How long?

[asknupp]

How long can sap stand before it has to boil?

[adk1]

All depends on temp. Best is boil it as quick as you get it. Otherwise, if you keep it cold enough a day or two maybe depending on temp?

[psparr]

The sooner the better, however, I only collect and boil on the weekends at our family cabin.
Only had one week when my sap went bad.

They say the sugar content drops with time due to a few factors.

I had a friend last season who wanted to tap a few trees so I gave him some spiles. He collected sap for a month and kept it in two five gallon buckets in his garage. He showed up with the sap and asked "whats next?" I told him that the sap was bad, but he wanted to boil it anyway. Long story short. He ended up with enough LIGHT syrup to equate to about 3% sugar content.

So I'd say there's no hard and fast rule.

[asknupp]

Might be dumb question but how do you know if the sap is bad?

[maple maniac65]

Might be dumb question but how do you know if the sap is bad?
When you boil it up and it stinks in the sugar house.

[psparr]

Might be dumb question but how do you know if the sap is bad?

It will smell in the bucket too. A little yellow is okay as long as it doesnt smell.

[Michael Greer]

They say to treat it like fresh milk.

[asknupp]

So in other words "use it or lose it". I got ya.

[Russell Lampron]

Letting sap sit allows bacteria to grow. The bacteria feeds on the sugar in the sap and lowers the sugar content. That means that it will take more sap to make a gallon of syrup and the bacteria in the sap that dies when the sap is boiled will clog up your filters sooner when you filter your syrup. You will still make a tasty finished product but not as much of it as if the sap had been boiled when collected.

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

I guess I found my answer....