Date Published: March 13, 2018
By Sharyn Inzunza
As steely winter skies give way to sunshine, the Maine countryside comes to life. This is when farmers get ready for the busy maple syrup season.
With spring approaching, the sun starts to warm the bare maple tree branches. And as the temperatures see-saw above and below freezing, local farmers begin the first step of the maple harvest: tapping the trees.
The magic of thirty-two degrees
By the beginning of March, farmers closely monitor the temperature gauge. They fix their gaze on thirty-two degrees or freezing.
That’s because on frigid nights when the temperature dips below freezing, the maple trees deep roots draw up moisture from underground into the heavy trunk.
And by day, as the sun pushes the temperature above freezing, warming thin branches and craggy bark, sap floods the inner workings of the tree.
Of course, farmers also sense when the trees are ready for tapping. From experience, they can detect a smell in the air — similar to when rain is near — that tells them, It’s time!
At this point, the farmers gather their tools and head out to their maple trees (or sugar bush).
There was a time when tapping tools were simple
In the early days, Native Americans carved simple spouts from tree branches to collect the maple sap.
When European settlers arrived, they too started to extract the sugary flow. Eventually, they created metal spiles, replacing the rough, wooden spouts.
To attach the spiles, farmers drilled angled holes in the tree trunk — about waist high — then gently tapped the hollow tubes into the holes (hence the term tapping).
Fast forward to today
For a small operation, a farmer may tap a handful of trees with metal spiles and collection buckets. The buckets hang under the spiles. And in the quietness of the sugar bush, the dripping sap rings out its one-note melody.
For farmers who collect a larger volume of sap, they use a more high-tech approach. This includes streamlined plastic spouts and tubing, check-valves and a vacuum system.
High-tech meets the sugar bush
Often with snow still calf-deep, farmers pad into the sugar bush to begin tapping the trees. This includes creating an intricate web of tubing, linking all the trees to a central line and large collection tank.
With the tubing snaking around the trees, the farmers drill one to two holes per tree. They tap in the spouts and the trees start to release their watery sap. The farmers connect the tubing system, and the sap creeps along the maze-like passage to the collection tank.
To help with flow, a vacuum system pulls the sap into the tank for processing.
Additionally, to prevent a back-flow of sap toward the tap hole (that may introduce harmful microbes into the tree), a check-valve allows the sap to flow in one direction only.
The sap flows and flows
With the maple harvest in full swing, the farmers collect about ten to twelve gallons of sap per hole.
They work quickly to extract the sap from the generous trees, always watching the temperature, tap holes and collection points.
And as the sap collects, the next (magical) stage of the harvest begins: the farmers turn the watery liquid into sweet Maine maple syrup.
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At Spring Break Maple and Honey, we love early March! We celebrate the crisp, sunny days as we tap our family of trees.
If you’d like to know more about our process or our maple products, please contact us here.
Want to pre-order your Spring Break maple syrup? You can place your order right on our website.