Cook's Sugar Bush

The Award Winning Pure Maple Syrup produced at Cook's Sugar Bush is harvested from February thru April when we have warm days and freezing nights. This is when the sap in the Sugar Maple Tree flows the best. We tap the maple trees by drilling a small hole into the trunk of the tree and then place a spout in the hole. The Sugar Water is then collected daily and taken to the Sugarhouse where we cook off the excess water in a stainless steel evaporator that is fueled by dry split wood. Nothing is added to the Pure Maple Syrup only water is evaporated from it. Did you know that it takes 30 to 50 gallons of Maple Sugar Water to produce JUST 1 gallon of Pure Maple Syrup! When the syrup is at just the right density, the syrup is drawn off from the evaporator, filtered and poured into a bottling tank where it is heated to 190 degrees F and put into containers. Pure Maple Syrup is used as a natural, healthy sweetener in coffee, tea, over ice cream and fresh fruit, and in cooking such as baked beans, barbecuing, squash and carrots. Traditional uses would be on pancakes, waffles, and sausage. Cook's Sugar Bush brings the forest to your table. Our Honey Bee Colonies are located in an area where most of their foraging is done on Wild Flowers. This unique mix of Wild Flowers produces a flavorful tasting honey. July thru September we harvest the sweet nectar from the Honey Bees. We begin by gently coaxing the bees from the honeycombs and then take the honeycombs to the honey house. At the honey house a hot knife is used to remove the bees wax cappings from the sealed honeycombs. We then position the combs in a stainless steel honey extractor, which uses centrifugal force to extract the honey from the bees wax cells. After the honey is extracted, we strain the sweet nectar to remove any wax or impurities. Our last step is to put the honey in containers. Honey is used as a natural, healthy sweetener in coffee, tea, over ice cream and fresh fruit, and in cooking such as ham, baked beans, barbecuing, squash and carrots. Traditional uses would be on biscuits, bread and muffins. When you open a jar of Cook's Sugar Bush honey, you might think you are standing in a meadow of sweet scented wild flowers.