What so special about Maple Trees?

All trees produce sap; so can we use any tree to make maple syrup?

The Sugar Maple tree is the best maple to use because the sap from the sugar maple is the sweetest (has the highest sugar content) of all the trees. Syrup can also be produced from other trees like birch but that would be birch syrup not maple syrup.

Tree leaves produce food (sugar) during the spring and summer through a process called photosynthesis. In the fall trees lose their leaves and the food gets stored in the roots over the winter when the trees are dormant. In the early spring this food is transported in watery sap from the roots up the trunk to the twigs and buds in order to produce new leaves. This is when sap is at its sweetest and right for syrup production.

Sap starts to flow when the temperature is above freezing during the day and below freezing at night.

Once the buds open the sap turns “buddy” or bitter and is no longer good for syrup.

Maple Sap collection is a short season lasting only a few weeks.