Collect Sap

• 1). Identify trees that can be used to collect sap. Sugar maple, silver maple and red maple are good choices. Trees should be at least 1 1/2 feet in diameter and healthy.
  
  
• 2). In late winter, when the nights are in the 20 degree F range and days are in the 40 degree F range, is the time to tap maple trees. Drill the hole about 3 feet up from the ground and about 2 inches into the trunk on an upward slope. Make sure the hole is on the sunniest side of the tree. The size of the drill bit depends on the size of the spile.
  
  
• 3
  A spile and hook set up with a bucket.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Clean the wood shavings out of the hole and put the spile in the hole with the hook facing out. Use the hammer to firmly tap the spile into the tree; you should not be able to pull it out by hand. Hang the bucket by the hole in the top edge. Cover the bucket to keep rainwater out. Collect the syrup every day and boil it down or keep it in cold storage.
  
  
• 4
  An early sap boiling set up.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Prepare the evaporator, making sure you have plenty of fuel and shallow pans. Don't fill the container to the rim with sap or it will boil over. Keep the sap at least 1 1/2 inches deep in the pan by adding sap as it boils down.
  
  
• 5). Using a candy thermometer, measure the temperature of the raw sap as soon as it begins to boil. The sap is done when it reaches 7.1 degrees above the boil point. Watch it very carefully as it burns easily.
  
  
• 6
  Maple syrup is a traditional complement to pancakes.Alexandra Grablewski/Lifesize/Getty Images
  
  Filter the syrup using clean filter material to remove sediment. Pour the syrup into sterilized canning jars and seal. Make sure the syrup is at least 180 degrees F when poured into the canning jars.