SapLover
03-02-2016, 02:38 PM
From the NY Times . . . .
The Giving Tree, Giving Syrup Year After Year After ...
By C. CLAIBORNE RAYFEB. 29, 2016
Q. How can maple trees used in the production of syrup not be harmed when they are drained of their sap?
A.The tree is never completely drained, and only a small portion of available sap and sugar reserves is removed, said Michael Farrell, the director of the Uihlein Forest, Cornell University’s maple syrup research and extension field station in Lake Placid, N.Y. A properly tapped maple tree can give sap year after year, he said.
Mr. Farrell, the author of “The Sugarmaker’s Companion: An Integrated Guide to Producing Syrup From Maple, Birch and Walnut Trees” (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2013), explained that maple syrup producers drill a small hole in a tree during the late winter or early spring. When weather conditions are right, with freezing nights followed by warm days, a small percentage of the sap in the tree comes out of the taphole to be collected.
Over an entire season, Mr. Farrell said, the yield of sap can range from about five to 20 gallons per taphole, depending on the tree’s size and health, the weather conditions that spring and the type of collection system.
After the sugaring season is over, the spout is pulled from the taphole and the tree wound is able to heal, he said. The next year, a new hole is drilled in a different spot.
“This process can take place year after year and the same maple tree can be tapped over several generations of the same family of sugarmakers,” Mr. Farrell said. Long-term research has shown that trees tapped for syrup production live just as long as untapped maples, he said, though tapped trees can show slightly slower growth rates. question@nytimes.com
The Giving Tree, Giving Syrup Year After Year After ...
By C. CLAIBORNE RAYFEB. 29, 2016
Q. How can maple trees used in the production of syrup not be harmed when they are drained of their sap?
A.The tree is never completely drained, and only a small portion of available sap and sugar reserves is removed, said Michael Farrell, the director of the Uihlein Forest, Cornell University’s maple syrup research and extension field station in Lake Placid, N.Y. A properly tapped maple tree can give sap year after year, he said.
Mr. Farrell, the author of “The Sugarmaker’s Companion: An Integrated Guide to Producing Syrup From Maple, Birch and Walnut Trees” (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2013), explained that maple syrup producers drill a small hole in a tree during the late winter or early spring. When weather conditions are right, with freezing nights followed by warm days, a small percentage of the sap in the tree comes out of the taphole to be collected.
Over an entire season, Mr. Farrell said, the yield of sap can range from about five to 20 gallons per taphole, depending on the tree’s size and health, the weather conditions that spring and the type of collection system.
After the sugaring season is over, the spout is pulled from the taphole and the tree wound is able to heal, he said. The next year, a new hole is drilled in a different spot.
“This process can take place year after year and the same maple tree can be tapped over several generations of the same family of sugarmakers,” Mr. Farrell said. Long-term research has shown that trees tapped for syrup production live just as long as untapped maples, he said, though tapped trees can show slightly slower growth rates. question@nytimes.com