What is it Wednesday: February 26, 2020

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

February 26, 2020. 

And the answer is....

These are hydrometers calibrated for maple syrup and sap, used during the maple sugaring process.

A hydrometer is an instrument that measures the density of liquid. The hydrometer on the left is used to determine when maple sap has been boiled long enough that it has turned into maple syrup.

If this hydrometer is floated in a container of boiling sap/syrup and it floats so the surface of the liquid is at the top red line, the sap has become syrup. If it doesn’t float, or floats with the surface of the liquid at a point higher than the top red line, the liquid is not yet dense enough to be considered syrup, and must be boiled longer. (The lower red line is the float-point for cooled syrup.)

The hydrometer on the right is a sap hydrometer. It is used to determine the amount of sugar in sap before it has been boiled.

The sugar content of sap determines how many gallons of sap will be needed to produce a gallon of syrup, and how long it will need to be boiled. It is also interesting to track the sugar content of sap over the years and see if there are any variations related to yearly weather conditions or different locations.

At Lutherlyn we have very few sugar maple trees but lots of red maples. The trees we tap are all red maples.  The sap we gather from red maple trees at Lutherlyn ranges from about  1% to 1.5% sugar content That means we have to boil between 50-85 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup! As its name implies, sugar maple sap has the highest sugar content of all maples: usually about 2%-2.5%, which means it takes roughly 35-45 gallons of sugar maple sap to make a gallon of maple syrup. Percentage sugar content in a liquid is also known as brix, and is referred to in wine, beer, and candy making, as well as maple sugaring.

Join us at Lutherlyn for the Maple Sugaring Saturday Safari, open to the public -- always the first Saturday in  March! Everyone will learn to identify maple trees in winter, pick and tap a tree, bring sap to the sugar shack, and of course, taste our own maple syrup! For more info and to register check out www.lutherlyn.com/safari. 

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!