- [Mark] This is Mark Isselhardt,
Maple Specialist with University of Vermont Extension.
This is a Vermont Maple Minute.
Although sap is still collected
by some maple producers in buckets or plastic bags,
the majority of maple sap is currently collected
using plastic spouts and a network of tubing lines.
The standard tubing used for the lines
that run from tree to tree
is 5/16 of an inch inside diameter.
Typically, five to 20 taps are connected together
using this tubing to form a lateral line,
which is then connected
to larger diameter tubing called mainline.
These mainlines run downhill into storage tanks
where sap accumulates for later processing into maple syrup.
Sometimes it's good to think of a tubing system
as a watershed with the lateral lines being small streams
and the mainlines being increasingly larger rivers.
This has been a Vermont Maple Minute.
I am Mark Isselhardt,
Maple Specialist with the University of Vermont Extension.