How To Make Maple Syrup By Drilling A Small Hole In A Maple Tree

March 5, 2018

Did you know that you can tap a Maple tree and make your own syrup?

Adam Davenport taps three maple trees every year and makes delicious maple syrup for his family and friends. He shared the relatively simple process on Reddit for anyone excited to try it. The catch is that it can only be done during a certain time of the year -- and that time is right now!

The key to getting sap to flow is that you need above freezing temps during the day and below freezing temps at night.

Let's begin.

Step 1: Find a Maple tree

Credit: adamdavenport

**The tree must be at least 12 inches in diameter to tap it once without stressing it**

Step 2: Drill A Small Hole

Credit: adamdavenport

Step 3: Insert a Spile (Tap)

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Step 4: Let it flow

Credit: adamdavenport

Step 5: Filter out bugs and dirt

Credit: adamdavenport

Step 6: Boil the sap

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Step 7: Filter out the sugar sand

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Five gallons of sap makes about one pint of syrup.

Credit: adamdavenport

You can also tap Walnut trees!

But since these trees have a much higher pectin content, use pectinase to break the sap down and make syrup instead of jelly.

Credit: adamdavenport

The final result.

Credit: adamdavenport

According to Adam, the color of the syrup is affected by bacterial activity in the sap.

"The warmer it is, the more activity there is, the darker the syrup gets," he said.

Credit: adamdavenport