10/21/15, 7:44 PMFrom tree trunks to breakfast pancakes: RSOP turns sap into syrup - UMD StatesmanUMD Statesman

Page 1 of 6https://umdstatesman.wp.d.umn.edu/2014/04/11/from-tree-trunks-to-breakfast-pancakes-rsop-turns-sap-into-syrup/

Contact List About Us Facebook Twitter Youtube Podcasts

From tree trunks to breakfast pancakes: RSOP turnssap into syrupPosted by: Aloysia Power Tags: Aloysia Power, bagley, Campus, duluth, Elly Power, erin denny, harvest, maplesyrup, maple trees, SAP, sugar bush, syrup, tap, umd Posted date: April 11, 2014 | No comment

RSOP turns sap to syrup

Caught in the middle of spring’s fight against winter are the maple trees in the Bagley NatureArea next to campus. One week, spring is ahead and the days are warm, encouraging the maple

News Opinion Sports Arts & Entertainment Multimedia Staff

10/21/15, 7:44 PMFrom tree trunks to breakfast pancakes: RSOP turns sap into syrup - UMD StatesmanUMD Statesman

Page 2 of 6https://umdstatesman.wp.d.umn.edu/2014/04/11/from-tree-trunks-to-breakfast-pancakes-rsop-turns-sap-into-syrup/

sap to flow up the tree trunks into the branches. The next week, winter strikes back, and the sapflow freezes with the falling snow.

It’s been a slow spring for the RSOP Maple Sugarbush program, which takes local schoolgroups out to tap the maple trees in Bagley in order to collect the tree sap. Maple sap is used tomake maple syrup.

“There was an initial run a week or two before the big storm because it had warmed up somuch,” Erin Denny, the Maple Sugarbush Coordinator, said. “Then, it stopped.”

For the sap to flow, maple trees need warm days and cold nights. The freezing nighttemperatures create negative pressure in the trees, which causes suction, drawing the waterfrom the ground through the roots and pulling it all the way up to the branches.

The warm day temperatures do just the opposite, creating positive pressure in the maple trees.This pressure is what pushes the sap – now inside the tree because of the cold nighttemperatures – out of the taps, or lowest points of pressure, that RSOP drills into the trees.

Because this temperature fluctuation is necessary for the sap to flow, the tapping seasondoesn’t last long in Duluth– usually about a month. And right now, the sap is flowing.

Last Thursday, The Statesman followed Denny out to Bagley to learn how the traditionalwoodsman craft is done.

Step One: Find a healthy maple tree

In the summer and fall, maple trees are easy to identify because of their hand-shaped leavesmade famous by the Canadian flag. But, in the spring, when the leaves have yet to grow and thetrees are naked, identifying a maple tree can be a bit harder than usual.

“The easiest way to tell if it’s a maple is if you look up at the branches,” Denny said.

The twigs on the branches are longer and thinner compared to other trees, and they branch outfrom the main stem in opposite directions in pairs of two, she said.

Maples can also be spotted because of their buds, which are half-inch to an inch thick, she said.

The buds look like they’ve been “dipped in maple syrup” because of their brown color.

Not every maple is big enough to tap, however. The tapping process can stunt their growth ifthey’re too young and small. RSOP’s rule of thumb for tapping Bagley trees is 8-inches throughthe middle, Denny said.

Trees that meet RSOP’s minimum diameter can only support one tap, but larger trees canhandle more. The standard requirement for two taps is a 21 to 27-inch diameter trunk, and forthree taps, a 27-inch or greater diameter, according to tapmytrees.com.

Step Two: Drill a tap hole

About a two-inch deep hole is necessary to reach the sap, which flows up through the outer part

Mavericks beat Bulldogs at theirown game

September 3, 2015

UMD heat wave exposes biggerissues with campus buildings

September 2, 2015

RockStars aren't born, they're madeAugust 26, 2015

UMD’s Kurvers and Maciver and the2015 Stanley Cup Finals:...

July 8, 2015

Top News

10/21/15, 7:44 PMFrom tree trunks to breakfast pancakes: RSOP turns sap into syrup - UMD StatesmanUMD Statesman

Page 3 of 6https://umdstatesman.wp.d.umn.edu/2014/04/11/from-tree-trunks-to-breakfast-pancakes-rsop-turns-sap-into-syrup/

Share This

of the inner tree called the sapwood.

Denny used an old hand drill to hollow out a nook in the trunk for the tap to sit in. The tap is asmall metal spigot that allows the sap to flow out of the tree into a collection bucket. She angledthe tap hole to the sap could flow down and out of the tree.

Then, she took the tap, placed it in the hole and hammered it into place. Immediately, the sapbegan to spew out of the hole onto the ground.

“It’s OK to jam it in there because the trees expand and get skinny,” Denny said. “And so if youdon’t pound it in there, it could fall out.”

Step Three: Collect the sap

Once the tap was set, Denny pulled the metal collection bucket from her hiking backpack andhung it underneath the mouth of the spout on a hook attached to the bottom side of the tap.

The water-like liquid began to run out of the tree and collect at the tip of the spout, forming aclear, round droplet. After a few seconds, the droplet expanded to a size where it and could nolonger resist gravitational forces. It slipped off the edge of the spout and a split second later,made a quiet “plop” as it splattered on the bottom of the empty metal bucket.

This process repeated over the next two hours until a thin layer of sap sat in the bucket.

RSOP uses a mixture of metal buckets and plastic bags to collect sap from each tap to showthere are many ways to do it, Denny said. But, they only tap maple trees.

“Sugar maples have the highest sugar content,” she said. “You get a lot more bang for yourbuck.”

Once the buckets are full, RSOP volunteers hop on a snowmobile, exchange the filled bucketswith empty buckets, then build a fire to boil most of the water off the sap. What’s left is a highlysugar-concentrated golden-brown liquid. Tah-dah, they have maple syrup.

It takes about 32 gallons of sugar maple sap to create one gallon of syrup, Denny said.

Right now, the volunteers have 14 gallons of sap total.

VIDEO AND STORY BY ALOYSIA POWER

Multimedia Editor

10/21/15, 7:44 PMFrom tree trunks to breakfast pancakes: RSOP turns sap into syrup - UMD StatesmanUMD Statesman

Page 4 of 6https://umdstatesman.wp.d.umn.edu/2014/04/11/from-tree-trunks-to-breakfast-pancakes-rsop-turns-sap-into-syrup/

#Five3Duluth picture recap May 9, 2014

Thank you, UMD, for sending in all your fun, active and goofypics on May 3. You helped bring Duluth and the UMDcommunity...

Into the wild: Three canoes, eight rivers and 55 days ofwilderness April 28, 2014

Day dreams of canoeing across big-horizon Canadian lakesand down ocean-bound, clear water rivers fill senior AdamMaxwell's...

Duluth’s ice volcano and the spring thaw to come April 23, 2014

More spring mess to come, thaw may fracture Duluth waterpipes (via http://www.lakevoicenews.org/) Behind the hustleand buss...

Related Posts

10/21/15, 7:44 PMFrom tree trunks to breakfast pancakes: RSOP turns sap into syrup - UMD StatesmanUMD Statesman

Page 5 of 6https://umdstatesman.wp.d.umn.edu/2014/04/11/from-tree-trunks-to-breakfast-pancakes-rsop-turns-sap-into-syrup/

New anthropology courses in fall 20151 comment • 8 months ago

Bulldogs turn over new leaf in 2014-151 comment • a year ago

Spring Cleaning Tips1 comment • 2 years ago

Yuk Yak1 comment • 7 months ago

ALSO ON UMD STATESMAN

0 Comments UMD Statesman Login!1

Share⤤ Sort by Best

Start the discussion…

Be the first to comment.

WHAT'S THIS?

Subscribe✉ Add Disqus to your sited Privacy%

Recommend♥

Log in Entries RSS Comments RSS

WordPress.org

Site Admin

Advertising Rates

Business

10/21/15, 7:44 PMFrom tree trunks to breakfast pancakes: RSOP turns sap into syrup - UMD StatesmanUMD Statesman

Page 6 of 6https://umdstatesman.wp.d.umn.edu/2014/04/11/from-tree-trunks-to-breakfast-pancakes-rsop-turns-sap-into-syrup/

Copyright 2012. The Statesman at the University of Minnesota, Duluth.