A maple in April is a force to be reckoned with. It is in the zone, doing its superpower thing, an engine firing on all cylinders. The sap is flowing with a vengeance, squeezed by specialized cells that expand during the heat of day to help create more pressure than in the inside of a car tire.
The people who boil sap into maple syrup belong to a hearty tribe called “sugarmakers.” They capitalize on a maple’s internal pressure by drilling holes in the tree, a process known as tapping, which allows the tree’s pressure to push the sap (or “water,” in sugarmaker lingo) out of the tree and into a collection system.
