Warm weather this year allowed the early flow of maple sap in several sugar bushes.
The first maple syrup production of 2024 at Prince Sugar Bush in St. Wenceslas began this week.
The season started abruptly this year: we had to finish tapping the maple trees quickly to get as much water as possible. No question about escaping a drop.
“We have a sugar shack that serves meals to customers. This allows me to have syrup all year round by starting the sugar shack while I normally do production. A week after the cabin opened,” explains Prince Sugar Bush maple producer Dave Turcot.
And the dining room opens March 9th.
At the Boisée sugar smelter, the first pour takes place two to two and a half weeks earlier than in previous years.
The sun makes the phone ring more than ever. Customers have been calling to reserve their spot in the sugar shack since January.
Before they arrived, operations had to be accelerated, cutting down more than 700 maple trees in a few days to cope with the heat.
“It is not flowing yet, but it will flow… After two days of heat and a hard frost after that, it will disappear. As I can tell you, it just makes you sweat a little,” adds Boisée Sugar Shack owner Robert Dufresne, who will open his dining room from March 14th.
But it's not because the season starts early almost everywhere in the province, which is a sign of a good harvest…
“We are pleased that things are going well at the moment, but it is still too early to give an overview of the situation. What I can tell you is that we need this syrup. There is demand,” encourages Joël Vaudeville, spokesman for maple syrup producers in Quebec.
And we know that the reserves of almost all sugarbushes were severely taxed last year by the less generous season we saw.
That's why seven million new taps were awarded to producers in 2023, as well as 739 new maple syrup companies joining the ranks in Quebec.
To be considered a good harvest, an average of five to seven weeks of fluctuations around the freezing point are required. Maple growers are hoping to produce plenty of blonde gold this season.