# Tapping a native maple for syrup

> Which maples, birches and walnuts make syrup worth the boiling, how thick a trunk should grow before its first tap, when sap runs, and what a taphole costs.

Published 2026-11-06. Tags: How trees work, Forests & habitat. By Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/tapping-a-native-maple-for-syrup/

Every native maple can be tapped, and red maple is tapped widely beside sugar maple, the traditional syrup tree. Sugar maple and black maple give the sweetest sap, about 2 percent sugar. A trunk is ready for one tap at 10 to 12 inches across, 4.5 feet up, and for a second above 18 inches. Sap runs in late winter on days that thaw after nights that freeze, and about 40 gallons boil down to one gallon of syrup. Each tap is a wound the tree walls off for good, which is why the guides keep the taps few.

![Blue plastic sap bags hung on maple trunks in a sunny, snow-covered sugarbush, more bags on the trees farther back](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/articles/tapping-a-native-maple-for-syrup-1-1000.jpg?v=bac392ec "Sap bags on tapped maples in a small sugarbush on March 6, 2021. Sap runs on days that thaw after nights that freeze, until the buds break.")
*Photo: USDA Forest Service, Eastern Region, [Public domain](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASap_bags_mounted_on_trees_%2851029177276%29.jpg) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASap_bags_mounted_on_trees_%2851029177276%29.jpg))*

## Which maples, birches and walnuts to tap

Red maple is tapped widely beside sugar maple and is abundant across the maple-producing region, above all in its southern and midwestern parts. Where sugar maple is scarce, as toward the south of its range, producers tap other maples. Red maple sap usually holds 1.5 to 2 percent sugar, so a gallon of syrup takes more sap, fuel and time. Its flows are copious, and in an Ontario comparison of five maples its syrup matched sugar maple's in sweetness, flavor and quality. The table starts with the sweetest sap:

| Tree | Sap | Syrup and season | Do we grow it |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Sugar maple](https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/sugar-maple/index.html.md) | The sweetest, about 2 to 2.5 percent sugar | The season's first runs are usually the sweetest | No |
| [Black maple](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-maple/index.html.md) | Little different from sugar maple's | As good as sugar maple's | Yes |
| [Red maple](https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/red-maple/index.html.md) | Usually 1.5 to 2 percent sugar | As good as sugar maple's; sources differ on how long its season lasts | No |
| [Boxelder](https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/boxelder/index.html.md) | Lower in sugar | Used for syrup only to a limited extent | No |
| [Silver maple](https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/silver-maple/index.html.md) | The lowest in sugar of five maples tested | Satisfactory syrup in a shorter season | No |
| [Florida maple](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/florida-maple/index.html.md) |  | A limited source of syrup | Yes |

Mark the trees to tap in fall, when maple leaves are brightest and red maple's turn vivid red. In winter, red maple has rounded red buds on red twigs, where sugar maple's are sharp and brown.

![A tall red maple in red and orange fall color beside a dirt path, the sun bright in a clear blue sky behind it](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/articles/tapping-a-native-maple-for-syrup-2-1000.jpg?v=e14af5fe "A red maple in fall color on October 19, 2026. Maples are easiest to tell apart and mark for tapping in fall, when their leaves are among the brightest of the year.")
*Photo: Blue Whale Trees*

### Red maple's season

Many guides say red maple's early buds end its season sooner and spoil the flavor of late sap. University of Vermont research did not bear that out: in a 2020 test on vacuum tubing, red maples ran as long as sugar maples of the same size and gave as much syrup. Producers and pilot tests find its syrup tastes the same and goes off no sooner. Still, sugarmakers are divided:

> "Many producers include red maples as crop trees without a second thought. And still many others will walk past red maples with a roll of tubing." (University of Vermont Proctor Maple Research Center, *Total Yields From Red Maples*)

### Birches and walnuts

Birch sap holds about 1 percent sugar and runs in April as the maples finish, so a gallon of its syrup takes 150 to 200 gallons. Black walnuts gave 6 to 11 ounces of syrup a tap in a 2014 Cornell trial, against 32 to 64 for maples.

## Why sap runs on freezing nights and thawing days

A maple stores starch in its wood through late summer and fall, from [the sugar its leaves made](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/photosynthesis-through-the-year/index.html.md). When the wood warms to about 40 degrees, living cells turn the starch into sugar, which passes into the sap.

![The crown of a red maple in orange, gold and red fall color, its dark branches spread against a blue sky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/articles/tapping-a-native-maple-for-syrup-3-1000.jpg?v=45e9bd0c "A red maple's crown in fall color on October 26, 2026. In late summer and fall a maple stores starch in its sapwood, which turns to sugar in the sap as the wood warms.")
*Photo: Blue Whale Trees*

A thaw builds pressure in the trunk that pushes sap out of any hole. A freeze turns it to suction, which draws water up from the soil and refills the tree for the next run. Sap runs after nights in the 20s and days in the 40s, 8 to 10 times a season, about a gallon a tap each run.

The season runs from mid-February to early April in Pennsylvania and southern Maine. In Missouri, at the southwest edge of sugar maple's range, it starts in late December. It ends when the buds break.

## How big a trunk, and how many taps

Tap a maple only once its trunk is 10 to 12 inches across at 4.5 feet, 31 to 38 inches around on a tape. One tap suits a trunk up to 18 inches across, or 57 inches around, and a second fits above that. Our [growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=black-maple&years=25) puts a 3-foot black maple at about 10 inches across 25 years later on an average site.

## Tapping, collecting and boiling

Tap on a day above freezing, once the forecast shows the first run coming:

1. Drill a hole 1.5 to 2 inches deep, 2 to 3 feet up, with a clean, sharp 5/16-inch bit.
2. White or cream shavings mean live wood, and dark brown ones mean stained wood, so drill somewhere else.
3. Keep 6 inches to either side of an old hole, and 2 feet above or below it.
4. Tap the spout in until it is snug, never so hard that the bark splits, and hang a covered bucket or a sap bag on it.
5. Gather the sap every day and keep it below 40 degrees.

![A rusty metal spout in a maple's bark with a clear drop of sap hanging from its tip above a bucket](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/articles/tapping-a-native-maple-for-syrup-4-1000.jpg?v=609d8a24 "Sap dripping from a spout into a bucket in Michigan on March 10, 2013. A spout goes in only until it is snug, never so hard that the bark splits.")
*Photo: LadyDragonflyCC, [CC BY 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMother_Nature's_candy_%288549560048%29.jpg))*

Sap spoils fast once it warms past 50 degrees, and cloudy or yellow sap is thrown out. Boil it outdoors, since the steam of a long boil can damage the walls of a house. To find the gallons of sap a gallon of syrup takes, divide 86 by the sap's sugar percentage: 43 at 2 percent, about 29 at 3. The syrup is done at 7 to 7.5 degrees above the day's boiling point of water, about 219 degrees. Filter it hot, and bottle it at 180 to 190 degrees so it keeps.

## What a tap costs the tree

A taphole is a wound, and wood does not heal. The tree walls the hole off, with a column of stained wood above and below it, by the process called [compartmentalization](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/glossary/index.html.md#compartmentalization-codit):

> "This process injures the wood, which may become discolored or decayed as a result. If trees are to be tapped, every effort must be made to minimize injury while obtaining the desired amount of sap." (USDA Forest Service, *Tapholes in sugar maples: What happens in the tree*, 1978)

The walled-off wood never carries sap again, so each new hole has to find fresh wood. A tree that adds 2 inches of diameter in 10 years needs 20 years to cover an old hole 2 inches deep. On a healthy tree the bark closes over the hole in one or two years.

![Two trunks rising side by side in a summer woods, the left one split by a long strip of dead, decaying wood below a knot](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/articles/tapping-a-native-maple-for-syrup-5-1000.jpg?v=3a742476 "An old dead codominant stem compartmentalizing decay, on May 16, 2024. A tree never heals a wound but walls off the injured wood, a taphole's included.")
*Photo: Blue Whale Trees*

Pull the spouts when the season ends, and leave the hole open, with nothing put in it. Give fewer taps, or none, to a tree that is weak, damaged or slow to close its old holes.

## Where to start

Sugar maple and red maple are common natives we do not grow. Blue Whale Trees grows each of these from seed:

- **Black maple**, whose sap makes a syrup as good as sugar maple's. Zones 3 to 8, 60 to 75 feet.
- **Florida maple**, the southern sugar maple. Zones 5 to 9, 20 to 60 feet.
- [Yellow birch](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/yellow-birch/index.html.md), whose sap boils down to a sweet syrup. Zones 3 to 7, 60 to 75 feet.
- [Sweet birch](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sweet-birch/index.html.md), whose sap once made birch beer. Zones 3 to 8, 40 to 70 feet.
- [Black walnut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-walnut/index.html.md), the walnut of the 2014 trial. Zones 4 to 9, 70 to 100 feet.
- [Butternut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/butternut/index.html.md), promising in tapping trials of the 1920s. Zones 3 to 7, 40 to 60 feet.

The maples and birches are among our [yard trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/shop/yard-trees/index.html.md), and the walnuts among the [nut and fruit trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/shop/nuts-fruit/index.html.md).

## Common questions

### Which maple trees can you tap for syrup?

Every native maple can be tapped, and red maple is tapped widely beside sugar maple. Sugar maple and black maple give the sweetest sap, while red maple's thinner sap comes in copious flows that can match their syrup yields.

### Does tapping a maple tree hurt it?

A taphole is a small wound the tree walls off for good, with a column of stained wood that no longer carries sap. A healthy trunk closes the hole in a year or two and can be tapped year after year.

### Which side of a maple tree do you tap?

The south side, where the sun warms the trunk most, gives the most sap. Over the years, spread the holes around the trunk so each finds fresh wood.

### Can you tap maple trees too early?

Yes: in a mild winter, with January days above 50 degrees, holes tapped early can seal before the sap runs well. Tap as the season starts, on a day above freezing.

## Sources

- [How to Tap Maple Trees and Make Maple Syrup](https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/7036e/): University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Bulletin #7036 (Marvin Blumenstock, Kathy Hopkins and Jason Lilley, 2025): sugaring across the range of sugar and red maple, trees marked in fall while maple leaves are brightest, starch turned to sugar in the wood near 40 degrees, the 10-inch trunk at 4.5 feet and the taps by diameter, the bit, the depth and the spacing from old holes, the snug spout, the steam of a boil, syrup at 7.1 degrees above boiling water, hot filtering and canning at 180 to 190 degrees.
- [Maple Sugaring Tips for Beginners and Backyard Maple Sugar Producers](https://extension.unh.edu/resource/maple-sugaring-tips-beginners-and-backyard-maple-sugar-producers): University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension: every native maple tappable, red maple's round red buds and red twigs against sugar maple's sharp brown buds, the 12-inch floor and a second tap above 18 inches, runs after nights in the 20s and days in the 40s, 8 to 10 runs of a gallon a tap, sap kept below 40 degrees and spoiling past 50, cloudy or yellow sap thrown out, red maple's off flavor after bud break, the rule of 86, and syrup at 7.5 degrees above boiling water, about 219 degrees.
- [From the Woods: Maple Syrup, A Taste of Nature](https://extension.psu.edu/from-the-woods-maple-syrup-a-taste-of-nature): Penn State Extension, with *The Science Behind Sap Flow in Maple Sugaring* (Jennie Diehl Mazzone, 2025) and *Maple Syrup Production for the Beginner* (Anni L. Davenport of Penn State and Lewis J. Staats of Cornell University): red maple's less sweet sap, early bud break, rounded red buds and vivid red fall leaves, the season from mid-February to early April, holes closed in one or two years, pressure on a thaw and suction on a freeze, the flow stopping at bud break, the color of the shavings, boiling outdoors for the steam, and spouts pulled with no plug left in the hole.
- [Missouri Maple Syrup: Hobby to Sales](https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/dm3037): University of Missouri Extension (2024): sugar maple less common toward the south of its range, other maples tapped where it is scarce at the cost of more sap, the season from late December at the southwest edge of sugar maple's range, mild Januaries above 50 degrees that seal tapholes, other maples lower in sugar, dark brown shavings as a sign not to tap, and taps placed on the sunny south side and around the whole trunk.
- [Sugar Maple](https://research.fs.usda.gov/silvics/sugar-maple): USDA Forest Service, Silvics of North America, with the chapters on black maple, red maple, silver maple, boxelder, Florida maple and paper birch: sugar maple sap at about 2.5 percent sugar and its sweet first runs, black maple's sap little different, red maple's brilliant fall color and its syrup equal to sugar maple's in an Ontario comparison of five maples, the early buds and off flavor of red and silver maple and boxelder, silver maple lowest in sugar of five maples tested, boxelder and Florida maple as limited sources, and paper birch sap at about 0.9 percent.
- [Tapholes in sugar maples: What happens in the tree](https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/4042): USDA Forest Service, General Technical Report NE-47 (Russell S. Walters and Alex L. Shigo, 1978): the injury a taphole does, in the quotation, wounds walled off rather than healed, tapping near the start of the season, holes 2 to 3 feet up for buckets, and fewer taps for trees that are weak, damaged or slow to close their holes.
- [New Tapping Guidelines](https://mapleresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/1005newtappingguidelines.pdf): Brian F. Chabot, Cornell University, Maple Syrup Digest (October 2005): walled-off wood taken out of sap production, 20 years to cover a 2-inch hole on a tree growing 2 inches in diameter in 10, and tapping spread around the whole trunk.
- [Tapping Walnut Trees for a Novel and Delicious Syrup](https://smallfarms.cornell.edu/2016/01/tapping-walnut-trees/): Cornell Small Farms Program (Michael Farrell, 2016), with the Cornell Chronicle's *Researchers tap potential of walnut and birch trees* (2013) and the Cornell Maple Program's *About Maple Syrup*: red maple frequently tapped, the 2014 trial's 6 to 11 ounces of syrup a black walnut tap against 32 to 64 for maples, the butternut trials of the 1920s, and birch sap that runs in April as the maples end and takes 150 to 200 gallons a gallon.
- [Total Yields From Red Maples](https://mapleresearch.org/pub/total-yields-from-red-maples/): University of Vermont Proctor Maple Research Center (Wade Bosley, Brendan Haynes, Mark Isselhardt, Timothy D. Perkins and Abby K. van den Berg), with the factsheet *Red maple as crop trees for maple syrup production* (Abby van den Berg, Mark Isselhardt and Anthony D'Amato): sugarmakers divided on red maple, in the quotation, red maple abundant across the maple-producing region and above all its southern and midwestern parts, its copious sap, the 2020 test in which red and sugar maples of one size on vacuum tubing gave the same syrup and ran as long, and its syrup tasting the same and going off no sooner in producer experience and pilot tests.
- [Hobby maple syrup production](https://cfaes.osu.edu/fact-sheet/hobby-maple-syrup-production): Ohio State University Extension, fact sheet F-36 (2024, first written by Randall B. Heiligmann in 2002): red maple sap usually 1.5 to 2 percent sugar, and the more sap, fuel and time it takes to boil down to a gallon of syrup.

## Related

- Next step: [See the catalog](https://bluewhaletrees.com/shop/index.html.md)
- [A tree dripping sap, sticky drops or white foam: honeydew, slime flux and bleeding wounds](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/a-tree-dripping-sap-or-foam/index.html.md)
- [Fungus on a tree is not a death sentence](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/fungus-is-not-a-death-sentence/index.html.md)
- [How a tree’s photosynthesis changes through the year, from leaf-out to leaf fall](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/photosynthesis-through-the-year/index.html.md)
- [Sapsucker holes and the wasps that follow them](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/sapsucker-holes-and-wasp-damage/index.html.md)