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Mountain Road near Greenfield, Mass., provides the perfect scene for early spring in New England. It's sugarmaking time and in the Berkshire foothills of Massachusetts, you'll see sap buckets on maple trees collecting precious sugar. Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
For Norman Davenport, owner of the Davenport Maple Farm in Shelburne, Mass., tapping trees for sap on his property is a family business. Though the season is brief – 4 to 6 weeks at most – it is labor intensive. Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
Because of the warm climate this winter season, the "sugar weather" came early in mid-February rather than the end of the month. Nights have to dip below freezing and the days need warmth for the sap to run. Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
Most medium to large size operations use tap lines – plastic tubing connecting an area of trees, known as a sugarbush. Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
The sap from each tree flows from the individual lines into a main line downhill and into a holding tank. The sap itself is mostly water, with a sugar content varying at plus or minus 2 percent. Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
From this holding tank the sap will be transported to the storage tank at the sugarhouse where it will be processed. Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
The tell tale plume emanating from the sugarhouse is a sign that syrup production is in process, beckoning neighbors and tourists alike to partake of the seasonal treat. Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
Sugarhouses have earned their reputation for the rustic charm that idealizes New England country living. The boiling room is where the evaporator (cooker) boils the sap down to syrup. Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
The Davenport Maple Farm will celebrate 100 years in 2013. Old containers, equipment, and candy molds have been collected over the years for display in the sugarhouse. Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
Lisa Davenport (r.) greets visitors who come to see the syrup being made before heading to the restaurant located above the boiler room. Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
Maegan Senser, the Davenport's daughter, watches over her twin sons Mason (l.) and Connor (c.). Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
Norman Davenport (l.) keeps an eye on the evaporator while discussing the finer points of syrup making with his son Fredrick. There is a complex science involved and an even more intricate art of interpreting that science to produce a pancake-worthy syrup. Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
There is a precise density to which the syrup must be cooked. It is measured with a syrup hydrometer. The sap running from the tree is generally 2 percent sugar which must be boiled down to approximately 68 percent. Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
As the boiling nears completion, Norman Davenport keeps a vigilant watch on the temperature and density of the syrup. Overcooking will crystalize the sugar, undercooking it will allow the syrup to ferment. Even the barometric pressure outside the sugarhouse will affect the outcome. Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
Once the syrup is done it is filtered through a filter press (this one is circa 1961) to clarify the liquid before bottling. Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
Small jars of varying grades of syrup line the window. Ranging from grade A light amber (for eating) to grade B dark amber (for baking), the taste and quality of the syrup depends upon when in the season it is made. The lighter version occurs during the first sap run. The darker varieties occur later in the season. Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
For candy, the syrup is heated further still to encourage crystallization. Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
Lisa Davenport stacks the trays of candy molds for the boxes of maple candy that will be sold in the restaurant. Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
Running a sugarhouse requires patience. Boiling the sap can take as long as 24 hours with constant attention, depending on the sugar content of the sap. Candymaking requires a precise temperature of 340 degrees F. Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
One by one, the candy molds are filled with cooling sugar syrup that will crystallize into soft, mouth watering maple sugar candy. Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
Hungry patrons sit down to a hearty breakfast of pancakes topped with maple syrup at the Davenport restaurant. Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
The season was short this year, due to the unusually warm weather in Massachusetts. The buds have opened and the sap has stopped running as the trees use the energy from the sap to make leaves. This year the Davenports collected 21,000 gallons of sap to make 419 gallons of syrup. A ratio of 50:1. Joanne Ciccarello/Staff
In Pictures: Derby Day devotees, Kenyan style
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 05/16
In Pictures: Dazzle like Beckham
In Pictures: Weather extremes 2013
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 05/15
In Pictures: Duchess Kate's royal baby bump
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 05/14
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An early spring hampered this year's maple syrup production. But at the Davenport Maple Farm in Shelburne, Mass., the taps ran just as they always have done for the past century.
The pancakes taste better if you first visit the boiler room of the Davenport Maple Farm in Shelburne, Mass.
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