"Sugaring" at UC Clermont: The Tapping of Sugar Maples

The earliest sign of spring is here. With frosty nights followed by sunny 40-degree days, sugar maple tree sap is beginning to flow, according to David Fankhauser, UC Clermont College professor of biology and chemistry.

UC Clermont College will once again take advantage of their semi-rural wooded campus to conduct “sugaring” activities by biology students. This tradition has been going on every winter since 1975.

Students tap about 10-12 trees every year once the weather begins to moderate. The sap is collected by students daily for the following month, and it is boiled down to syrup. It takes approximately 40-50 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup.

UC Clermont biologists plan on taking students out on Monday, February 1, 2016, at 2:30 to tap the trees. If we have freezing rain or low temperatures, the tapping will be postponed to Wednesday, Feb. 3.

Traditionally, this syrup has been served up to the college over yeast-raised cornmeal waffles early in April. The College will hold its 40th Annual Waffle Breakfast on Friday, April 8.

Fankhauser’s web page documents the tapping activities at Clermont College:

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Buds_and_Bark/tapping_sugar_maple_index.html

UC Clermont College is located in the center of Clermont County on 91 beautiful wooded acres in Batavia Township.  The college is an accredited, open-access college offering more than 50 programs and degrees. UC East, a Clermont County expansion in the former Ford plant in Batavia Township, opened in the fall of 2010. It is home to UC Clermont's Allied Health programs. The college is part of the nationally recognized University of Cincinnati. For more information, call 513-732-5200 or visit www.ucclermont.edu