Maple Syrup production

The sugar maple tree is unique to the southeastern part of Canada and the northeastern part of the United States. Maple syrup is made from the sap of the sugar maple tree. The sap, a slightly sweet clear liquid, begins to flow in the trunk of the tree when cool nights (approximately -3°C) are followed by warm sunny days (approximately 3°C to 5°C). The sugar in this sap comes from the action of sunlight on the chlorophyll in the large maple leaves during the previous summer.

Collecting the sap

To collect the sap, the sugar maker uses a tapper to drill an 11mm hole approximately 7 cm into the trunk. A spile is placed in the hole to direct the sap into a bucket or tubing system. Some sap is still collected in pails and carried to the sugar house in tanks on sleighs and wagons. Other maple syrup producers use plastic tubing and a vacuum pump to bring the sap from the trees to a storage tank near the sugar house.

Turning sap into syrup

To make maple syrup, the sap is boiled down in an evaporator in the sugar house. Often a finishing pan is used in the sugar house to bring the boiling temperature of the syrup to 3.9°C above the temperature at which water boils. At this boiling temperature the maple syrup is at least 66% sugar (sugar makers call this 66° Brix). The hot maple syrup is put through a filter to remove the small particles of sugar sand before it is put in glass, metal or plastic containers.

Maple syrup can be boiled down further to make maple sugar, maple butter and maple taffy.

Grades of maple syrup

There are two grades and four colour classes of maple syrup -
     Canada #1 Extra Light, Light, Medium
     Canada #2 Amber
     Canada #3 Dark - is an additional grade that is available for commercial use only

The first sap usually has the highest sugar content of the season (about 3%) and produces a very light coloured syrup with the distinctive maple flavour. This will be graded as Canada #1, Extra Light. As the snow melts and the days get longer and warmer the syrup usually gets darker in colour and the syrup has a stronger maple flavour. This will be graded as Canada #2.

Healthy farming

Many families have been producing maple syrup for several generations in the same sugar bush. Sugar makers practice conservation management so the trees remain strong and healthy. Woodlots can be improved by taking out the dead and diseased trees. These trees are then used for lumber and firewood as a great deal of wood is needed to keep the sap boiling in the evaporators during the Maple Syrup. Maple syrup making is a good example of sustainable food production. Sugar bushes also provide food and shelter for many species of wildlife.

Ontario Maple Syrup

Maple syrup and maple sugar are important agricultural products in Ontario, worth about ten million dollars annually. Each year the approximately 2000 sugar makers sell about one million litres of maple syrup and forty thousand kilograms of maple sugar. Maple syrup, maple sugar, and maple taffy are sold around the world.

Did You Know?

	Maple Syrup is unique to the southeastern part of Canada and the northeastern part of the United States
	Ontario is the fourth largest maple syrup producer in the world following Quebec, Vermont and New York State
	Maple sap flows best on still, sunny days
	Maple sap can run at the rate of up to 150 drops-per-minute
	Taking a small amount of sap does not damage the tree
	It requires an average of 40 litres of sap to make one litre of syrup
	Pure maple syrup has no fat and no proteins and is a good source of 3 essential elements - calcium, iron and thiamin
	It is the bacteria content in maple syrup that makes it darker-coloured
	The boiling point of maple syrup is 219 degrees Fahrenheit, or 7 degrees above the boiling point of water
	To be sold legally, maple syrup must have 66% sugar content
	The maple syrup season lasts from three to six weeks
	As soon as the buds on the trees begin to open, the sap is no longer suitable for making syrup
	Larger sugar maple trees can safely be tapped with more spiles
	A maple tree has to be around 40 years old before it is large enough to tap for syrup production