IT'S MAPLE SUGARIN' TIME AGAIN!

THE SPILE: A SPILE INSERTED IN A SHOLOW HOLE DRILLED IN THE TREE

SAP COLLECTION BAG, VIEWED FROM THE BACK

COLLECTION BAG ATTACHED TO TREE

MAPLE TREE WITH TWO TAPS

A BUCKET ALSO SERVES THE PURPOSE 

Monday, 9:00 AM.  45 degrees F at the ferry dock, 42 on the back porch.  Wind SW, calm to light.  The sky has a high overcast and some clouds and it is raining lightly.  The humidity is 79% and the barometer is 29.19" and rising.  It looks like a rainy or at least damp day today, changing to sunshine tomorrow and wednesday.
   The sap is flowing in the sugar maples, and it is time for "maple sugarin'" once again.  I have enjoyed helping friends Andy and Judy Larsen with sugaring for a number of years, but things will be different this year, as Andy and Judy have some health issues and won't be up from Milwaukee to tap trees and make syrup at their sugar bush (a grove of maple trees) in the Town of Russell north of Bayfield.  I have my own issues this year that may preclude me helping elsewhere.  As they say, "Life happens." But, to bring Almanac readers up to date:
   Sap flows upwards from the roots of maple trees (sap is collected mainly from sugar maples, Acer sacharum, but also flows similarly in red maples, Acer rubrum, and some other maple species) much earlier than other tree species, and is characteristically sweet.  Sap also flows early in birch trees, Betula, which are also sometimes tapped for their sap (Scandinavians make a beer from birch sap). For a very understandable explanation of the technicalities of sugar maple and similar sap flow, see The Botanist In The Kitchen post of March 16, 2013.
   There are a number of theories concerning maple sap flow, but the process is complicated and none of the theories seem to be foolproof.  In any case, sap flows best when warm days follow cold nights.  Warm nights usually stop the flow of sap.  Some seasons are much better than others, and maple sugaring is often a hit-or-miss proposition.  Some seasons are very productive of sap, and others are hardly worth the trouble.
   The trees are tapped and a spile, a spigot that the sap flows from and the bucket or bag is hung from, is inserted into the tree.  Nowadays the holes for the spiles are often drilled with a cordless drill, but an old fashioned, hand-turned carpenters brace and bit works about as well.  The drilled hole is shallow, just deep enough to hold the spile in place, as the sap flows in the xylem conductive tissues just under the inner bark of the tree.  The shallow wound heals easily during the growing season and does no harm to the tree
   The sugars in maple sap are very dilute, and it takes about forty gallons of sap to make a gallon of maple syrup.  Traditionally, sap is boiled down over a wood fire, or on a wood stove, and it takes a lot of split and seasoned hardwood to make syrup.  The whole process is very labor intensive, although commercial operations have devised a lot of labor saving devices, and sap can be boiled over any heat source.
   On balance, maple sugaring is an activity best thought of as something one does to productively pass the time from late winter until spring finally arrives.  But the product, maple syrup, is the very best and uniquely flavored condiment for pancakes, ice cream and other treats.  And the sugar shack, where the syrup is made, is traditionally a fun place to be with friends and relatives, where jokes are abundant and laughter and  good will abounds.
  The plastic sap collection bags pictured above are beginning to take the place of the metal or plastic buckets often used.  All things considered, the bags are easier to handle, are not as likely to spill during the collection process, and are a lot easer to store during the off season.
   The above photos of collection bags were taken over the weekend out at Little Sand Bay camp ground, which has a lot of good sized maple trees.  Either the Park Service or some group from the Town of Russell has tapped most of the trees, and it looks like it will be a good sugarbush.
   Find a sugarbush to volunteer to work in, or tap a few maple trees yourself; it's a great way to connect with people and with nature.
    It's maple sugarin' time again!