Tapping maples Jim Nistler and his son, Dominic, of rural Motley, collected the sap recently from a maple tree they had tapped in their front yard. The Nistlers have 36 fivegallon pails set out, with 50 taps. Jim estimates they will get about 10 - 12 gallons of maple syrup this year. (Staples World photo by Dawn Timbs) It’s tree tapping time.

Yes, the season for gathering sap and making maple syrup has arrived; and the Nistler family of rural Motley couldn’t be happier.

“We started doing this in 1997, with our two older boys,” said Jim Nistler recently, at the family home not far from Camp Shamineau. “We were living up near Grand Rapids at the time. Brandon and Corey have since graduated; and now our son, Dominic, has gotten involved.”

A fifth grader at Motley Elementary School, Dominic said he has a lot of fun helping his dad make syrup. “I guess the best part about it is eating it,” he added.

The syrup making process starts around March 15 and usually goes until the end of April, Jim said.

“You’ll get your best syrup from the first tap,” he said, adding that toward the end, the syrup is too sweet for his taste.

Sweet syrup Dominic Nistler, fifth grader at Motley Elementary School, holds a bottle of maple syrup that he helped make with his dad, Jim. (Staples World photo by Dawn Timbs) Dominic, however, said he prefers the sweeter syrup. “It’s almost like candy,” he added.

The morning of Saturday, March 20, was sunny and not too cold...a great day for making syrup out of the sap they’ve collected so far, Jim shared.

It will be an all-day affair; and he and Dominic have already been up awhile, chopping wood that will be used to heat their outdoor syrup evaporator.

The wood-fired evaporator (used to boil down the sap) has been worth the investment, Jim said. “This holds 30 gallons of sap and can do about 15 gallons an hour,” he added.

This spring, Jim and Dominic set out 36 fivegallon pails, with 50 taps to sap-producing maples. A few of the trees are located on the family property; but most of the maples are about five miles away on state forest land off of Camp Ripley. Anyone can go to much of this land without a permit, Jim said.

Stoking the fire Jim Nistler, rural Motley, adds wood to keep the fire burning in his syrup evaporator. The evaporator holds 30 gallons of sap, which is poured into the top portion of the apparatus and boiled down until it is 55 60 percent sugar. How do you know when a tree is big enough to be tapped? “It has to be at least 10 inches across,” Jim said. “If you take a tape measurer around the tree’s circumference, it should be at least 30 inches.”

Jim said that the weather has been perfect for making maple syrup this year.

“The best weather conditions are when it’s cold at night, but warm in the day with the sun out. That’s when the sap runs,” Jim added.

Depending on the temperature, one might have to check the buckets on a daily basis. If sap isn’t running as fast, you might check them every three to five days. “It just depends,” Jim said.

Once the clear-looking sap is collected, it must be cooked within three days. “That’s as long as you can Drilling holes Dominic Nistler, student at Motley Elementary School, showed his classmates how to drill holes in Maples trees to tap for syrup. Dominic store it. Once it turns milky, it’s no good,” Jim said.

The Nistlers store their sap-filled buckets in the garage, where they are kept cool until it’s time to start the evaporating process.

After the sap has been cooked on the evaporator and is 55 - 60 percent sugar, it is brought into the house, where it is cooked for about two more hours on the stove, bringing it up to 66 - 68 percent sugar.

Jim said there are two ways of doing this.

You can use a candy thermometer and watch that it heats up to 219 degrees Fahrenheit. Or, you can use a hydrometer.

The next step is to place the syrup in water jugs and let it settle for a week.

After that, the syrup is cooked one last time on the stove before it’s ready to be bottled and served with breakfast.

Making maple syrup is a great family activity, Jim said. His wife, Kay, helps bottle and label the syrup when she is able, but her job keeps her busy this time of year. “She works at an accountant’s office,” Jim explained.

They make enough syrup for the family to use throughout the year; give

some bottles away as gifts; and sell a few on occasion. “We get about 10 - 12 gallons of syrup every year,” Jim said.

The Nistlers have lived in this area for five years, since Jim’s retirement from the military. Although technically retired, he still works as a general dynamics instructor with the military. “Now I only work about 40 hours a week,” he laughed.

Recently, Jim stopped by MES to talk with fourth and fifth grade students about the maple syrup making process.

He and Dominic demonstrated how to tap for syrup, by drilling holes and inserting tubes into the trees. This is something that anyone could do, Jim told them; even if you just have one maple tree.

Dominic said his friends were inspired after the demonstration. “Some of them said they’d like to do this...but maybe in the summer. I told them that wasn’t a very good time to get syrup,” he added.

Much of what they’ve learned about making maple syrup came from reading the book, “North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual,” Jim said. “We’ve also gone to a seminar in Deer River that the State of Minnesota put on. There’s a lot of good information out there, if you’re interested in making syrup.”

This is about as far west as you can be to still make maple syrup, Jim said. “We lived out in Idaho for awhile; there are no maple trees out there.” It is possible, Jim mentioned, to tap birch trees. “It’s not as sweet, though; and it takes more sap to make syrup.”

However, the sap season for birch trees happens after that of the maples, so die-hard syrup makers can keep boiling sap well into late spring if they choose.

“We have a lot of fun; and it’s a great way to spend time outside with your family,” both Jim and Dominic agreed.