thanks guys. I'm learning. A bit faster then I want but learning none the less.