Quote:
Originally Posted by Kumabjorn
Being of a curious and inquisitive mind, how many gallons of sap does a tree yield?
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10-40 gallons per tree, depending on three variable; the size of the tree, the temperature difference between day and night, and length of time that the temperature difference goes above and below freezing every day.
Some trees can have
3-4 sap buckets tapped into them while smaller trees might only be able to support one. The big commercial tappers don't even use buckets any more.
They run plastic tubing from tree to tree to collecting vats, just needing to be sure that gravity works for them.
The sap itself is absolutely tasteless when it comes out of the tree. You couldn't tell that it wasn't just plain water. I had about 8 trees on my property, but my neighbors all had more. The kids were able to make themselves a nice piece of pocket money each year, but carrying buckets of sap out of the woods is work! If there is enough snow still on the ground, they would put a big plastic barrel on a sled and drag it from tree to tree, dumping in the sap from each bucket. I'd estimate that each night they were able to boil down about 5-8 gallons of syrup to "A" grade. Most of the families preferred "B" grade as it has a much stronger maple flavor.
THIS was what it was like in my area every night during sugaring season, except there was no cement on the ground or bricks for the houses. We were in the woods... Very social, pretty drunk, and of course, darker as it was early April and the sun goes down early.
Stitchawl