The making of maple syrup is a time-honoured tradition. The basic principles of boiling down sap collected from nearby maple trees has not changed much over time, but technological advancements mean producers today can take the sap run at a more reasonable pace.
Jeff Blair of Vergers Blair Orchards has gone from manually collecting sap from buckets to a vacuum system that sucks the sap from the trees. “We are not harming the trees; it is just that the sap doesn’t flow out naturally. It is being pulled out,” he said, noting this means they can collect more sap during the annual run. “Sometimes we can go for 48 or even 72 hours straight,” he explained.
At Rockburn Orchards, the entire network of taps, lines, and tubing is monitored in the bush by an automated system that can be controlled remotely by phone or on screen in the shanty. Valves can be turned on or off, and all of the lines are tracked so leaks are signalled as soon as they start.
Owners Laurie Ann Prevost and Roger Duheme are currently in their fourth season after starting their operation in 2023. “When we set everything up, we wanted to do things as efficiently as possible,” said Prevost.
This meant investing right away in a reverse osmosis system. Prevost explained that sap is typically around two per cent sugar when first collected. Reverse osmosis (RO) allows them to concentrate the sap to 17 per cent before the evaporator is even turned on.
“You’re throwing out a lot of water before you start to boil,” said Blair, of the RO process that is now standard practice for sugar production. These systems use pressurized pumps to force sap through semi-permeable membranes that remove between 50 to 75 per cent of the water.
“This has allowed producers to become even more efficient and bigger. There used to never ever be a producer around here that tapped 30,000 taps. But now you can handle that many and more.”
New boiling technology has also resulted in the availability of high-efficiency evaporators on the market. “We used to be wood, then we were oil for 13 years, and now we have gone back to a high-efficiency wood evaporator,” said Blair, who was able to benefit from a government program to transition away from oil.
“It uses very little wood, and it’s a complete burn. There are almost zero emissions. So, for the environment’s sake and everything else, I decided we were going to switch back,” he explained.
Prevost is also looking to upgrade their evaporator, which was installed just three years ago, with a more efficient model. They are considering oil or wood-fired options.
Another possibility would be to invest in an electric evaporator, which is becoming a more popular option. These are often fully automated with precise controls over the boiling temperature and process.
Prevost notes, however, that the electric systems require a significant investment in infrastructure, including a three-phase entrance, which was simply too hefty an investment for their current number of taps.