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22 North American Natural Resources: Timber and Forest Products

A Long Wait It takes about 40

years for a maple tree to grow large enough to tap for maple syrup. After that, the tree can produce sap indefinitely. Some trees that are being tapped now have been around since the US Civil War in the 1860s.

A sugar maple tree in Whonnock, British Columbia.

tap is placed into the hole so that it reaches about 2 inches (5 centimeters) into the tree. There is a hook on the end of it from which a sap bucket, with a cover, can be hung. When conditions are right, the sap will flow in the bucket. Sap is a thin, light-colored liquid. It is sweet, but not sweet like syrup. Maple syrup is made by boiling the water out of the sap. In general, it takes 40 gallons (151.4 liters) of sap to make 1 gallon (3.7 liters) of syrup. This helps explain why pure maple syrup is so expensive. Some of the most popular brands of syrup in stores are not made from maple sap at all; they are made of corn syrup and coloring, so they are less expensive than real maple syrup.