Keystone College is very fortunate to have its own small maple sugaring operation that includes a sugar shack with an evaporator, and of course a sugarbush, where we have approximately 275 taps deployed.

The operation offers students hands-on experience with making authentic maple syrup from scratch using the many sugar maple trees on campus.

It takes around 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup. The Keystone Sugar Shack usually produces between 40 to 60 gallons of maple syrup every year, going through around 1,600 to 3,600 gallons of tree sap.

Sugaring is an industry that has a long tradition in the northeast U.S. and southern Canada, and relies heavily on the weather. The season usually begins around mid-February and ends sometime in March. For the sap to flow in the trees there must be a fluctuation in temperature with night-time temperatures below freezing and day-time temperatures above. If the temperature falls below freezing, the sap stops flowing, and if the temperature rises too much above freezing, the sap will also stop flowing, sometimes for the rest of the season.