Question 01
When should I tap my maple trees?
Tap when days start climbing above freezing — around 40°F — while nights still drop below it. For most of the maple belt that's February or early March; USDA's state-by-state averages run from early February in West Virginia to about March 10 in Wisconsin, and the date can swing three to four weeks from one year to the next. Watch the 10-day forecast for a stretch of freeze-thaw days rather than a calendar date.
Typical tapping dates for your state →Question 02
Can I tap too early?
Yes. Tapholes slowly dry up and seal over — usually within 6 to 10 weeks — so tapping weeks before the real season can cost you the late runs. Tap when a run of freeze-thaw days is actually in the forecast.
Check the sap-flow forecast →Question 03
What temperatures make sap run — and why did it stop?
Sap flows when wood temperature swings across 32°F: a freeze reloads the tree, a thaw pushes sap out. Field research counts a freeze-thaw day as a low under 30°F and a high over 37°F; the classic sap day is a night in the 20s followed by a day in the 40s. Without a new freeze, flow keeps going for 30 to 72 hours and then fades.
See freeze-thaw days near you →Question 04
How much sap and syrup will I get?
A bucket tap on a sugar maple gives about 10 gallons of sap in an average season — about a quart of syrup. With 2% sap it takes about 43 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.
Estimate your season →Question 05
Which trees can I tap?
Sugar and black maples are best — their sap averages about 2–2.5% sugar. Red and silver maples work too; their sap is often a bit less sweet and they bud earlier, which can shorten the season. Norway maple, boxelder, birch, and black walnut can be tapped too, but most give less sugar or much less sap.
How to identify maple trees in winter →Question 06
How big should a tree be, and how many taps?
Current conservative guidance waits until a maple is 12 inches across at chest height (about 38 inches around). Give it one tap; add a second only above 18 inches on a healthy, fast-growing tree, and stop at two. Drill a 5/16″ hole no more than about 2 inches into the wood, slanted slightly upward, and stay at least 6 inches above or below last year's holes.
Taps-per-tree calculator →Question 07
How often should I collect sap, and how do I store it?
Keep sap below 40°F — microbes grow slowly there and quickly above 50°F. In cold weather collect and boil at least every other day; once it's in the mid-40s or warmer, boil the day you collect. Dump sap that turns cloudy, yellow, or stringy ("ropy") — never blend it into good sap.
Question 08
How do I know when syrup is done?
Syrup is finished at 7.1°F above the temperature water boils at that day, which gives 66 °Brix. Measure water's boiling point with the same thermometer rather than assuming 212°F, then confirm with a hydrometer or refractometer.
Finishing temperature calculator →Question 09
When should I pull my taps?
When nights stop freezing and the buds swell. Late "buddy" sap gives syrup an off-flavor. Pull the spouts gently as soon as the season ends and don't plug the holes — the tree seals them itself, usually within one to three years.
Question 10
Can I sell my maple syrup?
Usually, but the rules depend on your state or province — whether you need a license, where you can boil, what the label must say, and the minimum density (66 °Brix under US and Canadian grade standards; Vermont and New Hampshire require 66.9).
Selling rules by state →Question 11
Why is my syrup thin, sour, or crystallizing?
Thin syrup (under 66 °Brix) spoils more easily — boil it a little longer. Syrup above about 68.9 °Brix can crystallize in storage. A sour or slimy, stringy syrup usually means the sap spoiled before boiling; late-season buddy sap gives a different off-flavor.
Check your density →Question 12
Is making maple syrup worth it — what does it cost?
A few buckets and a backyard boil cost very little beyond fuel and bottles, and yield about a quart of syrup per tap. Your real cost per gallon depends mostly on fuel and how many seasons you spread your equipment over.
Work out your cost per gallon →Question 13
Where on the tree should I drill, and does the south side matter?
Drill into clean, light-colored wood about chest high, at least 6 to 8 inches above or below last year's holes and 2 inches (preferably 4) to the side, and at least 6 inches from branch scars or cracks. The 2022 producers manual calls tapping the south side, over a big root or under a big limb maple folklore and says to avoid it: no one aspect gives more sap over the long term, though a south-side hole may run a few days earlier. Straight or angled about 10 degrees upward makes no difference to yield; the angle only helps a bucket drain. If brown or tan shavings come out of more than 5 percent of your holes you are hitting old stain, so move higher or lower and use fewer or shallower taps.
How to tap a maple tree →Question 14
Does tapping hurt the tree? Can I tap it every year?
Done correctly, trees may be tapped every year for many years; a season's sap removes about 0.22 percent of a 12-inch tree's dry biomass, versus roughly 2 percent it sheds as leaves. The growth research is mixed: a 10-year University of Vermont experiment on 93 trees found no significant growth difference between untapped, gravity and vacuum trees, while a Quebec study found slower growth at one of seven sugarbushes and a 4-tree study at the northern range limit saw ring width fall about 50 percent. The tree never heals a taphole; it walls it off with a stain column 12 to 18 inches long, so what matters is that the tree keeps growing about 0.04 inch of radius a year and that you spread holes around the trunk.
Taps-per-tree calculator →Question 15
How many taps can a 2x4 or 2x6 evaporator handle?
Size by your biggest run: taps times sap per tap, divided by the hours you can boil. Planning figures for a good run are about 1 gallon of sap per tap (UNH and the 2022 manual), 2 to 3 gallons (Ohio State) or 0.5 to 2.5 (Cornell). Averages of makers' 2006 ratings put a 2x4 flue-pan evaporator at 15 gallons of water an hour, a 2x6 at 25 and a 2x8 at 35; Cornell's worked example is 100 taps at 1.5 gallons over 10 hours needing 15 gallons an hour, and UNH's is 25 taps over 6 hours needing 4.2 gallons an hour. Plan on a 10-hour day at most, and a flat pan does far less: 3/4 to 1 1/2 gallons per square foot per hour.
Estimate your season's sap →Question 16
How long does it take to boil sap into syrup?
It depends on the water load and the pan. At 2 percent sugar you remove about 42 gallons of water for every gallon of syrup. A flat pan evaporates about 3/4 to 1 1/2 gallons per square foot per hour, so Ohio State puts a gallon of syrup at 28 to 56 hours of boiling on a 1-square-foot pan or 9 to 18 hours on a 24x18-inch pan; a 2x4 flue-pan evaporator rated at 15 gallons an hour is far faster. Reverse osmosis to 8 degrees Brix cuts the water to under 11 gallons, and one hobby RO took a 25-tap boil from about 8 hours to 4.
Sap-to-syrup calculator →Question 17
Can I stop boiling and finish another day?
Yes; most hobbyists boil in batches over several days. Partly boiled sap spoils faster than raw sap because it is sweeter, so cool it quickly and keep it cold like sap, below 40 degrees F; the 2006 manual says sap going into an RO should stay below 48 degrees F and concentrate should not be held long. Cornell's tip for batch boiling is to keep the pan below about 50 percent sugar until you stop adding sap, then finish. When you shut down, the 2022 manual says keep boiling 15 minutes after the last raw sap goes in, which kills the bacteria behind ropy syrup, and flood the pans so a hot arch does not scorch them.
How long sap keeps →Question 18
Why did my syrup turn cloudy after filtering or canning?
Most often it was reheated too hot. Above roughly 195 to 200 degrees F syrup throws new niter (sugar sand), so clear syrup clouds again; the 2022 manual and Cornell put the line at 200 degrees F, the 2006 manual, UMaine and UNH at 195. Reheat only to 180 to 190 degrees F for bottling, never back to a boil, and refilter reheated syrup, especially for glass. Cloudiness can also be sugar sand that was never filtered out, or, in syrup packed under 66 degrees Brix, the start of fermentation.
Check your density →Question 19
What is the sediment in the bottom of my jar, and is it safe?
Gritty or cloudy sediment is niter, also called sugar sand: minerals, mostly calcium malate, that drop out as sap concentrates, with some sugar trapped in them. Sources disagree about harm. Cornell says it is not harmful, just unattractive; the 2006 producers manual says moderate quantities can cause digestive problems and that sugar sand can carry very high lead levels where old equipment was used, which is why filtering and lead-free gear matter. Hard, glassy crystals are something else: sucrose from syrup finished too dense.
Question 20
Can I filter maple syrup through cheesecloth or a coffee filter?
For sap, yes: a coarse filter, layers of cheesecloth or a coffee filter removes bark, shavings and insects before boiling. For finished syrup, Cornell allows that a very small producer can use something as simple as a coffee filter, and UNH says settling and siphoning the clear syrup off works well for small volumes. To get truly clear syrup most people use a synthetic felt cone (sold as Orlon) with three to five paper prefilters, filtering hot at 180 to 200 degrees F and expecting 2 to 3 gallons before a change. Wash filters in hot water only, never soap or bleach.
Backyard maple syrup guide →Question 21
How do I know syrup is done without a hydrometer?
By temperature. Boil a pot of water with your thermometer first (leave it in at least 3 minutes), then finish syrup 7.1 degrees F above that reading for 66 degrees Brix, or about 7.5 above for the 66.9 that Vermont and New Hampshire require. Measure water the same day: 212 degrees F holds only at 29.92 inches of mercury and weather swings of a degree or more are common, and a 1 degree F error leaves you near 63.4 degrees Brix (molds easily) or 69 (crystallizes). A refractometer is the other option, accurate to about 0.2 degrees Brix but not for hot syrup.
Finishing temperature calculator →Question 22
How do I read a maple syrup hydrometer?
Fill a hydrometer cup with syrup straight off the heat, at about 211 degrees F, and float the hydrometer. Hot test: 66 degree Brix syrup reads about 58 degrees Brix hot (subtract 8), and 66.5 reads 58.5. The two red lines on most maple hydrometers are set for Vermont's 66.9: the hot line centered on 59 degrees Brix at 211 degrees F and the cold line on 66.9 at 60 degrees F, each about 0.5 Brix wide, so finishing to the red line outside Vermont gives 66.9, not the 66.0 minimum. For a cold test add 0.05 degrees Brix for every degree F above 60: a reading of 65.8 at 80 degrees F is really 66.8.
Hydrometer temperature correction →Question 23
There is mold on my syrup. Can I skim it off and reboil?
Current guidance says no. The 2022 producers manual, UMaine and Ohio State all say to discard moldy syrup: the fungus is more than the mat you can see, and mycotoxins cannot be filtered out or destroyed by heating. Older sources, including Cornell's 2020 beginner notebook, the 2006 manual and a producer-association FAQ archived in 2013, said to heat to 190 degrees F, skim and repack, so you will still find that advice. UMaine found fungi in 8 of 14 moldy samples that averaged 65.6 degrees Brix, most above the legal 66, so correct density alone is not protection; hot-pack at 180 degrees F or more, invert the container, and refrigerate after opening.
Question 24
Does maple syrup need to be refrigerated, and how long does it keep?
Unopened, properly hot-packed syrup is safe at room temperature with no time limit, but its grade keeps darkening. The 2022 manual's quality shelf lives are about 6 to 12 months in metal, up to 2 years in plastic and about 4 years in glass; a 2010 Ohio State consumer sheet disagrees, giving plastic 3 to 6 months and glass indefinitely. Syrup in plain plastic jugs lost 2.6 points of light transmittance a month in UVM tests, versus 0.8 in oxygen-barrier jugs. Once opened, refrigerate or freeze it: syrup never freezes solid and holds its quality indefinitely in the freezer.
Question 25
Why did my syrup crystallize, and can I fix it?
Hard crystals in the bottom mean the syrup was finished too dense and then sat. The 2022 manual says it happens to syrup finished at 68.9 to 72 degrees Brix; the 2006 edition said 67.5 to 70, and UNH says over 67. The crystals are nearly pure sucrose with little maple flavor, a quality defect rather than spoilage. None of the sources we use gives a consumer fix; producers bring the batch back into range by adding water before packing. Thin syrup under 66 degrees Brix has the opposite problem and spoils more easily.
Check your density →Question 26
Why does my syrup smell like alcohol or taste fizzy?
It is fermenting. Yeasts turn sugar into alcohol when syrup was finished under 66 degrees Brix, packed too cool, or put in unclean, unsealed or partly filled containers; the signs are a sweet, fruity or alcoholic smell, foam, a bulging cap and sometimes fizz. None of the sources we use offers a way to save it, and fermented syrup cannot be sold as Grade A. Prevention is density at or above 66 degrees Brix, hot packing at 180 degrees F, filling nearly full, inverting, and refrigerating after opening.
Question 27
What is buddy sap, and what does buddy syrup taste like?
Buddy sap is late-season sap gathered once the buds begin to swell. Amino acids, particularly asparagine and methionine, rise in late sap and form sulfur compounds when boiled, so the syrup tastes chocolaty (almost Tootsie Roll-like), butterscotch or strongly bitter, with cooked-cabbage notes later in the season. There is no fix: once you taste it, stop, and sell that syrup only as Processing Grade. Red and silver maples break bud earlier than sugar maples, though Cornell notes the link between red maple and buddy flavor has yet to be proven.
When to pull your taps →Question 28
Should I throw out the ice in my sap buckets?
Nobody has measured it in a research source we could open. UMaine's quality manual notes that many sugarmakers throw bucket ice away because they believe it holds very little sugar, and that the ice is useful for keeping sap cold, but it takes no position on the sugar. One hobbyist's blog measurement is the only number we have: 37 liters of bucket ice boiled down to half a liter of syrup, a 74 to 1 ratio, roughly half the sugar concentration of fresh sap. So the ice is weaker than sap but not pure water; tossing it concentrates what you boil, keeping it adds boiling time.
Question 29
Is 3/16 tubing better than 5/16?
On a slope, when new, yes. Narrow 3/16-inch lines make their own vacuum: 24 inches of mercury or more in UVM trials, and 18.2 gallons of sap per tap versus 11.25 for 5/16 in a 2015 Cornell trial with about 23 feet of drop. The advantage fades as fittings plug with microbes: UVM measured plus 12 percent in year one, plus 3.8 percent in year two and nearly 10 percent less than 5/16 by year three, and bleach sanitizing restored 53 percent. It needs slope, at least 3 percent by Proctor's advice or 5 percent plus by the 2022 manual, with 10 to 25 (or 15 to 35) taps per lateral; on flat ground it only adds friction.
Question 30
How does a filter press work, and how much diatomaceous earth do I use?
A filter press pumps hot syrup through a stack of plates coated with diatomaceous earth (DE), which traps niter. The usual rule is 1 cup of food-grade DE per 5 gallons of syrup: stir half of it into 3 to 5 gallons of hot syrup and recirculate until it runs clear, then add the rest to the batch, more for dark or late-season syrup. Heat syrup to about 200 degrees F so it is still 180 leaving the press; filtering starts below 20 psi and should stop as pressure nears 50. When the press plugs, add more DE, not less, and never use pool-grade DE.
Question 31
How does reverse osmosis work for maple sap, and will a home water RO do?
An RO pushes sap through a membrane that lets water through and holds sugar back, so you boil less water: 42 gallons per gallon of syrup at 2 degrees Brix, fewer than 11 at 8 degrees Brix. A single membrane should stop at about 8 degrees Brix. UVM found concentrating to 8 percent does not substantially change syrup composition or flavor, and up to 22 degrees Brix generally gives lighter syrup. A home water RO works but slowly: Cornell reports a unit rated 30 gallons an hour on water removed only 4.5 to 5 gallons an hour from sap, still halving a 25-tap boil from 8 hours to 4, and you must remove the carbon filter, which strips sugar.
Sap-to-syrup calculator →Question 32
Can I boil sap on a turkey fryer or a cinder-block arch?
Yes, for a few taps. The standard extension starter rig is a firebox of concrete blocks at least two blocks high with a smokestack, holding flat pans at least 2 inches deep and 12 inches square (Cornell) or several catering pans (UMaine), with at least 1 1/2 inches of liquid kept in the pan. A propane turkey fryer works and can make fine syrup with sap 2 to 4 inches deep and no frying oil left in the pot, but Cornell warns the propane bill can approach the value of the syrup. Do the bulk of the boiling outdoors, since about 40 gallons of water leaves as steam per gallon of syrup; past about 50 taps a small continuous-flow evaporator becomes practical.
Backyard maple syrup guide →Question 33
Can you tap maple trees in the fall or summer?
Not usefully. Sap runs only when the wood freezes and thaws, so there is no summer run. Fall freeze-thaw weather can give some sap, but sap sugar is usually much lower in fall than in spring (Cornell's walnut trials measured under 1 percent in fall against 2 to 3.5 percent in spring), and Canada's organic standard prohibits fall syrup production outright. A taphole also stays productive only about 4 to 8 weeks on buckets (Cornell says 6 to 10), so a fall hole is spent before the real season. The exception is bigleaf maple in the Pacific Northwest, which runs December through February.
When to tap in your state →Question 34
Do I need a license to sell my maple syrup?
It depends on where you are, and the rules vary more than people expect. New York exempts producers who pack only their own syrup from its food processing license, though adding ingredients triggers it. Wisconsin requires a state food processing license unless you sell only to other processors and under $5,000 a year; Pennsylvania requires registering as a food establishment; New Hampshire requires your name, address, volume and grade on the label; Vermont requires a batch code and 66.9 degree Brix density. In Canada the federal grade names apply to syrup crossing provincial lines, and in Quebec bulk sales over 5 liters must go through the producers' federation with quota, while direct sales in containers of 5 liters or less need none.
Selling rules by state and province →Question 35
What happened to Grade B maple syrup?
The name was retired when Canada (2014) and the United States (2015) adopted one Grade A with four color classes: Golden Delicate (75 percent light transmittance or more), Amber Rich (50 to 74.9), Dark Robust (25 to 49.9) and Very Dark Strong (under 25). The 2022 manual says the change was made partly to dispel the implication that Grade B meant lower quality. Under Maine's old standard, Grade B (Extra Dark) spanned 43.9 to 27.0 percent transmittance, so most of it is now sold as Dark or Very Dark, but the bands were redrawn and there is no exact match. Off-flavored syrup is Processing Grade, sold only in 5-gallon or larger containers.
Maple syrup grades explained →Question 36
Why is maple syrup different colors?
Color and flavor come from heat-driven browning reactions on the sugars; sap taken to syrup density by reverse osmosis alone is a nearly colorless, tasteless sugar syrup. Early-season syrup is usually lighter. As the season goes on, sap carries more microbes, which convert some sucrose to glucose and fructose that brown more readily, and the manual calls microbial contamination a major contributor to darker grades; long batch boiling darkens syrup too. Grades measure the result as light transmittance at 560 nanometers: Golden 75 percent or more, Amber 50 to 74.9, Dark 25 to 49.9, Very Dark under 25.
Maple syrup grades explained →Question 37
How much sap does one tap give in a day, and how fast will a bucket fill?
On a good day, roughly a gallon, with a wide range by source and system: the 2006 manual puts a good run at 4 to 5 quarts per taphole, UNH at about 1 gallon, Ohio State at 2 to 3 gallons, and Cornell's planning range is 0.5 to 2.5 gallons per tap per day; a UVM 3/16-inch gravity line peaked at over 6 gallons a day per tap. Most days give much less than that, and flow fades after 30 to 72 hours without a new freeze. Over a season a bucket tap on a sugar maple averages about 10 gallons of sap, roughly a quart of syrup, while high-vacuum systems with good sanitation get 15 to 25 gallons or more.
Syrup yield estimator →Question 38
How much does sap weigh? And a gallon of syrup?
Sap weighs about 8 1/3 pounds per US gallon (a liter is about a kilogram), so a full 5-gallon pail is a little over 40 pounds; the manual's lifting advice is knees bent, back upright, load close to the body. Finished syrup has a density of about 1.33 grams per milliliter, which works out to about 11.1 pounds per US gallon and 13.3 per imperial gallon; USDA's bulk prices imply the same, $31.00 a gallon against $2.80 a pound.
Question 39
What does maple syrup sell for?
For the 2025 US crop, USDA's average price across all sales was $35.60 a gallon. The channel matters most: retail averaged $56.70 a gallon, wholesale $48.70 and bulk $31.00 ($2.80 a pound). Retail ran from $82.20 in Connecticut down to $50.50 in Indiana. About 77 percent of US syrup by volume is sold in bulk to packers, and raw sap sold for an average of $0.30 a gallon. In Quebec, bulk syrup moves through the producers' federation at a set price and requires quota.
Work out your cost per gallon →Question 40
Is maple syrup healthier than sugar? What is its glycemic index?
Maple syrup is about two thirds sugar by weight, nearly all sucrose: 100 grams carry roughly 67 grams of carbohydrate and 260 kilocalories, and a tablespoon (20 grams) about 52 kilocalories and 12 grams of sugar. Its minerals are real but small, and datasets disagree by two to three times: manganese 2.05 to 2.91 milligrams and riboflavin 0.44 to 1.27 milligrams per 100 grams. The glycemic index is not settled either: the University of Sydney database lists 54, while a 34-person Quebec trial averaged 78 with a huge spread, so treat it as sugar for blood-glucose purposes. One 42-person, 8-week trial found a modest glucose benefit versus a plain sucrose syrup; reviewers say more human studies are needed.
Question 41
How can I tell real maple syrup from pancake syrup?
Read the label against the law. Under the US standard of identity (21 CFR 168.140), maple syrup is concentrated maple sap containing not less than 66 percent soluble solids derived solely from that sap; the only optional ingredients are salt and permitted defoamer. Pancake or table syrup (21 CFR 168.180) is a blend of sweeteners such as corn syrup with at least 65 percent solids, in which maple is optional and need only reach 2 percent by weight if it is featured on the label, so a maple-flavored table syrup can contain little or no maple. Blends like these were the norm until the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 forced honest ingredient lists.
Question 42
How do I clean niter and scale off my evaporator pans?
Water first, chemicals last. Between boils drain, rinse, refill with permeate or soft water, boil a few minutes and soak overnight; fresh residue comes off with warm water if you get to it promptly. For hard scale, use a commercial pan cleaner from a maple equipment maker (most are phosphoric acid) warmed to 140 to 160 degrees F, then rinse several times, and get every bit of niter off because leftover niter holds acid and taints the next syrup. Never use muriatic acid, bleach, abrasives, steel wool or wire brushes, which pit stainless. The editions disagree on vinegar: the 2006 manual describes 2 to 3 cups in a pan of water left 12 to 24 hours, the 2022 edition drops it.
Question 43
Where is most maple syrup made?
Quebec, by a wide margin: 239.1 million pounds in 2024 from about 54 million taps, which the producers' federation counts as 72.8 percent of world production, and 90 percent of Canada's 18.9 million gallons in 2025. The United States made 5.877 million gallons in 2026; Vermont produced 3.09 million of that (52.6 percent), followed by New York (884,000), Maine (641,000) and Wisconsin (504,000). The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 9,573 US farms with maple, with New York, Vermont and Wisconsin each over 1,300, and small industries as far afield as Washington (13 farms) and Oregon (4).
Maple syrup atlas →Question 44
Can I freeze sap or concentrate to boil later?
Yes. Cornell classes refrigeration below 40 degrees F as short-term storage, a few days, and freezing or pasteurization as long-term, months. At hobby scale Ohio State suggests keeping the tank in shade with mounds of snow around it, adding blocks of ice frozen from water or sap in warm weather, and using old chest freezers to hold containers of sap. RO concentrate spoils faster than raw sap, so chill or freeze it promptly if it must wait. Dump any sap that turns cloudy, yellow or stringy rather than freezing it.
How long sap keeps →Question 45
Can I make maple candy, cream or sugar from my syrup?
Yes; every maple confection is syrup boiled past syrup density and then crystallized on purpose, and every target is degrees above the boiling point of water measured that day, never a fixed thermometer number. Maple cream is boiled 22 to 28 degrees F above, cooled undisturbed to 45 to 90 degrees F, then stirred; molded candy goes 32 to 34 above (the manual) or 28 to 34 (Cornell's notebook), seeded with cream and poured at 150 to 175 degrees F; granulated sugar 50 to 70 above, stirred as it cools; sugar on snow 23 to 26 above, poured on clean snow without stirring. A gallon of syrup yields about 8.25 pounds of cream, 7.81 of candy or 7.26 of sugar, and only defect-free syrup should be used because cooking intensifies off-flavors.
Question 46
Can you drink maple sap straight from the tree?
Fresh, clear, cold sap from a clean system is commonly drunk; it is about 1.7 to 3.0 degrees Brix, pH 6.6 to 7.5, with a sweetness of about 0.04 relative to sucrose, and it is collected as a seasonal drink in some Asian countries too. It is perishable: bacteria, yeast and mold grow in it, so keep it below 40 degrees F and discard anything cloudy, yellow or off-smelling. Selling it is a regulated beverage business; Cornell's bottled-sap review names pathogens including Clostridium botulinum to design for, and Quebec's NAPSI certification covers sterilized maple water. One 300-milliliter commercial maple water carried about 60 kilocalories and 15 grams of sugar.
Question 47
What makes maple syrup organic?
Certification of the sugarbush and sugarhouse, not the sap, since no pesticides are used in maple production anyway. Organic rules are stricter than the producers manual in places: Vermont Organic Farmers allows no taps under 9 inches DBH, 1 at 9 to 14.9, 2 at 15 to 20.9 and 3 at 21 inches and up, bans synthetic defoamers in favor of certified organic vegetable oil, and bars syrup over 250 parts per billion lead. Canada's standard (CGSB 32.310) gives 1 tap at 20 to 40 centimeters, 2 at 40 to 60 and 3 above 60, requires companion species to be at least 15 percent of the wood, and prohibits UV treatment of sap (which Vermont allows), air injection and fall syrup. More than half of Quebec's syrup is certified organic.
Selling rules by state and province →Question 48
Can I tap maple trees on public land?
Usually not without paperwork. State and provincial park rules prohibit damaging vegetation, and a taphole counts. Several states license or lease sugaring on designated state forest parcels (Vermont, New York, Maine, Michigan and Minnesota among them), almost always at commercial scale with per-tap fees and multi-year terms, and some national forests sell personal-use tap permits through the ranger district while others allow none. Town street trees belong to the town. Our public-land pages cite each jurisdiction's actual rule.
Public-land tapping rules by state and province →
