BOW, N.H.—Sugarmakers in the Granite State are worried about the forecast this week.

“It looks like it’s going to warm up real fast,” said Bruce Treat, a sugarmaker in Bow, N.H. with 700 taps on pipeline.  Treat tapped on Feb. 17 and 18 and boiled for the first time on Feb. 21.

“It makes you wonder if the the trees are going to recharge,” he said.

Treat was not alone in his concerns.  He was the host of the annual tree tapping ceremony with Gov. Maggie Hassan on Monday.

Hassan tapped two trees in front of local media and the sap was running.  But other sugarmakers who attended the event wondered for how long, as temperatures were expected to hit 70 by mid-week.

“We’re hoping that if the warm weather can hold off we will do well,” said Nick Kosko of Meadow View Sugarhouse in Wakefield, N.H.

Kosko said he did not tap early like many other sugarmakers since most of his woods face north.

“We only got tapped a week and a half ago,” he said on Monday.

Still, Kosko said he was happy with the 50 gallons he has made off his 1,500 taps.

“So far so good,” he said.

Chris Olsen who taps near the Atlantic Ocean in Portsmouth, N.H. was also happy so far with his season.

“We’ve made more syrup in the past two weeks than we did all last season,” he said.  “It’s really running.”

Meanwhile, over in Vermont, sugarmaker Martin Sprague of Whitingham, Vt. said on Monday that the 10-day forecast has him worried, with not a hard freeze in sight.

Sprague said he is only at 10 percent of a crop so far, with only 140 gallons made off his 2,200 tap pipeline system.

“I’m a little nervous about the week,” he said.  “It’s maybe too warm.”

March 2016