Last week I visited several friends and, at both homes, the conversations turned to making maple syrup. Both friends are looking forward to colder nights and sunny days so they can begin tapping trees and boiling sap.

Humans have learned many things from wildlife, and the collecting of maple sap is one of them. For example, the Native Americans probably watched as a squirrel bit into the branch of a maple tree, and drank the flowing sap. After Native Americans tasted a piece of venison cooked in maple sap, they realized that the sap would become a sweet treat.

Our Native Americans carved a V on a sugar maple tree and then pounded a wooden spout into the notch. This would allow the sap to drip into a log bucket that had been placed under the spout. Since the log bucket could not be put over a fire to boil the sap, hot stones were put into the sap-filled bucket.

The maple syrup producing season is dependent on the weather. Extended cold weather could delay the start of collecting sap, while a warm spell will shorten the maple syrup season.

The sugaring season typically begins in mid-to- late February when temperatures rise above freezing for a few days, bringing about a physiological change inside maple trees that triggers the sap to flow. The length of the sap season varies, depending on the temperatures; however, an average sugaring season lasts approximately six weeks.

Most producers will be finished boiling sap by mid-April, at which time the night-time temperatures remain above freezing and the tree buds begin to swell. Sap stops flowing when temperatures no longer fluctuate between freezing at night and thawing during the day.

We all know maple syrup is made from the sap of sugar maple trees, however syrup can also be made from other maple species. Although the red maple can be tapped, its sap is not as sweet, and the tree’s buds open before the sugar maple’s buds. When buds break — or expand — in late spring, the sap becomes somewhat bitter and is undesirable for processing.

The sap of a sugar maple tree appears as water and somewhat compares to water in taste. So, where does the sugar come from? Sugar is produced in the leaves of the tree during photosynthesis. It is transported into the wood and stored during the winter (mostly in the form of carbohydrates) and then converted into sucrose and dissolved into the sap. In cold climates, trees, especially the sugar maples, store starch in their trunks and roots before winter begins.

This starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap during early spring. Sugar maples generally have sap with higher sugar content and produce better flavored syrup than other maple species. Although no one knows the exact reason for the higher sugar content, scientists suggest it could be related to the structure of the wood.

When the conditions are ideal it takes just over five days for the average tree to produce about forty gallons of sap, which is enough to make one gallon of syrup. However the volume of sap produced during a single season can vary depending on the trees, weather conditions, length of sap season and methods used for collecting sap.

Producers using either gravity lines or buckets generally get less sap from a tree than those using vacuum tubing. As long as a tree remains healthy, it should continue to produce sap. Some sugar maples have been known to produce sap for several farm family generations, well over 100 years.

Approximately 300 different natural flavor compounds have been found in pure maple syrup. However not all appear in the same syrup. Most of these compounds are detected by smell.

There is one compound linked to maple flavor that is present in all pure maple products but varies in amount between producers and time of year. As is the case for most natural products, maple syrups have complex flavor chemistry to delight your sense of taste and smell.

Syrup quality is affected by weather conditions during the maple season when the sap is collected and the processing technique. There are some producers in every region that are consistently able to produce a lighter colored syrup and higher quality products, however no one region is better than another.

Well, smoke will soon be rising from the local sap houses. In years past, Mary Alice and I volunteered at Mount Pisgah State Park to make homemade ice cream, while other volunteers boiled maple sap to make syrup. Those people that braved the cold weather were rewarded with fresh maple syrup poured over home-made ice cream.

Bill Bower is a retired Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Officer. Read his blog and listen to his podcasts on the outdoors at www.onemaningreen.com.