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A Walk in the Woods: Getting ready for maple syrup season

For those of us that like old-fashioned winters with plenty of snow that sticks around, it has been a good one. However, it seems that in a mere couple days, we pressed the button to switch from winter to melting spring.

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It was good while it lasted. The warm temperatures we have experienced over several days have a dramatic impact in many ways.

It is impossible to know when the sap will begin to flow in maple trees, as well as when the largest flow will occur. Quite often winter weather turns prematurely warm, which will signal maple trees to turn back on their internal plumbing system that had shut down in the coldness of late fall.

When there is deep snow in the woods, as we have now, maple producers that prepare maple trees for tapping have much more work to do than with little snow on the ground. To drill the trees in preparation for inserting the spiles and tubing, the workers carry their tools and supplies over the snow on snowshoes as they walk from tree to tree.

If there is a lack of winter snow, there is sometimes fear that the lack of snow cover will speed up the ground and roots thawing process and shorten the maple production season.

Generally, when warm sunny days follow cool frosty nights, the sap runs. The time for tapping the trees will vary with weather conditions. The sap will run or flow within the tree when a warm day (6 to 10 C) follows a frosty, cool night (-5 to -10 C).

A normal tapping season lasts from three to six weeks, but can be extended due to inconsistent weather.

Maple syrup is produced usually from the sap of sugar maple trees. Red maples produce a good, often darker syrup. Because its sap naturally has a lower sugar content, red maple sap requires much more evaporating. A study in Saint John, N.B., determined the following average sugar concentrations for various types of trees: sugar maple (4.5 per cent), red maple (4.1 per cent), amur maple (3.9 per cent), silver maple (3.4 per cent), and box elder (2.5 per cent).

It’s time to go back in the woods

WALK IN THE WOODS: We can’t take trees for granted

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Birch tree sap also contains 0.5 to 2 per cent sugar and the sap has a minty flavour. It is more challenging to evaporate down to syrup, as compared to maple sap, as it seems to burn more easily.

The sap that is collected during the spring is actually manufactured within the tree the previous summer. Throughout the summer months, the sunlight hitting the leaves of the maple tree causes sugar to be produced via photosynthesis. The sugar is stored in the trees and dissolved in the sap, which is collected in the spring, causing negligible damage to the tree.

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When a sugar maple tree reaches the proper size (25 cm), a hole is bored into the tree to a depth of 6 cm. The tap hole can be placed anywhere on the tree below the branches. As the diameter of the tree increases, the number of taps on the tree can also increase. For example, a 35- to 40-cm tree could support two taps, and trees that are 50 cm or greater could sustain three taps. It is recommended that no more than three taps be bored into a tree each year.

A spile (spout) made of plastic or metal is driven snugly into the tap hole. The sap drips from the spile into buckets or plastic tubing. Most large operations use plastic tubing to collect and distribute the sap to a central location, usually downhill by gravity, or by a suction pump. Once collected, the sap is transferred to a collection tank and then fed gradually to an evaporator.

The evaporator is a large stove-like structure containing a series of pans. The sap is brought to a boil in the evaporator and excess water is boiled off, which produces the sweeter product. The evaporators can be very simple and inexpensive or very complex and expensive.

There are many small-scale producers in the province that make a relatively small amount of maple products for family use and some sales. In contrast, there are several of the larger maple producers in Colchester and Cumberland counties which use equipment known as reverse osmosis evaporators that cost thousands of dollars and produce a much faster and more efficient evaporation process.

It will normally take 30 to 40 litres of sugar maple sap to produce one litre of maple syrup. In comparison, a red maple takes more sap (50 to 100 litres) to produce one litre of maple syrup. This process requires an incredible amount of extra heat energy to do the necessary evaporation of water from the sap. Logs from thinning the maple forest are usually used as fuelwood.

The sap of a maple tree produces more than just maple syrup. By varying the cooking and cooling processes, it is possible to produce maple butter, maple cream and maple sugar, all yummy items.

Hopefully you will soon get the opportunity to enjoy this sweet treat.

Believe it or not, all of sudden, it is tick season again. Once the temperature increases to more than 3 C, ticks become active. So, it is important we take medical precautions for our dogs and scan our own bodies, after being out in the bushes.

Don Cameron is a registered professional forester.

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