Tapping Maple Trees
April 24, 2018
By, Alex Emerson
The Environmental Studies and Outdoor Education course tapped about 100 trees in the State Forest and on Thetford Academy’s property this winter. There were two different processes that we used, buckets and lines. When using buckets you tap a tree and hang the bucket underneath. When using lines it is similar, except the sap runs into the line and the lines bring the sap to a larger collection point. When the sap is running, the buckets and collection stations should be collected each day.
When tapping a tree, drill a hole using a 7/16th bit about 2 inches deep. Then hammer the tap into the hole. When tapping it is important to tap in a different spot each year because the holes cause scarring of the trees. The taps that are used for lines are made of plastic and the ones used for buckets are metal. Once the taps are in, it is time to start collecting sap and making maple syrup.