Baltimore County Public Schools
Outdoor Science Education
Grade 1
Maple Syrup/ Natural Resources Program
Maple Syrup Background Information
When the settlers landed on Maryland’s shores, as well as other northeastern shores, they would have died had
it not been for the Native Americans. Many of the first settlers were ill prepared. They were mainly interested
in searching for gold and few had homesteading skills. Lord Baltimore’s colony was the most intelligently
conceived and best prepared of all the colonies, excluding the William Penn group fifty years later. The
Maryland Indians were poor and lived mostly on fish. Most of their accumulated valuables (skins, arrowheads,
etc.) were taken from them by their northern neighbors, the Susquehannock Indians. The settlers arrived just as
the Maryland Indians were getting ready to move west. Governor Leonard Calvert made an arrangement with
the chiefs to share their village. Governor Calvert’s group left their ships anchored on the Potomac and settled
in what eventually became St. Mary’s.
The colonists built temporary shelters. In some areas, the Native American wigwams were built with a chimney
on the back of the dwelling as opposed to a hole in the middle of the roof (resulting in less smoke inside)
Others dug a hole in the ground or against a hillside and then built a bark roof supported by stilts over the hole.
Eventually the log cabin, one of the best pioneer shelters, was built with just an axe and the trees that needed to
be cleared from that area. Once the people were settled in, the land was divided and eventually permanent
homes were built and fences were constructed. We can thank the colonists for many of the weeds we find in
our yards. When grass seed was brought to the “New World” it contained weeds such as broad-leaved plantain.
The Native American named the weed “white man’s foot” because it seemed to spring up wherever he walked!
Bark-roofed dugout at
Plymouth
Swedish log cabin along the
Delaware River
Puritan Wigwams
1
Shelter was only one of the settlers’ concerns. Many died of starvation the first year in the settlement. Indian
corn was the staple food throughout the 17th century. Most families ate corn 365 days a year. The methods of
grinding, cooking, and cultivating Indian corn were learned from the Native Americans. The important of
Indian corn to the settlers of American cannot be over estimated. It was to celebrate the harvest of this planting
that the first Thanksgiving dinner was held. As time passed, the settlers made changes to the Native American
methods to improve efficiency. Women and children worked mortars and samp mortars for hours at a time one
the corn was harvested. (The term “samp” refers to a porridge made from corn pounded into a coarse grain.)
Children would husk and shell corn from the cob. Sometimes games and competition were added to the work to
make it enjoyable.
Grinding corn meal with a
quern
A samp
mortar
Plymouth settlers planting corn
2
Science Background
The best tree for maple sugaring is the sugar maple because of its sap’s sugar content. Maple trees can be
identified by their opposite branching and crescent-shaped leaf scars with three bundle scars. The flowers are
usually small and inconspicuous in clusters and may appear before or with the leaves. The fruit commonly
consists of paired, winged nutlets forming a “U” or “V” shape. Thirteen species of maples are native to the U.S.
such as sugar, box elder, red and black maples. Some maples introduced to the U.S. are Norway and Eurasian
hedge maples. During the winter, specifically mid-February through mid-March in Maryland, there occurs a
time of fluctuating temperatures, with freezing nights and balmy 50º days. This change of temperatures causes
a phenomenon which is only partially understood: “sap rising”. During this time between winter and spring,
before the leaves begin to bud, gallons of sugar water (sap) begin moving through the tree trunk. Because of the
need for the changing night and daytime temperatures, maple sugaring is found only in North America from
Quebec, as far down as Virginia, and as far west as Iowa.
Why does sap flow? The temperature changes between freezing and thawing cause pressure to force the sap
toward the point of least resistance, the taphole. The woody tissue is made up of tiny transport vessels where
the forces of cohesion (water molecules clinging tightly together) and roots toward the treetop. Some feel that
during warming, the internal pressure of the tree is greater than the atmospheric pressure, causing sap to flow.
Others suggest that sap flow is partially due to gas (CO2) expansion. More gas is absorbed by the plant tissue at
lower temperatures, which expands at higher temperatures creating positive internal pressure and subsequent
sap flow.
The tree is usually not permanently damaged by a correctly drilled taphole. After wounding, the tress responds
with materials that have protective functions. The wood at the taphole becomes discolored from protecting
chemicals and infecting microorganisms. In most cases, the wound heals, but sometimes decay sets in from
wood digesting microorganisms.
Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) also called rock maple, is widely
distributed in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada.
The leaves usually have five lobes that are separated by rounded,
shallow indentations. The buds are brown on brown twigs. They can
grow to 75-100 feet tall. The sugar maple is used for syrup and
furniture.
Crescent Star
Sugar
Maple
Red Maple
Red buds;
No fetid order
Brown
buds on
brown
twigs
Silver Maple
Red buds
fetid odor when
crushed
Red maple (Acer rubrum), is distributed throughout eastern North
America from southeastern Canada to Texas and Florida. It may be
the most abundant tree of eastern North America. The leaves have
three lobes, occasionally five and are coarsely toothed. The buds are
red without fetid odor like the silver maple. This maple can grow to
a height of 120 feet. The buds and seeds are important food for
squirrels in late winter and early spring. It is a popular ornamental
tree. The red maple is used for landscaping and lumber.
3
Another valuable lesson learned from the Native American by colonists was the art of collecting sap from sugar
maple trees and then boiling it until it thickened into syrup or sugar. Sugar cane was not cheap or readily
available to the colonists in the early years so maple syrup and sugar were real necessities. The maple sugar
helped many a Native American and homesteader make it through the end of winter when food was scarce.
“Sugaring off”, as many maple sugar farmers called the operation of sap boiling, was an all day, all night job.
When Henry David Thoreau’s father complained that making maple sugar was taking away from his son’s
studies, Thoreau stated, “He who carries through the entire operation involved in producing maple sugar is a
woodcutter, forester, botanist, biologist, agronomist, chemist, cook, economist, and merchant.” (1893)
The settlers learned quickly that the Native American method of wounding a tree with an axe to collect sap
eventually weakened or killed the tree. They came up with a more efficient means of collecting sap by using an
auger to drill a small hole and inserting a spile made from a hollowed stem of sumac. A bucket was hung on the
spile to collect the dripping sap.
During the winter, many families spent most of their time in one room, the kitchen. They read, played games,
knitted, etc. Candles were expensive, so they usually went to bed and woke up with the sun. Mattresses were
stuffed with cornhusks or straw. Matches were not available so it was important to keep a fire going. If a fire
went out, flint and steel plus tinder were used to restart it.
Some of the other things not available to the colonists before 1800: Aspirin (1893), baking powder (1850),
barbed wire (1867), bicycles, built-in bathtubs, chewing gum, dry cleaning process, dynamite, forks with four
tines (replaced fingers) (1800), galvanized iron, kerosene (1850’s, Levis (blue jeans after 1849), sulfur matches
(1827) safety matches (1919), oranges or lemons (delicacies before 1832), paper towels, rifles (repeating),
sewing machine (1829), shoes (lefts and rights), toilets (flush), typewriters, ether, aluminum products (1825),
gasoline, glass (heat-resistant), iodine (1812), linoleum, etc.
4
Evaporator Pan
Sap Bucket
Sap Bucket
Paddle
A wooden yoke, resting on the shoulders of a sugar
farmer was used for carrying two buckets of sap
Maple Sugaring Facts
















Maple Syrup is unique to North America because of the need for freezing nights and thawing days.
It takes 4 maple trees at least 40 years old to yield enough sap in 4-6 weeks to produce 1 gal of maple
syrup.
The maple tapping season is approximately 4 weeks long in Maryland (longer in Western Maryland)
Approximately 50 gallons of sugar maple sap = one gallon of maple syrup
Approximately 100 gallons of red maple sap = one gallon of maple syrup
Maple sap can have anywhere from 1 to 7% sugar averaging around 2% sugar
Vermont is the largest producer of maple syrup in the U.S. with New York the second producer.
The color officially determines the grade and price of the syrup, but the taste must match the color.
The darker colored syrup, which comes later in the season, appears to be influenced by microorganisms
“Sugar Sand” is a natural substance found in the sap and needs to be strained from the syrup
Water weighs 8 pounds per gallon and syrup weighs 11 pounds per gallon
The settlers wrote of the “sweet water” that the Indians drew from the trees.
The Algonquin name for maple sugar was “sinzibukwud” which means “drawn from the wood”
By the late 1800’s, cane sugar had replaced maple sugar
Coffee made from maple sap is said to have a good flavor
Sucrose is the main sugar in maple syrup
Maple Tapping Process
1. Identify the maple trees with at least a 10 to 12 inch diameter.
2. Tap during the small window of time, February and March, when the days need to be above freezing and
the nights below freezing and before the trees leaf out and blossom.
5
3. Drill a hole slanted slightly downward with a 7/16’’ bit. The holes should not be deeper than three
inches and averages between 2 and 2 ½”.
4. Drive an aluminum spile into the hole (originally, hollowed sumac branches were used)
5. Hang a bucket from the spile (aluminum, plastic, wooden) Instead of using buckets, a big operation will
use miles of plastic tubing attached to the tapholes and lead to a holding or gathering tank.
6. Keep the sap fresh and cold (It needs to be collected often and boiled.)
7. Collect and carry the sap to the “sugarhouse” and evaporator. (Native Americans poured sap into a
hollowed log and dropped hot rocks from the fire into the sap. Colonists boiled the sap over an open fire
in a cast iron kettle.
8. Strain and boil the sap until it reaches the right percentage of sugar (66.5%)
9. Strain and pour the syrup into containers. As the sap boils and new sap is added, the thickened sap
moves through the many partitioned compartments of the evaporator and leaves as syrup.
10. Watch the boiling sap closely. If cooked too thick the syrup will crystallize. Sap cooked too thin
may ferment. The colonists had to rely on experience to check syrup density. Modern technology has
given us the hydrometer (a tool for checking the density of liquids) for this purpose.
11. Cut and finely split wood prior to the season to allow for drying. This is important to a hot fire.
12. End the operation. Eventually the sap will stop flowing. Usually the tapping stops when the blooms
start swelling and the spring peepers (type of frog) begin peeping. If collection continues, the sap may
have an off taste, producing what is called “buddy”.
Questions
1. What kinds of trees can be tapped for syrup?
Primarily maple, birch, walnut and sycamore
2. What time of the year can you tap?
Late February into Mid-March. This depends on the weather and the area.
3. What temperatures produce tap flow?
Nights are below freezing and days are above freezing (40º - 50º)
4. What diameter drill bits are used to drill the tree?
7/16” preferred. Also ½”
5. How deep should you drill?
2 to 2 ½”
6. Can you use the same hole each year?
No. The wood at the hole dies and takes many years to rebuild.
7. What is the phrase that helps you remember opposite-branching trees?
M A D HORSE (Maple, Ash, Dogwood and Horse Chestnut)
8. What is the minimum diameter of a tree that can be tapped?
10”
9. What percentage of sugar is found in maple syrup?
66.5%
10. What percentage of sugar can be founding the sap of sugar maple trees?
2 – 4%
6
11. How much sap can you expect to get from an average maple?
23 gallons per season
12. Does drilling a taphole injure the tree?
The tree is scarred but usually there is no permanent damage.
13. How do you know when syrup is done?
The way the syrup sheets off a ladle, its temperature, and the reading from the hydrometer
14. Can you collect maple sap in the fall?
Yes, for a brief period in late fall with freezing nights and warm days.
For more information, contact:
Vermont Department of Agriculture, Food and Markets http://www.state.vt.us/agric/
116 State Street
Drawer 20
Montpelier, VT 05620-2901
(802) 828-2436
(802) 828-2361
7