Bendix Woods County Park is the location of my video, during their Sugar Days Festival. I will take you through an abbreviated tour of the process involved in the production of maple syrup. In the pioneer days, maple sap was boiled down to make maple sugar. It was the staple sugar of the pioneers until cane sugar became more readily available at a more reasonable price. Maple syrup did not become popular until the late 1800's when sterile bottling techniques became more reliable and syrup could be stored in a cool place. It takes 40 liters of sap to produce 1 liter of syrup. The sap is boiled to evaporate the water and concentrate the sugar to make syrup. No other substances are added to the sap during the making of maple syrup; only the water is boiled away by evaporation. Syrup is labeled in different grades, light, amber (fancy grade), medium amber and dark amber. This refers to the color and the flavor and not the sugar content. All maple syrup is 66% sugar. Sap that is ! collected at the beginning of the season results in light colored and light tasting syrup. Medium has a richer color and stronger taste and is from sap that is collected at mid season. The darker syrup is from the late season harvest. The stronger flavor and color is a result of additional substances that are produced to start the growth of the leaves. My video begins with a glimpse of the horse drawn buggy that takes the guests from the lodge out to where the sap is being collected in buckets that ...
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