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Every year during this duration, something magical happens! It hides in the forests throughout the hibernate, silently delaying. Finally, it's persuaded out with the somewhat cold nights and warmer days of the advent spring. This wealth has been around for centuries and once you've been taken over by its sugary, sweet powers, you never go back.

What's this mighty force you ask? Nope, it's not honey. This is fluid gold, good in a higher degree known as maple syrup :o)


There's a fable that is told by the Natal Americans about how maple syrup came to be. Long delayed one winter day, Headmost Woksis threw his indian hatchet into a maple tree. The next day, a liquid (sap) was discovered dripping from the injury made by the tomahawk. The most eminent's wife used the sap fluid to cook their nourishment and that's when they discovered its saccharine, delicious test by the tongue. From then on, the sap was used for sundry things and eventually it was discovered that if boiled down, it became syrup.

If you be animated anywhere near maple trees, then you can muster the sap :o) Gathering the sap begins the same way it always has. A 'v' shaped nose is hammered into the stock of the maple tree, creating a tap. When the sap runs, it slowly pours out and drops into a bucket attached lawful below, to be collected later on. I have to forewarn you though; it takes A LOT of sap to end up with one bottle of syrup!

Now the mode of gathering that sap 'has' changed over the years. Nation used to have to snowshoe from tree to tree. Their priceless cargo was then dumped into a bucket, attached to a sled, and then taken back to the 'sweeten shack' :o) This may have been done completely a few times in one day and was perfectly labour intensifying. As the years went by, new methods came about and...

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