On Sunday, March 8, 2015, boys from Cub Scout Pack 927 visited HMP. Neighbor David Bartley taught the boys about tapping maple trees. Bartley shared with the scouts that maples (only certain varieties) produce sap when the daytime temperatures get into the 40s, but then drop below freezing again at night. The trees rely on this delicate balance between seasons to do this.
Last winter went from extreme cold well into March and then suddenly became quite warm in April. As such, there wasn’t enough of a transitional window, and the maple produced just a small amount of sap. So far this year, the outlook appears promising.
Maple sap is much different than maple syrup. It’s much more like water. It must be boiled down to produce what we know as maple syrup. It takes about 40 gallons of sap makes one gallon of syrup.
Bartley, whose backyard is a designated wildlife habitat, demonstrated the technique on his own sugar maple tree. Next, the boys tried their skills on the maple trees in a nearby churchyard. Once the boys collect enough sap, the scouts boiled it down to make maple syrup.
Bartley taught the boys to tap a tree on the south side, where the sun shines on the bark and stimulates the sap to run. The tap should go in at a slight angle so the sap will run downhill into the container. Trees should be tapped at least three feet off the ground to protect the containers from passing wildlife. Bartley used milk jugs, which have a cap to keep out debris and insects.