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Tapping Tips: The basics of identifying trees and setting taps

Whether you anticipate tapping in your backyard with a half dozen trees or you wish to begin a bit more aggressively with several hundred taps, the core techniques and methods are the same. This guide will introduce you to basic maple tree identification and then prepare you for the basics of tree tapping, time of tapping and the logistics of getting started in the woods.

Check-valve spouts vs. standard clear spouts

Leader Evaporator Co. Check-Valve (CV) spouts and adapters incorporate a small, free-floating ball which is designed to reduce or prevent backflow of sap into the taphole during freezing, when leaks in the tubing system occurs, and when mechanical releasers dump and introduce air into the system. Several studies over nearly a decade have compared sap yields from CV adapters and spouts to various non-CV spouts and adapters.

Tapping Zone Model – Tubing

This model estimates the proportion of clear, conductive wood in the tapping zone of an individual tree each year (for 100 years) based on the values input for tree diameter, tapping depth, spout size, number of taps, and dropline length. This is equivalent to the chances of tapping into conductive wood in this tree each year Ð if 80% of the wood in the tapping zone is conductive, you have an 80% chance of hitting conductive wood when you tap that tree. The model can be used to estimate whether various tapping practices are likely to be sustainable. A more complete description of the model and guidelines for its use can be found in the companion technical report “A Model of the Tapping Zone”, which is available on the UVM-PMRC website (http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc).

Tree Size and Maple Production

There are several important factors that affect the yield of sap from trees during the production season. One relationship that is sometimes overlooked is the one between tree size and yield. In order to develop models of tree size and yield to answer some of these questions, we measured the sap volume and sugar content from approximately fifty individuals along a wide range of sizes during the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

Getting Started with Small-Scale Maple Syrup Production

Making maple syrup is a time-honored tradition for woodlot owners, and anyone who has even a few maple trees. The process is as simple as boiling sap, but attention to a few details will make for a more pleasant, productive, and safe experience. A warning first, many people who start with just a few tapped trees quickly catch the maple bug; what starts as a handful of tapped trees can expand into hundreds of tapped trees.

Ask Proctor

Why are my tapholes leaking and what can I do about it? (Part 2) Being able to recognize what is really a leak and what is not takes some time and thought and experience. This article offers some tips.

Tree Size Matters

In order to develop models of tree size and yield we measured the sap volume and sugar content from a wide range of tree sizes during the 2016 and 2017 seasons. This article explores the findings.