Sap collection tour:
Page 4

Beginning in the 1950s, plastic tubing became relatively inexpensive and provided a less labor-intensive and more cost-effective way to collect maple tree sap than the existing bucket method did.

In a plastic tubing sap collection system, each tree is tapped and connected to a network of tubing that eventually runs to a storage tank or sugar house.

Well-designed tubing systems use gravity to help move the sap through the tubing. In these systems, sap runs downhill from trees to the storage tank, which is typically located at a low point in the sugar bush.