It usually takes 40 parts of maple sap to make 1 part of maple syrup. 1 part is equivalent to 1 gallon. However, this is different when measuring how sugary or sweet your maple syrup can be as there are different sugar levels in most types of maple sap. No. Maple sap is not the maple syrup yet. However, you need the maple sap as one of the primary ingredients in making maple syrup. The difference of the pressure on the inside of the bark and the outside of it makes the sap flow outwards through the opening made on the bark. Therefore, when you start tapping the maple tree at the right season of the year, you will surely get a flowing maple sap right from the spile into the bucket. It doesn’t matter how old it should be. As long as it has a trunk diameter of 12 inches or more, it is ready for tapping. Normally, this should be a maple tree over three years old or so, but it may vary on each maple tree. Maple syrups are graded differently in every region. In the US, grading standards are different in every region in the country. However, between the American and the Canadian maple syrup, there is a substantial difference. Mostly, it is graded according to which season the syrup was produced. It will hurt, but maple trees, like any other trees, have a special way of healing themselves. Tapping is also good as the barks are removed and new barks will be formed. It eases the tree’s skin-changing process, and it also promotes good liquid flow inside the trunk and branches of the tree.