Trees gird their xylem (woody tissue) and say, in effect, “You want a sign of spring, we will give you a sign of spring.”
The maples then execute their famous capillary-cohesion act in which they defy the law of gravity by moving liquid up out of the ground and into their topmost branches.
This botanical oddity attracts hordes of people who have been existing on the edge of sanity through a long season of cold nights and who come to the woods to look at the holes that have been drilled in the maples to verify the trees’ unlikely performance.
What the tree is doing, of course, is moving sugar that has been stored in its roots up into its branches where it can be used by the buds to develop into leaves. Just exactly how this is done still remains theoretical in some respects, even in an age that likes to think it is botanically sophisticated enough to genetically engineer rhubarb.
This great maple show was discovered by Native Americans, and, while maple sap may not be as important as corn, it is better than tobacco, and it carries with it the tantalizing invitation to shake off the effects of cabin fever by getting out under the naked sky.
The annual sap shows are viewed by naturalists as one of the best opportunities to make the point that everything, including people, is interrelated.
“What better way to show the connection between people and nature than to enjoy the sweet taste of maple sap and syrup,” said Tom Pray, naturalist supervisor at Fullersburg Woods Environmental Education Center in Oak Brook. The sap-collecting program at Fullersburg is conducted from 2-4 p.m. every Sunday in March.
Lyn Hamper, staff naturalist at McGraw Wildlife Foundation in Dundee Township, said each tree will give 10 to 12 gallons of sap per tap hole “in a good year, depending on the tree.”
Naturalists at McGraw have been tapping their sugar maples the first three weekends in March since the early 1980s for area school children.
“It’s definitely one of our most popular programs,” Hamper said. “We have hundreds of school children come out every March.
“Basically, the goals are for the children to become more familiar with food production cycle of a tree, and they’ll also learn how important sap is in nature, and how people throughout history have tapped trees and produced maple syrup.” She added that the kids are given a taste of the sap from the tree (which is like water with a hint of sweetness) as well as the finished product.
Sap collecting is also an opportunity to make the point that human activity, particularly as it relates to polluting, may have an adverse effect on trees. Some maple-tapping programs in northeastern Illinois are being cut back because trees are showing signs of stress. While this stress is likely due to the drought of recent years, some of it may also be from air pollution, said Wayne Vanderploeg, naturalist at River Trail Nature Center, Northbrook.
“Such things as acid rain and auto emissions may affect trees’ health,” said Vanderploeg, adding that some of the maples at River Trail have died and others are showing signs of stress.
“We have cut back on our demonstration tapping,” Vanderploeg said, “but we will still have our maple syrup festival.”
The festival is scheduled for from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. March 21 and 28.
Tree tapping has also been reduced at the North Park Village Nature Center on Pulaski Road, Chicago, according to naturalist Kimberly Shaffer. She added that a feature of the program there from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on March 21 will be a taste of maple syrup on “doughnut holes.”
John Shiel, manager of conservation education for the McHenry County Conservation District, said the maple stand in Coral Woods near Marengo is carefully managed to prevent undue stress on the trees.
But Shiel added that some maple tree mortality is inevitable.
“Dead trees are part of the regeneration process,” Shiel said. “The old of everything must die to make room for the young.”
Today is the last day of the Coral Woods maple syrup program.
A recent in-depth study of the maple trees at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore showed them to be in good health, according to Jude Rakowski, cultural interpretive coordinator.
“Good health and growth rates were found,” Rakowski said, “with young trees replacing the older ones.”
“It is an exciting time,” Rakowski said of sap collecting. “It is the signal that the Earth is warming up and life is being renewed.”
Today also marks the last day of sap collecting at the National Lakeshore.
At the Kane County Forest Preserve District’s Red Oak Nature Center, between Batavia and North Aurora, naturalist Jim Kenney said great care is taken to avoid injuring the maple trees that are tapped.
“We tap different trees every year and use only one tap per tree,” Kenney said.
The Red Oak program is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 20.
At the Lake County Forest Preserve District’s Ryerson Conservation Area, Deerfield, the sap/syrup program continues every Saturday and Sunday through March. Nan Buckardt, environmental education manager at Ryerson, said, “The program is the most popular thing we do. We take thousands of school kids through on weekdays, and thousands of visitors show up on the weekends.”
Thousands of people also show up for the Sugar Bush Fair at Spring Valley Nature Sanctuary in Schaumburg, scheduled for 9 a.m.-3 p.m. March 21. Manager Dave Brooks said a few of the sanctuary’s maple trees are showing signs of stress, but none has died.
“The drought of several years ago is still having an effect,” Brooks said, adding that because northern Illinois is on the southern edge of natural sugar maple distribution, the trees here may be more susceptible to disease and stress.
Tom Green, research pathologist at Morton Arboretum in Lisle, said there is no need to be overly concerned about the possible damage to maple trees as a result of tapping.
“Tapping a tree creates a wound, but if it is done carefully and in a manner that does not girdle the tree, recovery is usually complete,” Green said.
Defoliation by insects in conjunction with drought can be much more harmful, Green said.
Morton Arboretum no longer conducts a tree-tapping demonstration.
Research by the U.S. Forest Service has shown that maple trees can be tapped year after year for decades if it is done properly. No new hole should be drilled within 6 inches horizontally or 2 feet vertically from an old, open tap hole, the Forest Service says. Trees fewer than 12 inches in diameter should not be tapped, and there should be no more than two taps in trees 18 inches or larger. Holes should be bored only 2 1/2 inches deep.
Researchers have found that a tap causes a streak of discolored wood about one-half inch wide and 18 inches long above and below the tap hole. In a vigorous tree, the taps usually heal over in two to three years.
David Houston, a plant pathologist with the U.S. Forest Service in Hamden, Conn., said recent surveys have indicated that there does not seem to be a general decline in the health of sugar maple trees.
“There may be some local problems where there has been a drought and where the gypsy moth or some other insect might have defoliated the trees,” Houston said, “but in general the maple trees seem to be doing well.”
It is very difficult to assess any tree damage due to air pollution, Houston said, and added that much more research is needed.
But it is unwise to tap a tree that is under stress, Houston said, because it may not have the energy to close the tap wound or ward off invasion by disease and insects. Also, sap from stressed trees is lower in sugar content.
Commercial producers of maple syrup often keep sweetness records of trees. The sugar content of the trees is measured and those trees that test higher in sugar are tapped. If sap tests 2 percent sugar, 43 gallons of sap are needed to make one gallon of syrup. Only 29 gallons of 3-percent sap are required.
Most of the world’s maple syrup is produced in Canada-some 75 to 80 percent, largely in Quebec. The U.S. produces most of the remainder in a tier of northern and eastern states, and 1 percent comes from Australia. Total U.S. maple syrup production in 1992 was 1,626,000 gallons. Most of this came from Vermont, New York and Maine. In the Midwest, Wisconsin produced 100,000 gallons, and Michigan 85,000 gallons. Illinois production is negligible, according to the U.S. Crop Reporting Service.
Lynn Reynolds, president of the North American Maple Syrup Council, said the last five years have been good for syrup production, resulting in a price drop to $30 from about $35 a gallon.
“But Mother Nature will probably give us five bad years,” Reynolds said, “and the price will reflect that circumstance.”
The Maple Syrup Council is very diligent in policing what shows up in the syrup section of the grocery shelf, according to Reynolds. “If it says maple syrup boldly on the label it had better be pure maple syrup,” he said.
Blended syrup, such as Log Cabin brand, may contain as little as 2 percent maple syrup, Reynolds said, and this is the darker syrup that producers might not otherwise be able to market.
“Maple syrup production is a unique business,” Reynolds said. “It has a romance about it, and we sell the steam and the snow along with the taste.”
The specifics on area maple sap/syrup programs, many of which rely on volunteers, follow:
Ryerson Conservation Area, 21950 Riverwoods Rd., Deerfield; Saturday and Sunday through March. Guided tours on the half hour from 1:30-3:30 p.m. Maple sugar candy sample. Fee of $3, Lake County residents $2, children under 3 free. Reservations required. Call 708-948-7750.
River Trail Nature Center, 3120 N. Milwaukee Ave., Northbrook; 9 a.m.-3 p.m. March 21 and 28. Slide and craft program; pancake breakfast served all day; $4 adults, $3 children. 708-824-8360.
Coral Woods near Marengo (two miles north on Illinois Highway 23 off Interstate 90); 10 a.m.-2 p.m. March 14. Tours on historical and modern syrup making and a taste of syrup. McHenry Conservation District. 815-338-1405.
Fullersburg Woods Environmental Education Center, Oak Brook; 2-4 p.m. Sundays through March. Demonstration tours and sample of syrup over ice cream. Reservations required. Du Page County Forest Preserve District at 708-790-4900.
Spring Valley Nature Sanctuary, Schaumburg; Sugar Bush Fair, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. March 21. Demonstration tapping, pancake breakfast; $3 adult, $2 child. 708-980-2100.
North Park Village Nature Center, 5801 N. Pulaski Rd., Chicago; March 21, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Walks, demonstration, craft fair, tasting. 312-583-8970.
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Chellberg Farm on Mineral Springs Road (two miles west of Indiana Highway 49 near Porter, Ind. March 14, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Guided tours and full pancake meal. 219-926-7561.
Red Oak Nature Center, on Illinois Highway 25 one mile north of Butterfield Road, will feature demonstration tapping and guided tours on the hour; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. March 20. 708-897-1808.
McGraw Wildlife Foundation, on Illinois Highway 25 south of East Dundee; first three weeks in March. Demonstration tapping and a taste of syrup. By reservation only (booked for 1993; reservations for 1994 taken after the first of the year). 708-428-2240.
The maple-syrup making activities at Kline Creek Farm were held last weekend, and the program at Pilcher Park Nature Center is not being held this year because of park renovation.
