Vacuum pumps are needed to harvest beech sap. Beech sap runs during freeze-thaw cycles and when temperatures are slightly warmer too. Beech sugaring season starts just after maple sugaring season starts and continues into the beginning of birch sugaring season. Sap from American beech (Fagus grandifolia) – the only species of beech we’ve tapped – is, on average, about 0.6 ° Brix, and we’ve found that the sap-to-syrup ratio is about 160 to 1. Beech sap contains very little sucrose and lots of fructose and glucose, so care should be taken not to process sap for too long at temperatures that are too high.