Making Maple Syrup and Survival©

 

 

“Sugar Making in Montreal”, October 1852, by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1815-1872, from Wikimedia, HERE.

In North America, one of the sure signs that spring is almost here, is the sap in the maple trees starts running, which depending on the weather and your latitude is between January and March, so either the maple season has just passed you, has yet to arrive or is now in full bloom where you are.  Where I live in Western New York, the maple sap is now running, because spring is on its way! 

 

The Fairbanks Maple sugar shack, for information on how you too can visit Fairbanks Maple, check out their Facebook page, HERE.  Photograph by the Author.

Since the sap is now running in Western New York, I thought that I would visit Fairbanks Maple, which is owned by Doug and Linda Fairbanks, to see how they make maple syrup, and to enjoy a big plate of pancakes with fresh maple syrup and a wagon ride behind two matched Percherons with my granddaughter.

 

So, why does the sap run in the spring?

“So why does the sap run in the spring”, you ask?  Well, that is a good question, sap runs in the spring and sometimes in the fall, and here is why.  Sap flows because of the fluctuation between cold nights with below freezing temperatures and warmer days with above freezing temperatures, this creates pressure and suction that is essential for the flow of sap up from the roots into the trunk and branches of the tree.  During the early spring, on warm days when the temperature rises above 32^oF (0^oC), a positive pressure develops in the maple trees that causes the sap to flow out of any wound or hole in the tree’s bark.  As the evening temperatures drop below freezing, a suction or negative pressure is created that pulls water up through the roots into the tree, replenishing the sap so that the next time the temperature rises above freezing it can flow again.  Temperatures should rise above 40^oF (4^oC) during the day and drop below 20^oF (-7^oC) for an ideal sap flow. 

 

Making maple syrup then...

 

“Sugar-Making Among the Indians in the North”, Canadian Illustrated News, May 12, 1883, by William De La Montagne Cary, from Wikimedia, HERE.

Maple sap makes a traditional sweetener that was first produced by Native Americans.  Today when most people think of maple products they think of maple syrup, however during the late 18^th and early19th centuries the Native Americans and later European Colonists and early American farmers made most of their maple sap into sugar, because syrup would freeze in the winter and could spoil after several months during the summer, but maple sugar would keep for a long time. 

 

A demonstration of Native American technique of making maple sugar at the "Maple Harvest Festival", Beaver Meadow Audubon Center, North Java, NY, by Dave Pape, from Wikimedia, HERE.

Native Americans originally collected the maple sap in birchbark buckets and boiled it down into syrup and then sugar by dropping red hot stones into hollowed logs.  Later they adopted iron and brass pots from the European Colonists, who they taught how to make maple sugar.

 

For an excellent resource on early maple syrup and sugar making, check out “How to Make Maple Syrup: An Important Ojibwa Food”, by Native Art in Canada, HERE and “Maple Sugaring — A Truly American Tradition”, by This Inspired Wife, HERE.

 

Making maple syrup now...

 

Maple trees with taps and buckets for collecting sap, to be made into maple syrup, at Beaver Meadow Audubon Center, North Java, NY, by Dave Pape, March 18, 2007, from Wikimedia, HERE.

As a kid, I remember sap buckets hanging from the sugar maples on my Grandfather’s farm¹.  Today buckets are out, and tubes are in!  At Fairbanks Maple the tapped trees, instead of having a bucket hanging from a metal spigot or spile, driven into a hole drilled in the tree, have tubes instead.

 

Tapped trees at Fairbanks Maple, Photograph by the Author.

The maple sap flows from the trees into tubes, which then flow into larger tubes and then downhill to the collection tanks. 

 

The collection tanks at Fairbanks Maple, Photograph by the Author.

From the collection tanks it flows into a reverse osmosis machine in the sugar shack, which extracts much of the water from the sap, before it is boiled, caramelized and turned into maple syrup. 

 

Interestingly, Native Americans and other early producers of maple syrup, often would let the collected sap freeze overnight, and in the morning the ice and much of the water in the sap was removed.  This removal of the ice had the effect of concentrating the sap, much like the modern method using a reverse osmosis machine.

 

Where the sap is boiled into syrup at Fairbanks Maple, Photograph by the Author.

Interesting facts about making syrup

 

Tapping maple trees does not permanently damage the trees and is usually done by drilling a 7/16” (11 mm) hole about 1½ to 2” (25 to 50 mm) deep into the tree and inserting a plastic or steel spile into the hole.  

 

You can drill one tap for each foot (30cm) of the tree’s diameter and sap flows best on the south side of the tree, as that has greatest Sun exposure.

 

Only about 10% or less of the tree’s sap is collected each year and each tap yields on average only 10 gallons (about 38 liters) of sap per season, and it takes between 30 to 55 gallons (113 to 208 liters) of sap to make one gallon (3.78 liters) of syrup, which weighs 11 pounds (5 kg).

 

It takes one gallon (3.78 liters) of maple syrup to produce eight pounds (3.6 kg) of maple sugar. 

 

The sugar content of sugar maple, acer saccharum, sap averages just 2.5%.

 

“The Jones Rule of 86” states that if the sap concentration of sugar is 1% then 86 gallons (212 liters) are needed to make one gallon (3.78 liters) of syrup.  The sweeter the sap, the less sap is needed, at 2% sap sweetness only 46 gallons (106 liters) of sap is needed to make a gallon (3.78 liters) of syrup.

 

The sap run ends when nighttime temperatures stay above freezing and the buds develop on the trees.

 

Survival and drinking sap...

 

An excerpt from “Buddy Sap”, by Howard Austin Edson, page 483.

Usually in the Northeast of North America where the Sugar maple, acer saccharum, grows best, during the spring you don’t have to worry about finding water, it is everywhere!  Everywhere you look there will be snow in various stages of melting, during the day it might rain, the streams, rivulets and puddles are all full.  In a wilderness survival emergency, your problem might not be finding potential drinking water, but rather disinfecting it.

 

Maple sap is a safe and pure source of water.  Oh, and sugar maples aren’t the only trees that can produce drinkable sap, all the maples (the genus acer)², Sycamore trees, platanus occidentalis, all birch trees (the genus betula), all hickories (genus carya), walnut trees (genus juglans), popular, beech and even hophornbeam trees, also known as ironwood, produce drinkable sap.  However, syrup producer and researcher David Moore, noted in “Not Just Maple: Birch, Beech And Other Sappy Trees Make Syrup Just As Sweet”, that maple and birch trees produce the strongest sap flows.

 

The only problem with obtaining drinking water from maple, birch, or other trees, is that you are limited to only two seasons, spring and fall.  This is because during the summer it is too warm and during the winter it is too cold and only during the spring and fall will there be the necessary fluctuations between cold nights with below freezing temperatures and warm days with above freezing temperatures, that is needed to create the pressure and suction which is essential for the flow of sap. 

 

The problem with the fall is that cold nights below freezing and warm days above freezing just aren’t as common as during the spring and also, the ground is drier, and the trees need a higher soil moisture level to recharge the sap flow.  This is why during the fall, the sap will flow less often and with less volume than during the spring.

 

Also, if you are using sap as drinking water, remember that it doesn’t keep long before going sour.

 

A birch tree tapped for sap, in a wilderness emergency this would be a source of pure drinking water, by Ole Husby, from Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, HERE.

So, if it is still maple season where you live, get out and enjoy it!

 

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Who Could it be?  This animal I did NOT see ©”, where we will talk about who visited me one night not long ago.

 

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

 

Notes

 

¹ While I remember the sap buckets hanging from the trees, I don’t ever remember the Sap House being anything other than a fallen down ruin and I don’t remember my Grandfather ever using it to boil sap.  My Mother remembers my Grandmother boiling down sap into syrup in roasting pans on the kitchen stove and thinks that excess sap from trees near the road might have been bartered to other farmers for maple syrup or sugar.  I also remember my Grandfather talking about a tragic accident that took place in the Sap House, when his father’s sister, my great aunt Josephine, died after falling into the boiling sap.

 

² Except the Norway maple, acer platanoides, which produces a milky sap.

 

Sources

 

Austin Edson, Howard; “Buddy Sap”, Bulletin 151, April 1910, from the Vermont Agricultural Experiment Station Burlington, VT, [Free Press Printing Company, Burlington, VT, 1910], page 483, https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5Qac-7oeQZx2XplTojkn0LKzf9KRogwNgjd580chtzzbMUydbwZI26B1fiM1eX0TY8GbIJkOvz4XYpQOVkyLq9vKQvB3hNmvk3qkQlVLpWPgrmDwxyhe6YkjgZwrbX0ASeOD2BUV1jSO2EXhPEmA6ZE43qjrfRJRzJIUmVmvLO_709p9HCDKlmi3phfKqfW5jUuvrYKg7Mas9S9PjvBVQxoYahXxTxHDzhp5YF8WziBGoPb-nwcw, accessed March 26, 2022

 

Bascomb, Bobby; “Not Just Maple: Birch, Beech And Other Sappy Trees Make Syrup Just As Sweet”, April 9, 2021, [© Allegheny Front], https://www.alleghenyfront.org/not-just-maple-birch-beech-and-other-sappy-trees-make-syrup-just-as-sweet/, accessed March 26, 2022

 

Cary, William De La Montagne; 1840-1922, “Sugar-Making Among the Indians in the North”, Canadian Illustrated News, May 12, 1883, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple_syrup#/media/File:Sugar-Making_Among_the_Indians_in_the_North.gif, accessed March 19, 2022

 

Koelling, Melvin R.; “Sap Yields from Fall And Spring Tapping of Sugar Maple”, U.S. Forest Service Research Paper NE-115, 1968, https://www.fs.fed.us/ne/newtown_square/publications/research_papers/pdfs/scanned/rp115.pdf, accessed March 26, 2022

 

Krieghoff, Cornelius, 1815-1872, “Sugar Making in Montreal”, October 1852, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sugar_Making_in_Canada,_1852._By_Cornelius_Krieghoff_(1815-1872).jpg, March 19, 2022

 

Husby, Ole; Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://www.flickr.com/photos/khianti/26073695404/, accessed March 24, 2022

 

MacWelch, Tim; “Survival Skills: How To Get Water And Syrup From Trees”, Outdoor Life, February 12, 2013, [© 2022 Recurrent], https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/survivalist/2013/02/survival-skills-how-get-water-and-syrup-trees/, accessed March 26, 2022

 

Pennsylvania Maple Syrup Producers Council, "Real Maple Syrup, a Natural and Nutritious Choice", [© Pennsylvania Maple Syrup Producers Council 2022], http://pamaple.net/maple-info/, accessed March 24, 2022

 

Native Art in Canada, “How to Make Maple Syrup: An Important Ojibwa Food”, [© Native Art in Canada 2006-2021], https://www.native-art-in-canada.com/how-to-make-maple-syrup.html, accessed March 26, 2022

 

This Inspired Wife, “Maple Sugaring — A Truly American Tradition”, [© 2022 - This Inspired Life], https://thisinspired.life/maple-sugaring-american-tradition/, accessed March 26, 2022

 

Wikimedia, “Demonstration of Native American technique of making maple sugar at the "Maple Harvest Festival", Beaver Meadow Audubon Center, North Java, NY”, by Dave Pape, March 18, 2007, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maple_sugar_demonstration_3.jpg, accessed March 26, 2022

 

Wikimedia; “Maple trees with taps and buckets for collecting sap, to be made into maple syrup, at Beaver Meadow Audubon Center, North Java, NY”, by Dave Pape, March 18, 2007, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maple_sap_buckets_-_Beaver_Meadow_Audubon_Center.jpg, accessed March 26, 2022

 

Weather for Woodsmen...Red Sky at Night©

 

 

Wild weather at Sunset looking east, did you notice the faint red color?  Photograph by the Author.

The first in a series of articles on weather for woodsmen and on weather proverbs and if they are true or false – Author’s Note

 

“...Red sunrise means a wet day...”

An example of weather-lore, attributed to E. B. Dunn, weather forecaster for the United Weather Bureau, New York City, 1902¹.

 

Centuries of weather watching have produced countless bits of weather-lore and weather proverbs, many of which rhyme as an aide to your memory, and these have been passed down through the centuries and even over millennia, in some cases!  Now, some of these weather proverbs are nonsense and some even contradict themselves, but others can be of use in forecasting the weather over the next 24 hours, when you are beyond the reach of the TV weather forecasters.  We are lucky, in this modern age, because we have meteorological science and research to tell us which of these proverbs are fake or true, and more importantly why they are true.

 

Using just one weather proverb to forecast the weather over the next 24 hours might lead to a false forecast, but as the Greek poet Aratus² wrote almost 2,300 years ago, “...make light of none of the [weather] warnings.  It is a good rule to look for sign confirming sign.  When two point in the same way, forecast with hope.  When three point in the same way, forecast with confidence”.

 

Red sky at night,

Sailor’s delight.

Red sky at morning,

Sailors take warning.

 

“Red sky at night...”, is an old, old weather proverb that was known even during biblical times, since in the Bible, in Matthew 16:2, it says, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast”.

 

“But is this proverb true or false”, you ask?  That’s a good question!

 

From “How Good Is Your Weather Eye?”, by Eric Sloane; in Popular Science, October 1944, pages 141 and 216.

It is true, but before we can tell you why it is true, we must talk a little about atmospheric convection currents, high- and low-pressure zones, the Coriolis effect, and prevailing winds³.

 

From and Introduction to Oceanography, by Paul Webb, HERE.

Prevailing winds are, according to the Oxford dictionary, “a wind from the direction that is predominant at a particular place or season”.  It is always important when you travel or camp in the wilderness to know the prevailing wind direction, when canoeing it can help you stay in the calm water on the sheltered, lee side of the shore or if you put your camp on the windward shore, it can help blow the bugs away from your camp.  It is also important to remember that prevailing winds are not constant all day long, as Alan Innes-Taylor noted on page 53, when he wrote of prevailing winds in the Arctic Survival Guide: “Fair weather winds usually decrease at night”. 

 

The prevailing surface winds are created by atmospheric convection cells, powered by high- and low-pressure air.  High pressure air is descending air that is cold and dry and generally brings clear skies.  Low pressure air is raising warm air that is moisture laden, saturated and generally brings precipitation.  The Coriolis Effect also plays a part in creating the prevailing winds because, in the Northern Hemisphere it deflects the winds to the right and in the Southern Hemisphere to the left. 

 

Prevailing winds are named for the direction that they are blowing from, not from where they are blowing to.  And since there are three convection cells in each hemisphere, there are six sets of prevailing winds.  So, between the poles and 60^o latitude, in both the North and South Hemispheres, the prevailing winds blow from the east and are called the “polar easterlies”.  In the belt between 60^o and 30^o latitude in both hemispheres, the “westerlies” are the prevailing winds and blow from the west.  And between 30^o latitude and the equator, in the Northern Hemisphere, the prevailing winds blow from the northeast and are called the “northeast trade winds”; while in the Southern Hemisphere the prevailing winds blow from the southeast and are called the “southeast trades winds”. 

 

So, why is it true?

 

An excerpt from “Red Sky At Night...”, by Donald Johnson and Jean Smith, in Cruising World, July 1995.

The weather proverb, “Red sky at night...”, was developed in Europe and it will hold true throughout the temperate latitudes of both the Southern and Northern Hemisphere, which includes all of Europe, Central Asia, and North America below the arctic.

 

The best explanation I have ever found for why this proverb is true, is from “Red Sky At Night...”, by Donald Johnson and Jean Smith, in Cruising World, July 1995⁴.  They explained that because the prevailing winds, within the temperate latitudes between 30^o and 60^o north or south latitudes, blow from west to east, by looking at a sunset you are getting a preview of tomorrow’s weather. 

 

If you see a red sky at night, then that means that the setting Sun is reflecting off the backs of clouds to the east of you and the dust in the atmosphere is scattering all but the red light in the Sun’s rays, painting the sky red.  Since the clouds are to the east of you and the air is clear to the west of you then tomorrow should dawn fair and clear, with no rain.  However, if you see a pale, gray sunset at night, then that means that the Sun’s rays are shining through water droplets in the air that will reach you by tomorrow and you will have rain!

 

If you see a red sky at morning, then that means that the Sun’s rays are bouncing off the front of approaching cirrus clouds which are to the west of you, and all but the red light is being scattered, leaving a red sky as a warning of oncoming bad weather!

 

An excerpt from Almanac and Weather Forecaster, by Eric Sloane, page 98.

Additionally, rainbows can help you forecast the weather just as a sunset can.  If you wake up in the morning, as the sun rises in the east, and you look west and see a rainbow, it means a storm is approaching you from the west.  However, at night, as the sun sets in the west, if you see a rainbow to the east, it means that the storms are moving away from you to the east.

 

From “How Good Is Your Weather Eye?”, by Eric Sloane; in Popular Science, October 1944, pages 141.

So, now that you know the reason why the “Red sky at night...” weather proverb is true you will be able to answer the questions above correctly.  To check yourself, see the answers below.

 

From “How Good Is Your Weather Eye?”, by Eric Sloane; in Popular Science, October 1944, pages 216.

 

So next time you see that beautiful red sky at sunset, don’t think romantic thoughts, think high-and low-pressure systems, prevailing winds, and tomorrow’s weather forecast!

 

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Maple Syrup Making ©”, where we will talk about sap, trees running and how to make maple syrup.

 

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

 

Notes

 

¹ From American Boys’ Book Of Signs, Signals and Symbols, by Dan Beard, page 183.

 

² Aratus was a Greek poet who lived circa 215 to 345 BCE.

 

³ Once about eight years ago, while watching the Sun setting over a lake in Canada, I tried to explain the “Red sky at night” proverb to another wilderness guide and I made a complete hash of it, because I didn’t fully understand and obviously couldn't explain atmospheric convection currents, the Coriolis effect, prevailing winds, and high- and low-pressure zones.  Lesson learned!

 

⁴ The entire excerpt of “Red Sky At Night...”, by Donald Johnson and Jean Smith, talking about why this proverb is true is below for your convenience

 

And this excerpt is also very helpful.

 

Sources

 

Beard, Dan; American Boys’ Book Of Signs, Signals and Symbols, [J.P. Lippincott & Company, Philadelphia, PA, 1918], page 183, https://books.google.com/books?id=bDbZAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22American+Boys%E2%80%99+Book+Of+Signs,+Signals+and+Symbols%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiMj_zU7NL2AhVghHIEHaguAwUQ6AF6BAgIEAI#v=onepage&q=%22American%20Boys%E2%80%99%20Book%20Of%20Signs%2C%20Signals%20and%20Symbols%22&f=false, accessed March 19, 2022

 

Coulter, Melody; “Rhymes and Reasons”, Cruising World, August 1981, page 66 to 67, https://books.google.com/books?id=D6-vOYPKOvcC&pg=RA1-PA3&dq=%22rhymes+and+reasons%22+cruising+world+1981&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjkwNPKucn2AhVUmHIEHR9bAZoQ6AF6BAgJEAI#v=onepage&q=%22rhymes%20and%20reasons%22%20cruising%20world%201981&f=false, accessed March 15, 2022

 

Innes-Taylor, Alan; Arctic Survival Guide, [Scandinavian Airline Systems, Stockholm, Sweden, 1964], page 53

 

Johnson, Donald and Smith, Jean; “Red Sky At Night...”, Cruising World, July 1995, page 31 to 35, https://books.google.com/books?id=cbA2Sw1wqGQC&pg=RA7-PA31&dq=%22red+sky+at+night%22+cruising+world+1995&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi2iMn8u8n2AhUzhHIEHUVECyIQ6AF6BAgBEAI#v=onepage&q=%22red%20sky%20at%20night%22%20cruising%20world%201995&f=false, accessed March 15, 2022

 

Sloane, Eric; Almanac and Weather Forecaster, [Hawthorne Books, Inc., New York, 1955], page 98.

 

Sloane, Eric; “How Good Is Your Weather Eye?”, Popular Science, October 1944, pages 141 and 216, https://books.google.com/books?id=PyEDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA137&dq=%22how+good+is+your+weather+eye%22+popular+science+october+1944&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjDwPfNtsn2AhX8k4kEHTMoAr8Q6AF6BAgCEAI#v=onepage&q=%22how%20good%20is%20your%20weather%20eye%22%20popular%20science%20october%201944&f=false, accessed March 15, 2022

 

Webb, Paul; Introduction to Oceanography, [Powered by Pressbooks], page 8.2, https://rwu.pressbooks.pub/webboceanography/chapter/8-2-winds-and-the-coriolis-effect/, accessed March 17, 2022