Colin and his sister Emilie, along with two friends Roger and Rebecca, run the business from the first taps to the final product ready for sale at the gift shop. During the sugaring season they hire two additional workers. Rather than buckets, Christies' uses plastic tubing. It takes about fifty miles of tubing to collect the sap from over 11,500 taps. Before the taps are in place, the trees in the maple orchard, known as the sugarbush, and the lines are checked for damage.
Bad weather can take it's toll on the trees.
Squirrels, deer, and bear sometimes chew on the lines. It takes several weeks of work to have all the taps in place before the sap begins to run. Depending on the weather, the sap flows for six to eight weeks. Getting the sap to the sugar house quickly is extremely important to insure good quality syrup. Ultraviolet light is used to kill any microorganisms before it goes to the 13 foot steam evaporator.