History and production tour:
Page 2

Bucket Cover

Maple syrup is made by collecting maple sap and boiling it down. Boiling the sap causes excess water to evaporate, and leaves the sweet, dark syrup with which you are probably familiar.

Native Americans were likely the first people to make maple syrup and other maple products, but few written accounts of these exploits exist. 

In the early years of recorded history, sap was collected in buckets that hung from wooden spouts called, "spiles". Spiles were often hollowed from branches of sumac (Rhus glabra and R. typhina), and were inserted into holes cut into trees.   Later, metal spiles were made and used. 

Buckets were checked once or several times a day, depending on how quickly the sap was flowing.  Backyard maple producers still use buckets as the most economical and practical approach to sap collection, though large-scale producers now use plastic spiles and tubing. Buckets generally have covers on them that prevent debris from contaminating the sap and rain or snow from diluting it.