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Home My WebLink AboutThe Huron Expositor, 1987-03-25, Page 1274, THE HURON EXPOSITOR. MARCH 25, 1987 •— All COLLECTING SAP .Isjust.one of many jobs that needs to be done during maple syrup season. Rayand.Barb Storey of Winthrop tapped 450 trees this year; half of whIch„are'on a pipeline system. Two neighbor children help •with s'ap collection. Ray says the sugar content of sap this year Is.about three per cent. Syrup has a sugar content of at least 66 per cent. COLLECTING SAP using a pipeline makes the job of collecting sap tapped 450 trees this year and hope to produce 225.gallons of syrup, a lot easier than using buckets. Barb Storey collects ttesap twice a Most of the trees are rented by the Storeys. ' day while her husband Ray looks after the evaporator. The•.couple. Photos by Ron Wassink • N=,kp;., A HO7 JOB -- Ray Storey of Winthrop burns between 30 and 40 face cord of wood during maple syrup season. This year he's hoping to produce 225 gallons of syrup. Syrup is filtered three times In Makin by Ron Wassfnk Early spring is the busiest tittia of year for Ray and Barb •Storey of Winthrop. Ws maple syrup season. Boilingsap to make syrup has become e family ffair for the Storey's, though their two sons, John and AlIan are still a bit young to help. They've been doing it on a comrner- cial basis for the last five years, and each year, the business "Winthrop Maple Syrup" keeps expanding. As a kid, Ray can remember his father . tapping 50 trees, producing about 30 gallons of syrup. Today, Ray and Barb tap 450 trees (900 taps) and hope to produee 225 gallons. "When I first started, we made about 100 gallons and My father said he could fiever see uS selling it a11," says Ray. "But I Said we would, and every year since then, we've sold out." Most of the business is walk-in. Maple syrup lovers drnp in and -pick up their syrup at the point of produetiou, about a mile west of W nthrep. The Storeys also have displays various production stages. Ali syrup Is sold privately: flay says his evaporator uses about a wheelbarrow toad of wood ovary 20 minutes. syrup at events such as the Blyth Thresher Reit, Hien to proniote their product. Producing maple syrup is a tradition for the Storeys. Whereas syrup was made in his father's days for personal consumption, Ray and Barb are supplying others, but they can't keep up with the demand. Supply and demand regulates the price of syrup. This year, four litres of Winthrop Maple Syrup is selling for $32. Last year it Mid for $25. It"s for this reason, and also that it's a seasonal product, that Ray says maple syrup has become a `:luxury". "It's supply and demand. We have no sup- ply, but a great demand," says Ray. "Last year we were robbed of two weeks (produc-, tion) because it got too hot (Normal produces tion lasts from site to eight weeks.) We sell all our syrup private and we have more orders now than syrup." There are more problems that will raise the -price of syrup in the future. -Only certain parts of North America have maple trees, the only trees used in syrup production. SAP 10 SYRUP -- Ray and Barb Storey of Winthrop boil 40 gallons of sap to get one gallon of syrup. This year, they hope to produce about 225 gallons of syrup from the 450 trees they tapped. Half the ti'ees are on pipeline, while the rest are on buckets. is a family affair Quebec producers, the main, producers in North America, are faced with die•baok in trees, possibly linked to acid rain. Die -back is where the top, branches in a tree are the first to die. The disease progresses downward. This years sap quality is good, says Ray. It has a sugar content of about three per cent. The sap is boiled down, using an evaporator, to a surgar content of 66-68 per cent. In order to make syrup, Rey and Barb have to boil 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. They estimate that one tap will produce one litre of syrup. In order to do this, they work long hours to collect the sap from roadside trees and three bushes they rent. The Storeys boil 60 gallons of sap per hour, but to achieve that goal, must burn a Wheelbarrow load of wood every 20 minutes. Ray says he goes through 30 to 40 face cord -of wood -each -Season, The hours required to boil depends on how well the sap runs. The ideal is cold nights and warm days. "We keep boiling till the sap is gone,' says stay. "Last Monday we boiled till 1 a.m., but usually were going from y a.m. to 8 p.m. While Ray looks after the boiling opera- tion, Barb and two neighbor children gather sap. The easy work is gathering sap from half the trees that are hooked to a pipeline. The work starts when the three have to col- lect sap from buckets. All the sap fa transported to the evapettor by truck because the majority of the trees are rented and aren't Within piping distance. With an investment of $13,000, Ray and Barb say this will be a good year, for syrup production. As an example, they say three trees they tapped in the middle of their farm should bring in about $110 to Syrup. And the trees only take up a Ira -eta -1 of an acre. Rive years ,a ago, lily y says those satire trees would only have brought hi $50: Syrup is sweet and it's natural. That's what the Storeys like best. Ray says his father almost drinks it like coffee. "He even has syrup on his cereal." Ray and Barb like it on lee cream and muffins. And it's also good for peaple who are allergic to sugar. "We take our syrup to about 68 per cent sugar," says Barb, "because people like it a bit thicker. We probably use 10 gallons ourselves. I cook with it a lot Using their own syrup is a personal testimony that the Storeys believe in a pro- duet they produce. They filter the sap, filter the syrup when it comes out of the evaporator, and filter it again when it's taken outof the finishing pan and canned. When syrup season ends this month, Ray will return to his construction company, Winthrop Construction. He also tarts 150 acres. Barb looks after 100 laying hens and works one day a week delivering frewspapers for the Blyth Citizen. "We like to be busy," she says. As for the syrup, it's a hobby that's turned into a business. "We get hpoked on it;" says Ray. SEVEN 'ON REASONS' To Invest In Tha Mutual ,Group Of Funds di Mutual 'Money Market Fund • Mutual Dividend Fund • Three Mutual Diversifunds ' -Mutual Etjuitutid--- _.._._ • Mutual Ariieritund Mil ,m....._ CO InG 66.0 oloNYoMwnii' Fria' Stelginefer _td;r<ondville 110 Rood( NOW Spring Spacial OFF ALL ItESIOVATTONS How i EN'd1� IHN All Eftferier& Inferior Re'noVatieri's• FFiFE ESTIMATES After 6:600.m. 6j40.000 .40> LETS. KEEP. 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