From tree to table, here is how this P.E.I. man makes maple syrup
'Freezing and thawing makes the pressure in the tree and if you don't have that, the sap won't run'
Trees are tapped, buckets are hung and sap runs through a pipeline in a quiet, calm corner of Hazel Grove, P.E.I.
Eventually this sap will become syrup, but it's got quite a journey before that transformation.
Greg Beamish is the one who makes it happen. He has about 700 trees to keep track of — just enough for him and his business the Sugar Shack, he says. On a good day he'll get a gallon or so of sap per tap, but this year has been tricky.
He's only had a couple boils so far and normally he'd have double or triple that by now.
Beamish says ideally, the temperature during the day would be 5 C or warmer, and have dipped below zero the night before.
"The freezing and thawing makes the pressure in the tree, and if you don't have that, the sap won't run."
That said, he's hard at work making as much maple syrup as he can with what he's got.