In Stardew Valley, “maple” means three linked things: the Maple Tree, the Maple Seed it drops, and Maple Syrup, which you collect by putting a Tapper on a Maple Tree. A regular Tapper fills with syrup every 9 days and a Heavy Tapper every 4. Each bottle sells for 200g (250g with the Tapper profession), and you’ll want a few spare for the Bee House recipe, the Chef’s Bundle and Maple Bars.
All figures below are from the Stardew Valley Wiki and apply to version 1.6.15, the latest PC release the wiki’s version history lists as of October 2026.
Maple questions that keep coming up
“I need Maple Syrup but I don’t have a Tapper. How do I get one?”
Reach Foraging level 4. That surprises people who read older advice: in a Steam thread from 2016, the accepted answer was level 3, which was correct then. The wiki Tapper page notes that version 1.6 moved the recipe to level 4. Chopping trees and foraging is the quickest way there, and one later reply in that thread suggested leaving stumps alone until you have Tappers.
“I put a Tapper on, waited, took it off, and got nothing”
That’s the most common mistake. In a Steam thread titled “Tree Tap problems”, replies explained that the Tapper has to stay on the tree until a little syrup icon appears over it; then you click the Tapper to collect. Pulling it off early wastes the days it already put in. For Maple Trees, that wait is 9 nights.
“Do Tappers work on maple trees outside my farm?”
Yes. Players in a Steam discussion about tappers outside the farm said theirs worked fine on wild trees, and one described running a maple and oak tapper setup off the farm. The wiki Maple Tree page confirms it: Maple Trees outside the farm can be tapped or chopped, except those inside Pelican Town itself. Cindersap Forest is a good spot to look.
How to get Maple Syrup in Stardew Valley
Craft a Tapper, place it on a mature Maple Tree, and come back 9 days later. Here’s the full route:
- Level Foraging to 4 by chopping trees and picking up forage. The Tapper recipe arrives overnight after you hit the level.
- Craft a Tapper from 40 Wood and 2 Copper Bars.
- Find a fully grown Maple Tree: one on your farm, or a wild one outside Pelican Town, such as in Cindersap Forest.
- Place the Tapper on the trunk and leave it there.
- When the syrup icon pops up (after 9 nights), click the Tapper to collect. It starts the next batch on its own.
Tappers keep working through winter on Maple Trees, so a row of them is income in a season when crops aren’t. Lightning or a bomb blast will destroy a Tapper and its contents, and hitting the tree once with an axe or pickaxe pops it off intact if you want to move it.
There’s also a rare backup source. The wiki Maple Syrup page says a Wood Chipper processing Hardwood has a 0.66% chance to give Maple Syrup. Don’t plan around it.
Heavy Tapper and the Tapper profession
The Heavy Tapper works twice as fast, so Maple Syrup comes every 4 days instead of 9. It costs 30 Hardwood and 1 Radioactive Bar, and you buy the recipe for 20 Qi Gems in Qi’s Walnut Room on Ginger Island. It’s also a reward from the remixed Forager’s Bundle.
For more gold per bottle, take Forester at Foraging level 5 (trees drop 25% more wood) and then Tapper at level 10. The wiki Skills page says the Tapper profession makes syrups worth 25% more, which lifts Maple Syrup from 200g to 250g. The Artisan profession doesn’t apply, even though the game labels syrup an Artisan Good.
Is maple the best tree to tap?
Among the ordinary trees, it’s slightly ahead, though not by much. Dividing the wiki prices and times by the days gives this:
| Tree | Product | Regular Tapper | Sell price | Gold per day (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maple | Maple Syrup | 9 nights | 200g | 22g |
| Oak | Oak Resin | 7 nights | 150g | 21g |
| Pine | Pine Tar | 5 nights | 100g | 20g |
| Mystic | Mystic Syrup | 7 nights | 1,000g | 143g |
So if gold is your goal, tree choice among maple, oak and pine barely matters; tap whatever you have and grow a mix, since each product has its own crafting uses. Mystic Trees are in another league, but their seed is a Foraging Mastery reward. Its recipe, per the Maple Seed page, takes 5 Maple Seeds plus 5 each of Acorns, Pine Cones and Mahogany Seeds, so stockpile Maple Seeds early.
What is Maple Syrup used for?
Hold on to at least a few bottles before you sell. The main uses from the wiki:
- Bee House: 40 Wood, 8 Coal, 1 Iron Bar and 1 Maple Syrup (recipe at Farming level 3). This is why most players hunt syrup in their first spring.
- Chef’s Bundle: one Maple Syrup for the Bulletin Board bundle. On remixed bundles it’s also an option for the Exotic Foraging Bundle.
- Maple Bar: Maple Syrup, Sugar and Wheat Flour. It restores 225 Energy and 101 Health and gives +1 Farming, Fishing and Mining. The recipe airs on The Queen of Sauce on Summer 14 of Year 2.
- Strange Note quest: Secret Note #23 asks for one Maple Syrup.
- Gifts: almost every villager likes it. Maru is the only one who dislikes it.
- Tailoring and dye: it makes the Floppy Beanie at the Sewing Machine and counts as orange or brown dye.
Growing Maple Trees from Maple Seeds
Plant a Maple Seed on your farm or on open ground elsewhere (outside the farm, the tile must not be tilled), then wait; there’s no fixed timer. Each night in spring, summer or fall the sapling has roughly a 20% chance to grow a stage, and the Maple Seed page puts the median at about 18 days to maturity, with over 90% done within 32 growing days. Saplings don’t grow in winter unless you use Tree Fertilizer, which guarantees a stage every night, winter included.
Getting seeds is easy once you have a tree:
- Shake or chop a Maple Tree (from Foraging level 1). From Fall 14 to 28, shaking drops a Hazelnut instead.
- Dig up seeds a farm maple drops on the ground with an axe or pickaxe.
- Check garbage cans, or the Traveling Cart, which sometimes sells them for 100 to 1,000g.
- Raise Woodskip in a Fish Pond: at 9 fish it can produce 1 to 5 Maple Seeds.
Pierre and JojaMart don’t sell Maple Seeds, and they only sell for 5g, so plant them or save them for the Forest Bundle (10 Maple Seeds is one option on remixed bundles), the Field Snack recipe, or Mystic Tree Seeds. Don’t gift them; every villager the wiki lists dislikes them.
One 1.6 change to know about: in fall, wild maples outside Pelican Town can turn into Green Rain Trees and lose their leaves, returning to normal in spring. A Tapper on the tree stops that from happening, per the Maple Tree page.
Frequently asked questions
How long does Maple Syrup take in Stardew Valley?
9 nights with a regular Tapper and 4 with a Heavy Tapper. The Tapper restarts automatically after you collect.
How much does Maple Syrup sell for?
200g, or 250g with the Tapper profession from Foraging level 10. The Artisan profession doesn’t boost it.
Can you put a Tapper on a fruit tree or a stump?
No. The wiki says Tappers can’t go on fruit trees, and Steam players note that tapping stumps was removed in an early update.
Do Tappers work in winter?
Yes, on Maple, Oak, Pine, Mahogany and Mystic Trees. Mushroom Trees and Green Rain Trees turn into stumps in winter, so Tappers on them produce nothing.
Does anyone love Maple Syrup as a gift?
The wiki lists no villager who loves it, but most like it, including Abigail, Sebastian, Leah and Willy. Only Maru dislikes it.
Sources
- Stardew Valley Wiki: Maple Syrup, Maple Tree, Maple Seed, Tapper and Skills
- Steam Community: getting the Tapper recipe, tapper problems and tappers outside the farm
Featured image: ConcernedApe / official Steam screenshots
