It is that time of year once again! Easter? No, we are not even close yet! St. Patrick’s Day? No silly, not that either. What I am talking about is Maple Sugar Season! What exactly does this mean? Around the last few weeks of February to early March, farmers go outside to their maple trees and start to tap their trees so they could produce maple sugar to make maple syrup. What exactly does it mean to tap trees? Well, to start off, you do not literally tap a tree. Tree tapping is when farmers use an instrument called a tap that they embedded into the tree for the sap to drip into a bucket or sometimes a milk jug.
It is that time of year once again! Easter? No, we are not even close yet! St. Patrick’s Day? No silly, not that either. What I am talking about is Maple Sugar Season! What exactly does this mean? Around the last few weeks of February to early March, farmers go outside to their maple trees and start to tap their trees so they could produce maple sugar to make maple syrup. What exactly does it mean to tap trees? Well, to start off, you do not literally tap a tree. Tree tapping is when farmers use an instrument called a tap that they embedded into the tree for the sap to drip into a bucket or sometimes a milk jug.
You are probably thinking, what is the process of tapping a tree? Rochester native and historical interpreter for 25 years at the Genesee County Museum, Tom (I did not get a last name) demonstrated how to properly tap a tree. To start tapping, he explained that you have to use the rule of hand on the tree. The rule of hand is that you use the center of your hand to determine where to properly drill a hole. Then you take off the hand and start drilling. He mentioned that you must always drill in an angle, not flat. Once you start drilling, the saw dust starts to change color from brown to yellow. When it hits yellow, you hit the sweet spot. Then Tom gently taps the tap into the hole and hangs a bucket on the tap. That’s how you properly tap a tree.
“This is the best time to start tapping!” Tom Said. “It is better to tap around cold temperatures!”
It is true! The reason he said it is better to tap trees when it is cold outside because trees are fed with sap around this time. The sap helps the trees to start blooming for Spring. Tom explained that the sap flows from the ground to the top for the branches to be fed. Despite the trees having holes in them after tapping, the trees heal overtime.
After the demonstration, I asked the Director of Education, Sara Miller, who is an employee about how they came up with the Maple Festival. She said that the museum was donated with this equipment and they thought it would be a good idea to put these to use. I also talked to Niagara Falls native Robert Dallman about his experience. He said that he witnessed something similar to this in Franklinville, New York where there is also a Maple Festival.
After attending this, I have learned a lot about how to tap a tree and the history of it. It was really interesting and cool to witness this in real life instead of watching it on television. It was really fun to learn today and thinking about the hard work these farmers go through.
Check out these picture below:
Billy Blog 