Originally Posted by
Quabbin Hill Farms
15 taps on a single tree is very bad as sugar making goes. When you make a tap hole an area of about 1 1/2 to 2 inches around and extended up and down from the tap hole becomes plugged with sugar sands and sap will never flow through that area of the tree again until the sapwood grows over it which could be 20 years. I have trees that are 3' feet across and I never place more than 2 taps this makes the tree sustainable for many years. You keep making 15 tap holes in that tree and you will soon run out of places to get a good tap.