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Every year in the woods of Northern New England the sounds of drilling and hammering can heard right around the time that winter decides to throw in its hand and let the daytime hours warm to above freezing,. These sounds indicate that maple farmers throughout the region have gone into the woods to tap maple trees for their sap; the raw material for maple syrup and sugar. Traditionally sap is harvested by letting it drip into a bucket hung beneath the tap. There it collects until the farmer comes around and empties the bucket’s contents into a collecting tank. The image of sap buckets hanging from maple trees is one that almost everyone in the U.S. and Canada is familiar with. The marketing power of this image is strong; it has been depicted on countless products that have real and not so real maple syrup contents in them. It also reflects an idealized way of life. The back of Vermont's U.S. quarter dollar illustrates buckets being used for sap collection. But over the past couple of decades many maple farmers have begun to kick the bucket in favor of a much less romantic method of gathering sap.
 On a bright, crisp Vermont morning in March, Rich Green drives his pick-up truck, loaded with a bed full of sap buckets and covers, up a rutted and muddy dirt road that leads to a maple tree covered hill. He pulls off from this road when he comes to the spot where there is a farm tractor and trailer that is loaded with additional buckets. Shortly after arriving Rich tromps off through the snow toward a stand of maples. He carries a stack of sap buckets that rest against his shoulder while using the opposite arm to carry a gasoline powered drill. Falling in behind him are his wife, Pam, and his father, Russell. Pam carries a hammer and taps and Russell carries more buckets and some covers. Once in the woods Rich picks out a maple tree, drills a hole into it, then moves on to another tree. Next, Pam pounds a tap into the freshly drilled hole, then Russell hangs a bucket from a hook under the tap and places a cover over the top. Shortly afterward friends and more family members arrive to lend a hand, shifting the procedure into high gear. Once most of the buckets are in place, the family will go its separate ways. Russell will go west to his home in upstate New York and their adult sons will return to their homes near Manchester, New Hampshire.
 The maple sap bucket has been used for centuries to collect sap. They were once made of wood, but most of us are familiar with the metal versions that are currently used. At the peak of the sugaring season these buckets are usually emptied every day, otherwise they may overflow. The more trees that the farmer has tapped, the more time he must dedicate to collecting the sap. It’s not light work: Northern New England is a hilly region and there is usually deep snow on the ground during sugaring season. The farmer and his help must climb up and down steep, slippery hills and have a network of trails on which the tractor or horses that pull the collection tank can travel. Without help, this task is practically impossible for one person to do.
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