Maple Syrup

Do you know how maple syrup is made?  I didn't either until Katie, Brian, Juliana and I went to a free program at the Red Oak Nature Center put on by our park district.  In order to tap a tree for sap, the tree must be at least 30 years old (at least 30 inches around). First, a hole is drilled into the tree.  Then a little spout (forgot its real name) is inserted into the hole.  Sap then drips down and out into a bucket through a tube.  The sap that comes out of the tree, however, is extremely watery.  It must be boiled down (all day) to remove the water.  Then you have maple syrup!  We were told that it takes 40 gallons of sap to produce just 1 gallon of syrup!!  There were free samples after the program...Juliana's main reason for coming, of course!  She wasn't as big a fan of the real maple syrup as of the store-bought Aunt Jemima kind though!