What is it Wednesday: March 4, 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

March 4, 2020. 

And the answer is....

This shiny item is the new evaporator flue pan! 

Thanks to a generous donor, we recently installed new evaporator pans in our Sugar Shack, which will allow us to boil maple sap into maple syrup without leaks and constant repairs. While we were moving the new pans into the sugar shack, we noticed that the new pans were so shiny that they looked almost camouflaged with the background from a certain angle. Here it is, not so camouflaged: 

The drop flues extending out of the bottom of the flue pan are very visible in this second picture – these sections protrude from the bottom of the pan right into the area where the heat from the fire passes into the flue on its way to the  chimney. Having long narrow sections reach down into this highly heated area provides more surface area, which makes it possible for the sap to heat up and boil more quickly.

After passing through the flue pans (in the back) the sap flows into the channels of the syrup pans (in the front) directly over the fire. Here the sap boils into syrup.

We have had our first maple sugaring groups of the season, and you can see the new evaporator pans in action too at our Maple Sugaring Saturday Safari – always the first Saturday in March! In addition to visiting the Sugar Shack and seeing the evaporator making the sap into syrup, everyone gets to choose and tap a maple tree and collect sap from trees already tapped – and of course, taste syrup! Check out www.Lutherlyn.com/safari for more info and to register!

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!