Sugar % in sap

[Belden Boiler]

I have been closely checking the sugar content of the sap from my sugar maples and from the red maples. The sugar maples are in the woods and have very small crowns and the reds are out on the yard or around the edge of the woods and have more branches. My sugar maples are mostly 1.4 or under with many around 1.2. The reds are double that. Two of them are at 3.0 . I have pulled 2 dozen of the sugar taps and moved them to the field where the reds are. My questions are do you think the sugar % of the sap will remain better for the reds through out the season? Will the sugar maples % go up from the low levels I am seeing now? Do you think the trees will see similar numbers next year? Anyone have any first hand knowledge of this? Much appreciated.

[Run Forest Run!]

Welcome to the forum. :)

My personal experience from the trees I tap is that the sugar maples in a forest setting hover around 2% max. Trees out in the open are much better and stay higher in sugar content until the end of the season when they finish off at about 1.75%. Most of the season, however, they are producing 2.5 - 3% on average.

That's the beauty of being able to measure sugar content in sap. You can pick and choose which trees you want to hang buckets on without the guess work.

[Belden Boiler]

Thank you for the advice. I find it amazing that trees 10 feet apart that look almost the same in size can be so different in sugar % 1.4 vs 2.6. Then also a nice looking healthy tree at 1.1 vs a small nasty looking one at 2.3. Go figure!
What are the odds that the trees will have similar % levels in following years?

[Run Forest Run!]

I find, in my case with the trees that I tap, that they can vary a little bit year to year but not that much. Generally speaking, my good sugar trees are good sugar trees year after year and that is also the case with the low ones.

Have fun this year and keep us posted on how you are doing!

[Michael Greer]

Trees on the edge of the woods often have a lot of branches on one side, but that's more than those in the middle of the woods, and you will get both more sap, and more sugar. I tap all different sorts of maples, including Norways and box elder. I wouldn't walk very far to get to either of them, but if they are right near-by, I tap 'em all.

[Belden Boiler]

Thanks for the reply. I will continue to monitor.
Here is another thing i found- i have 13 sugar maples back in the woods that are within 10 feet of a small creek. two years in a row the sugar content has been very low- 1.0 to 1.2. they have given alot of sap but poor sugar content.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Beldon welcome to the site. WHAT THE HECK pulling taps and moving them around are you nuts. Now if you have kids give them a good look over and tell me are they the same, same grades, wants, desires, tastes in foods?

[blaircountysugarin85]

I just checked the sugar in my collection tank after gathering today and was pleasantly surprised with 2.5%

[michael marrs]

what devicer are you using to check the sugar content? I was looking into getting one last year, but then some guys said the content changed all the time, not sure if that is true, or not

[Lethalbowman]

You can get a refractometor on amazon (1-10% scale) for about $30 that will show you what your sugar content is. It is a great tool to have.

[Flapjack]

I used to paint roofing nails green,yellow, and red like a traffic light. And then I would measure the sugar content per tree and mark them accordingly. Red I skipped tapping, yellow were sometimes tapped, and green were my highest production of sugar. But now I'm older and the paints gone off my nails ( most of the nails are gone) and I just use the trees closest to the sugar house for less carrying of buckets.But I do think you're on to something with being selective which trees you tap. Just my 2 cents

[Belden Boiler]

That is a terrific idea about using the different color nails. I may do that and then check each one again next year to see if the difference in sugar % between the trees is still the case.
It sure saves on boiling time. On my most recent boil I spent 25% less boiling time to make the same amount of syrup as I did on the previous boil (before I checked the sugar %). I am now dumping the sap that is less than 1.3 %.
I have found 3 red maples that are giving me 3% sugar and several others that are above 2.5%.
The best two sugar maples from the woods are at 2.8% and then 1.8%. All the other ones are at 1.6% or lower. Several are at 1.0% or lower that I have been collecting from- a waste of time and wood to boil it down.
I wish the sugar maples on my property were out along the field edge, but I will work with what I have.

I have been using a maple sap hydrometer to measure sap.
The refractometer you mentioned; does it take an instantaneous reading? ie is it faster and easier than waiting for the hydrometer to stop moving? It is a slow process filling the cup and then trying to get an accurate reading.

[Lethalbowman]

Yes the refractometor just takes a couple of drops of saps to get a reading. The entire process takes about 15 seconds. You just have to clean the unit off with fresh water between each sample to ensure an accurate reading.

[Belden Boiler]

The red maples on my yard and the reds out in the open seem to bud out a few weeks earlier than the sugar maples back in the woods.
It stands to reason I should be more cautious of the red maple sap getting "buddy" sooner. Do you agree?

Do you think that if everything else were equal about the trees and their location that a red maple will bud out earlier than a sugar maple?

[Snappyssweets]

I don't use nails but I do use spray paint to mark my trees.
I also mark them for how many taps I can put in a tree. Saves me a little time and headache. I simply glance at the paint as I approach the tree and know how many taps to pull out of the bucket.

May have to add a green, red, or yellow dot based on sugar content next year.