In southern New England, maple syrup season lasts for only a few fleeting weeks, so the smoke is rising as staffers stoke the fire at Bushy Hill Nature Center’s iconic sugar shack, boiling down the sap from the more than 150 collecting buckets to create maple syrup.

It takes approximately 40 gallons of sap to make just one gallon of syrup, so the task is an arduous one, which is why Bushy Hill Nature Center Associate Director Brendan Hyland is happy to have a few extra hands this season to help with the harvest.

“Mack Goller and Bill Hutchings are helping out part-time this season collecting sap, which will make it much easier than it has been in the past,” said Hyland. “The more help the better, so I am optimistic that this year we may be able to collect enough sap to make over 25 gallons of syrup.”

Over the past few years, due in part to less-than-ideal weather conditions and lack of additional help, The Sugar Shack was only able to produce about 15 gallons of syrup.

Pure maple syrup is made from the sap of maple trees during the four- to six-week span toward the end of winter. The yield is very dependent on weather conditions, which are optimally warm, sun-filled days and cold nights.

“Right now, the weather conditions for the season ahead is a little up in the air, but we are hoping it’s a good year. Its already better than last year, when at the same time we had two feet of snow to trudge through, which made it more difficult to collect sap,” said Hyland.

Trees can be tapped when they’re at least 16 inches in diameter; after that, an additional tap can be added for each additional 8 inches in diameter. No matter how large the tree, however, Hyland doesn’t like to tap one tree with more than three taps at a time.

“The more times you tap it, the less sap it gives,” he explains.

To learn more about maple syrup production and collection, as well as the history of sugaring from the earliest days to the present, visit the sugar shack during one of its open houses, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the following Saturdays: Feb. 16 and 23 and March 2.

Bushy Hill also host organizations and clubs for private tours and more in-depth lessons on sugaring. To book a program email them at info@bushyhill.org.

Maple syrup can be purchased during the open houses while available, however it is suggested to go early, because they almost always sell out. Nippers are sold for $5, half pints for $10, and pints for $15.