Maple syrup is a Canadian institution: more than 80% of the world's maple syrup supply is made in Quebec, which produces almost 25 million litres of the syrup annually.
Production usually takes place between February and April, providing weather conditions are favourable. Trees are "tapped," with small holes drilled into the trunks and either a traditional tap and bucket used to collect the sap, or a more modern plastic tube set-up used to collect the run-off. The sap is then boiled, and turned into syrup, candy or taffy, depending on how long the sap is boiled.
The most commonly tapped trees are sugar and black maple, for their high sugar content, although any maple tree can produce syrup. It takes approximately 40 litres of sap to produce 1 litre of syrup, and each tapped tree produces approximately 1 litre of syrup per season.
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