The final product, maple syrup, is 66-67% sugar. In most cases when sap leaves the tree it contains 1-6% sugar. From here the sap travels to the sugarhouse.Īt the sugarhouse, the sap is boiled to remove water and yield the sugary syrup. Rather than having individual buckets on each tree, the tubing network brings the sap from every tree to one location, the collecting vat. In order to harvest a greater amount of sap more efficiently, the maple trees in the sugar bush, a grove of sugar maple trees used for syrup making, are tapped and connected to a network of plastic tubing that takes the sap to collecting vats. Larger producers have moved away from this method of collection. The sap flows from the tree through the tap into a metal collection bucket. The traditional method of collecting sap involves “tapping” a tree, or drilling a hole where the metal tap goes. The “water” boiled to syrup, beginning maple syrup production. She tasted the liquid and found it to be sweet, so she used it to cook with. When the chief’s wife went to collect water from the river, she found the container with something that looked like water in it. The next day when he retrieved it, the weather had turned warm and the gash dripped sap into a container that was near the tree. An Iroquois legend credits the beginning of maple syrup production with Chief Woksis.Īs the story has it, one March day Chief Woksis threw his tomahawk into a maple tree. Native Americans made maple syrup before Europeans arrived in North America. Maple syrup production has a long tradition in the region. These “sap buckets” belong to individuals who make homemade syrup. In Northern New York this generally happens between late February and early April.ĭuring this time of year, it is not uncommon to venture down a side road in the Adirondacks and see metal buckets hanging from sugar maple trees. The sap starts flowing when temperatures climb above 40 Fahrenheit during the day and fall below freezing (32 F) at night. Did you know that New York State is the third-largest producer of maple syrup in the world and is the second largest in the United States? Currently, Canada leads production with Vermont in second place.Īs winter gives way to spring, maple syrup producers go to work.
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