Tag: Tapping

Showing 121 – 130 of 133 resources

The Timing of Tapping for Maple Syrup Collection

There are a variety of reasons why sugarmakers might want to tap earlier than the traditional date: thousands of taps that take several weeks to install, lower snow cover and easier walking before mid to late winter, climate change generally moving the season forward and providing more sap flow weather in January and February. For most sugarmakers, the bottom line is simply this: what tapping time frame results in the highest sap yield? The experiments described below, which were performed between 2000 and 2007, were designed to answer this question.

Publication:
Maple Syrup Digest
Date:
June 1, 2008

Comparison of the “Small” Spout with the Traditional 7/16″ Spout

The “small” spout, 19/64″ or 5/16″ in diameter, has been widely available to maple producers since the mid to late 1990’s as a “healthy” alternative to the traditional 7/16″ spout. While now in general use by producers in some regions, particularly those collecting sap by vacuum, the utility of these smaller spouts is still questioned by many sugarmakers, particularly those collecting sap by gravity. This article will review several studies conducted at the University of Vermont Proctor Maple Research Center comparing 7/16″ spouts with small spouts (for the purposes of this article, 5/16″, and 19/64″ will be considered equally as “small” spouts).

Publication:
Maple Syrup Digest
Date:
June 1, 2007

North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual, 2nd edition

A must have for any serious producer. One of the best books out there that cover all aspects of maple. This book has chapters on History of Maple Syrup and Sugar Production, Maple Resource, Planning an Operation, Managing Maple Trees, Sap Production, Syrup Production, Syrup Filtration, Marketing and many more. With over 300 pages this book is full of wisdom.

North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual (pdf) The maple manual is out of print. It is available instead as a for-sale PDF from Ohio State University Extension. Note that a more recent edition is available on this site here.

Date:
January 1, 2006

New Tapping Guidelines

Here I explain why maple producers should know the growth rate of trees in addition to diameter to determine the number of tapholes per tree.

Publication:
Maple Syrup Digest
Date:
October 1, 2005

A History of Taps and Tree Size

The current ‘traditional’ tap hole number guidelines involve adding a tap for each 5 inch dbh above 10 inches dbh. ‘Conservative’ guidelines involve placing one tap in trees 12 inch dbh and a second tap in trees more than 18 inches dbh. The reasons behind the traditional guidelines are not stated in the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual, but the conservative guidelines are suggested when there is concern for tree health. The purpose of this article is discover where these guidelines came from and to re-establish the reasons why they exist.

Publication:
Maple Syrup Digest
Date:
February 1, 2004

Field Evaluation of the Small Diameter Spout for Maple Sap Collection

Beginning in 1999, a newly introduced maple sap spout for use in smaller diameter tapholes was evaluated at Cornell University’s Uihlein Sugar Maple Research/Extension Field Station near Lake Placid, New York. After two sap production seasons, no significant differences were found in sap volume yield and sap sugar concentration in maple sap collected with the small diameter spout compared with that of the conventional sap spouts.

Publication:
Maple Syrup Digest
Date:
October 1, 2003

Effects Of The Use Of Paraformaldehyde (PFA) Sterilising Pellets On Sugar Maple Health: A Review

Higher and wider discoloration, compartmentalisation and decay in maple wood by the use of the PFA pellet restricts the healthy sapwood areas and diminishes translocation of sap and nutrients. Furthermore, technological advances for better sanitation in sap collection and storage presently in use by the maple industry, tested by research to be safe for maple tree health and syrup quality, have made the use of the PFA pellet unnecessary.

Date:
January 1, 1995