Naper settlement demonstrates maple tapping after warm winter

Everything about this year's mild winter was the opposite of ideal for maple trees to produce the sugary sap that helps make syrup, said Naper Settlement Museum Educator Justin Stech during a tree tapping demonstration Saturday.

Snow helps insulate maple roots to prevent sap from freezing completely, and not much fell this year.

Forty degree days at the end of winter help sap begin rising from the roots toward branches, but temperatures recently have risen into the 50s and higher.

“Days we've had in the 60s have done nothing beneficial for the sapping,” Stech said.

Luckily, when he drilled a small hole into a maple in the center of the museum's main lawn, sap began to drip, first down the tree's bark toward the ground, then into a bucket.

“Usually it's fast right at the beginning when you break the bark and then it slows down,” Stech said.

But, “What do you do if no sap comes out?” asked Katie Furby, an 8-year-old Brownie Girl Scout watching the demonstration with members of her Northbrook troop.

Try another tree, was Stech's answer, adding those in the business of making maple syrup might be asking themselves that same question this spring and hoping some trees produce sap more abundantly than others.

About 60 people watched the first of three tree-tapping demonstrations Saturday where they learned how Native Americans showed early settlers to gather sap and how Europeans improved the process.

Three more tappings are scheduled between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday during the settlement's Maple Sugaring Days, which also offer maple recipes in the print shop, maple treats in the tavern and a maple-themed spelling bee in the school house.

Tapping a maple tree involves drilling a hole about two inches into its bark, then softly hammering a spout into the hole and hooking a bucket to the spout to catch the sap. New England settlers learned the technique from Native Americans, then began using metal tools instead of wood or stone, Stech said.

The season for maple tapping doesn't last long — only four to six weeks at the end of winter and beginning of spring.

“If you see buds forming on the branches,” Stech said, “it's too late.”