Sugarbush

Maple Sap was traditionally collected by a birch bark baskets and eventually was replaced by the copper buckets which were placed underneath the hole in the tree. The maple sap is taken from the tree trunk by tapping.

Maple sap consists primarily of sucrose, which is sugar, and water. From the process of evaporation through boiling, the sap turns into syrup, which has a higher density of sugar. Depending on the sugar content, it can take up to 50 gallons of sap to be boiled down into a gallon of syrup.

The origin of maple syrup cannot be determined. Native Americans have been doing this process for hundreds of years. How did they discover this natural substance? Read the Legend of Maple Syrup to learn more.

The success of maple syrup season depends on many things. Weather is the most important variable in the production process. In order to have a proper season, it should be sunny at about 40 degrees during the day, and freezing at night. This typical weather occurs in the spring sometime in March to April. Once you've collected the sap, you may make it into syrup, or in other forms.