- The primary objective when tapping a sugar bush is to minimize injury to the trees while optimizing sap yield
- It is important to follow tapping guidelines to prevent excessive drilling damage to the tree trunk in the tapping zone
- Tapping trees that are undersized can significantly delay growth and maturity of trees, and therefore will negatively impact the future sugar bush
Tapping Guidelines
The final decision on when and how maple trees are tapped resides with each producer. Long-term research and industry experience provide the following guidelines for tapping a sugar bush based on tree diameter. These guidelines balance sap yield and sustainability.
Important: doubling or tripling your number of taps will NOT result in doubling or tripling your sap! Two taps will yield about 135% of the sap.
This guideline applies only to sugar bushes that are in a healthy condition and have not been subjected to recent natural or induced stress. Stressed trees should not have more than one tap, or no tap at all if the stress is great enough. Stressed trees with less than 12 inches diameter should not be tapped. Producers using 7/16th inch diameter spouts should not use more than one tap, due to the amount of wounding and stained wood formed by the larger taphole.
| Maximum spout diameter (inches) | Taphole depth (inches) | Minimum tree diameter (inches) | Number of taps |
| 5/16 | 1.5-2 | 9-12 | 1 |
| 18-22 | 2* |
*In most cases, only one tap per tree is required if using modern vacuum tubing. A second tap produces on average only 30% extra sap under high vacuum. One tap per tree significantly reduces the cost of tap installation as well as minimizes internal staining of the sapwood. Therefore, only using one tap is a more cost-effective and sustainable practice. If two taps are used, place taps opposite each other, preferably at different heights, so they won’t compete for the same sap.
**Place taps opposite each other, preferably at different heights, so they won’t compete for the same sap
The written and graphic content in these pages was originally created by Todd Leuty (previous Agroforestry Specialist), and edited by Jenny Liu (previous Maple, Tree Nut, and Agroforestry Specialist) and Dr. John Steele (current Maple, Tree Nut and Agroforestry Specialist).