% of sugar in sap

[old tom]

I know there is supposed to be about 3% sugar in maple sap. Is that only Sugar Maples, how much would be in Red, Silver, Box Elder or other Maples? Thank you for reading this

Old Tom

[KV Sappers]

I wish you could just say Sugar Maples give you 3%, reds give you 2%, ect. ect. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. Depends on the tree, location, weather, sugarbush in general. One persons Sugar Maple may have sap of 2.5% while anothers may be 1.5%. I have mainly reds and I average anywhere from 1.2 to 1.7 just depends. A guy up the road may have red maples and he or she may be getting 1 to 1.3. You just don't know until you test the sap.

[TexTheDog]

I was checking the sugar content of a tree a couple of weeks ago and it read 1.5%, however today I collected and found that the sugar content is 5%!

So, I am wondering, does temperature affect the sugar content? When it was 1.5%, the temps were 9°C and today the temps were 1°C and the content was much higher and it was on the same tree....

[maple2]

i have a sugar maple next to the sugarhouse that always runs between 4-6% a soft maple,12ft away, always runs at 1.2%.both on the edge of the river.