By Tim Robertson Staff Writer
BOURBON — Every year, in the final weeks of winter, Irvin and Carol Lemler head to the woods for a sweet family tradition.
As the weather changes from icy temperatures to milder and more sunny, Irvin said, the conditions are perfect to harvest maple sap the prime ingredient of maple syrup. “This is the right season because the sap is flowing from the roots back up to the top of the tree and back down,” said Irvin.
Thursday, the couple took a stroll through one of the forests they harvest from along  Marshall County Line Road, north of Bourbon. The forest was dotted with buckets hanging from taps placed in the trees to collect the sugary sap. The Lemlers sell their syrup at the Farmers Market in South Bend. Customers from all over the country order syrup from the Lemlers’ woods each year. But the sweet reward doesn’t come easy.
“Fifty gallons of sap make about one gallon of syrup,” Irvin said.

In a good year, the Lemlers said they produce about 1,000 gallons of syrup. This year, they said they expect around 800 gallons. To get enough sap, they’ve placed close to 4,500 taps in six area maple woods. Each bucket must be checked regularly and emptied into evaporators to be made into syrup.  Wood must be kept burning under evaporators to keep them boiling the sap at high temperatures to produce smooth syrup. But Irvin and Carol said they don’t do all the work alone.
“Last week, we had three sons and nine grandchildren helping us,” said Carol.
Most of the Lemlers’ family gets involved with the annual maple harvest. Irvin said it’s been that way as long as he can remember. “This operation has been in the family for years,” he said. “We just grew up with it.”
Irvin said he took over responsibility for the harvest in the 1960s. Hoosiers have been collecting sap for syrup from some of the Lemlers’ forests since the mid-19th century.
It takes between 30 and 35 years for maple trees to grow large enough to be tapped for sap. The Lemlers said they’ve enjoyed watching the trees grow along-side their family. “Our kids used to play in these woods and climb some of the younger trees,” said Carol. “Today, they’re harvesting sap from those trees.”
The Lemlers said it’s been extra special to see their grandchildren join in the harvest. “To us, it’s awesome to see that next generation out here working,” said Carol. “It’s something in their blood, too.”