How maple sap is collected
Maple sap only runs on days above freezing, and a tree gives up just seven percent of it each season.
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The short version
Maple sap is gathered in late winter and spring from trees tapped in a stand called a sugarbush. Each tree is tapped by boring a hole and driving in a spout. Sap flows on days when the temperature rises above freezing, and the taps stay in place for the four to eight weeks of the season.
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Bore the tap hole
Maples are usually tapped from 30 to 40 years of age. A hole is bored into the trunk and a spile is driven into it. A tree supports between one and three taps, depending on the width of its trunk.
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Wait for a thaw
Sucrose stored in the roots rises through the trunk as sugary sap. It flows during the day when the temperature is above freezing, and the tap season lasts roughly four to eight weeks in late winter and spring.
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Collect into containers
Sap drains from the spile into buckets, bags or tubing that leads to a central tank. An average tree gives 35 to 50 litres a season, up to 12 litres in a day, which is about seven percent of its sap. A tree can be tapped until it is over 100 years old.
Worth repeating
- Syrup makers boil between 20 and 50 volumes of sap to get one volume of syrup.
- Increasing late-winter warmth shifts the sap season earlier in the year.
- Buckets have been largely replaced by plastic bags and tubing systems that carry sap to a central container.
Where it comes from
- Canadamore than 75% of world output
- United Statesaround 25%
2025, share of world maple syrup production. Quebec makes about 90% of Canada's syrup.
Where it goes next
Maple sap feeds 1 line directly.
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Sources
Cite this page: "How maple sap is collected." Assembly Line, 2026-11-03. https://assemblyline.org/make/maple-sap