By Kaity Gage, special media projects editor

It’s cold at night, it’s warmer during the day, and it’s time for the sugar maples to let their sweet sap flow.

Saturday and Sunday, March 18 and 19, will mark the 14th Annual Northwest PA Maple Association Maple Taste and Tour. On this tour, locals will be able to experience the processes that take place to make the delicious smooth syrup that is bought from grocery store shelves.

There are multiple stops on this tour all across Erie, Warren, and Crawford County. At some locations, small syrup products will be available for sampling and those same products will be available for purchase.

One maple farm, Yatzor’s Maple Products, has over 7,000 taps on trees in the Edinboro area. They use the old fashioned bucket taps and the more modern tube taps that will all drain into a large barrel until the sap is collected.

The tours will last from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you are interested in visiting one of these sugar houses, check out pamaple.org for more information.