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How long can I store sap? Sap is a highly perishable product. This article explains what happens as it is stored, and how to avoid problems.

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Filtering syrup in small batches is a huge pain. Any advice on how to make it easier?

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What causes syrup to be light or dark at different parts of the season?

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Q1: I’m considering switching from a flat pan to a larger pan with continuous flow, and keep hearing about the gradient. What is a gradient and why is it important? Q2: After a warm spell that made the sap stop running, a hard freeze made it start again so I collected and boiled. The syrup had an off-flavor. Why?

Ask Proctor: Defoamer

We regularly get questions from maple producers about which defoamers are the best to use. Of course, the answer is…it depends.

Ask Proctor: How does Sap Move Near Tap Wounds

Because of the vertical orientation of the dominant anatomical feature of wood (vessels and fibers), sap within the stem of maple trees moves primarily in a vertical direction, either upward during as the tree is freezing/uptake phase or downward (mostly) during the thawing/exudation phase. When a tree is tapped, a zone of impermeable wood forms around the wood.

Ask Proctor: Tiny Bubbles

Maple producers using tubing often observe bubbles emerging from the tree within the spout or first few inches of tubing when the sap is running. If the spout is not seated properly, leaks may occur.T hese are most noticeable as rapidly moving streams of small or large bubbles. At other times, these are not leaks, however repeated or overly aggressive attempts at seating spouts to make the bubbles stop can create leaks that further attempts at spout seating will only make worse.

Ask Proctor: Why do I sometimes make light-colored syrup at the very end of the season?

The typical trend over a sugaring season is for syrup to start out light in color and get progressively darker, eventually ending up with very dark (and strong or off-tasting) syrup at the end. While there can be some temporary excursions up and down in syrup light transmittance, the natural progression is from light syrup early on to dark syrup near the finish. However, occasionally a syrup producer finds that right as the season is concluding the syrup color goes up dramatically and wonder why this happens.

Ask Proctor: Why Isn’t Sap Yield from a Tree the Same Every Year?

We occasionally hear the question: “Even if the season is late or short, shouldn’t there be the same amount of sap produced during the time that does run than there
would have been if it were longer season or happened at ‘the usual’ time?”

Assessing Damage to Maple Sapwood Caused by Tapping

The area of stained sapwood associated with tapping or other wounds in maple trunks has long been interpreted to represent the area of wood that is compartmentalized, and thus unavailable for sap flow. We tested this interpretation by passing dye through maple stems that had been tapped and observing the area that was blocked. Our results indicate that the blocked portion of the trunk associated with a wound taphole is somewhat larger than the area which is visually compartmentalized (stained).