Syrup-Makers Go High-Tech With Wireless Monitoring

Lisa Rathke & Holly Ramer | AP | April 1, 2014

Maple syrup production has come a long way from metal buckets hung on trees, but even high-tech operations have had to rely on old-fashioned foot patrols to fix a common problem — leaks.

The tubes that draw sap from trees straight to sugar houses often get pulled down or bent by falling limbs or chewed by critters, meaning sugar-makers spend hours and sometimes days stomping through snowy woods to find and fix problems — a big time-waster in a sugaring season that lasts just a few weeks.

But now sugar-makers are harnessing new technology to keep the precious sap flowing...