Join us on our adventures in self sustained living to learn how to tap your Maple trees to make nature’s pure, delicious maple syrup. It is easier than you may think to make maple syrup and with a few basic supplies, time well spent in nature and patience any homesteader can enjoy the rewards of nature’s sweet gift. Come along on our journey as we learn together and share tips and tricks to making your own homemade syrup. Feel free to add comments below with your tips, successes or struggles as we want to create a community where other’s can share their stories and we can learn and grow together.
Part 1 – Locating And Tapping Your Trees
What you need to Tap Your Maple Trees
- Cordless Drill with 7/16″ or 5/16″ bit. The size of your drill bit needs to match your spile size and style
- Spile or sometimes called tap. Spiles are the spouts you hammer into the tree to direct the sap from the tree to the bucket or other sap-collection container
- Hammer to tap your spile into the tree after you have made your hole
- Containers for hanging from the spile to collect your sap – Food Safe Buckets with Lids, Food safe plastic bags
Identify and Find Your Maple Trees – How to make maple syrup
Now that you have your materials ready to tap your trees, it’s time to head to the woods and find your maple trees or your sugarbush. Your sugarbush is where you have a grove or several Maple trees close together. It is also easier to identify your trees in the summer or fall before their leaves fall by their leaves. You can mark your trees with ribbon tape so you can find them during the winter and early spring. Find trees that are 8 inches in diameter or larger as anything smaller is too young to tap. You should tap at least 6″ away from the prior year’s tap to avoid damaging your tree.
When to Tap Your Trees – how to make maple syrup
The weather is your indicator when you will need start tapping your trees. Sap “runs” when the nighttime temperature of the tree is freezing and the daytime temperature is about above freezing during the day. Maple trees create an internal pressure when the tree freezes at night and warms up the next day. The pressure is what pushes the sap out. Therefore, when you tap is going to depend entirely on where you live—geography, and elevation—and what the weather is doing that year. Here in Wisconsin, we usually tap in February and collect anytime during March or even April depending on weather patterns. We watch the weather and when it looks like we will have a freeze / thaw pattern, it is time to tap!
How to tap your trees – How to make maple syrup
Now you are ready to tap your trees. You will need to have the materials listed above and head to your sugarbush. You can tap your tree anywhere it is comfortable to collect from usually about 4 feet from the ground and the sap will flow best on the south side of the tree. Drill your hole about 1 to 2 inches deep at an upward angle. Do NOT go deeper than this (you can mark your bit with sharpie marker or tape to know when to stop drilling). Clean out the left over debris in the hole with a small stick nearby. NEVER blow in the hole to clear it, this can introduce bacteria into your tree. Gently hammer your spile or tap into the hole. Now you can hang your bag or bucket from the spile. The fun part is watching your container fill with sap. Join us for Part 2 in our How To Make Maple Syrup to learn how to Collect, Process and Bottle your syrup.
