March 4, 2024 – Maple Syrup

March is Maple Month in New York, so today we’re talking about maple syrup! It was first made by Indigenous peoples in Northeastern North America. European settlers adopted the practice and eventually changed production methods. Almost all of the world’s maple syrup comes from Canada and the United States, with Quebec producing 70% of the world’s output. In the U.S., Vermont is the largest producer, followed by New York and Maine.
The three species of maple trees predominantly used to produce syrup are the sugar maple, black maple, and red maple. Trees are usually tapped beginning at 30 to 40 years of age, and they can continue to be tapped until they’re over 100 years old. Each tree can support 1 to 3 taps, with the average tree producing up to 12 liters a day. It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make just one gallon of maple syrup.
A maple syrup production farm is called a “sugarbush”. Sap is boiled in a “sugar house” or a “sugar shack”, which has a louvered roof to allow steam from the boiling sap to vent. Maple tapping seasons usually happen in late winter and early spring, lasting 4 to 8 weeks, though the timing depends on the weather, location, and climate.
One of the biggest thefts in Canadian history was The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist. Over several months in 2011 and 2012, thieves stole around 2,700 tons of maple syrup, worth $18.7 million Candian, from a warehouse in Quebec. It was operated by the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, which represents 77% of the world’s maple syrup supply. The syrup was stored in unmarked barrels and the facility was only inspected once a year. The thieves used trucks to transport barrels to a remote sugar shack, where the syrup was siphoned off and replaced with water, and the barrels were then returned to the warehouse. The stolen syrup was sent south to Vermont and east to New Brunswick, where it was trafficked in small batches to avoid suspicion. It was sold to legitimate distributors who had no idea about its origin. Police ultimately arrested 17 meant related to the theft. Learn more here.