Tapping Trees (click here to read the rest of the story)

This year we have about 96 taps out. With all the tapping, collecting, boiling, and bottling we have not had a chance to share this post about our trees.

The sap we use to make syrup comes from our property and two other properties in a family own tract of land. We tap both red maple trees and sugar maple trees. These warmer temperatures will cause the trees to bud and put an end to the season. When a tree begins to bud the sap will lose its sugar content and will no longer be viable for making syrup.

We began tapping our trees the second week in February. Here are some pictures showing the process of tapping a tree. A small hole is drilled through the bark and into the sap wood. A spile is then tapped into the tree using a hammer. You can tell when it is time to stop tapping the spile into the tree by the sound the hammer hitting the spile makes. It will go from a higher pitched tap sound to more of a thud. We then attach blue tubing and put the other end of the tube into a 5 gallon food grade pail.

To hear more about our syrup adventures, watch for the next blog about collecting sap and making syrup!