Syrup yields not equal across all operation sizes
Generally, the data suggests that the larger maple operations will realize higher average yields than operations with fewer taps.
Publisher: Maple News
Showing 1 – 10 of 23 resources
Characterizing maple sap flows
Individual sap flow events are highly variable and dynamic, ranging from slow, weeping flows that last for days to short bursts of high flow that last for only a few hours.
Drop and spout sanitation review
Considerable research has been conducted by the Cornell Maple Program and University of Vermont Proctor Maple Research Center on the effects of spout and tubing sanitation on improvements in sap yield and economics.
Spout colors can affect sap temp at the taphole
We reported in a previous article (Does Color Matter?, The Maple News June/July 2018) that color influences the degree of solar warming of spouts during sunny, windless days and can impact sap yields.
Cost of hitting stained wood when tapping
Avoiding tapping near previous tapholes is a common practice in maple production. This is because previous wounds create a zone of stained wood that extends slightly wider and deeper than the taphole, but extends upwards and downwards, often reaching 6-12 inches in length in each direction, affecting a volume of wood approximately 50 times (range of 15-150X) larger than the volume of the taphole (vanden Berg et al. 2023).
Update on Plantation Maple Research by UVM
For several years researchers at the UVM Proctor Maple Research Center studied the feasibility of collecting sap from saplings as an alternative production method for maple syrup.
2023 season barb spout results
The outermost rings of wood in maple trees have the highest sap flow rates and have sweeter sap than the wood found deeper in the tree. We designed a spout that incorporates both a shortened barrel and a series of barbs along the shaft to anchor the spout tightly within the wood and bark tissues.
We made Beech Syrup!
By tapping the trees for sap collection, it may be possible to create value from the beech trees in your forest.
Product Demo: Boiling on a Lapierre Hyperbrix rig with 35 percent concentrate
Today we are at the UVM Proctor Maple Research Center in Underhill Center, Vt. with center director Dr. Timothy Perkins, Jean Francois Goulet of Lapierre Equipment and Proctor’s Abby Van Den Berg, boiling on a Lapierre HyperBrix system with 35 percent concentrate. The new technology takes out 2/3rds of the water from the sap before it hits the evaporator. Lapierre donated the equipment to the Proctor center to support research. Van Den Berg’s findingsÑfollowing a blind taste test last fall with a group of volunteersÑ found there is no noticeable taste difference between syrup produced in a high brix process vs. conventional syrup.
Long-term average a better predictor of air temperature
Short and long-range weather forecasts can both be useful to determine the proper time to tap. But both also have limitations.