In the transcriptions of Albert Hunter he talks about meeting the manufacturer of maple sugar in Burlington here is the basic steps of making Maple Sugar.
Pure maple syrup is made by concentrating the slightly sweet sap of the sugar maple tree. As winter comes to an end, usually in late February or early March, sugarmakers prepare for their annual harvest of the maple trees. The group of maple trees that is used is called sugarbush, or maple orchard. The sugarmaker prepares his sugarbush by clearing access roads in the snow, removing fallen branches, and setting up his buckets or sap tubing systems. Whether they use tubing or buckets, sugarmakers must be sure that all their sap gathering, collecting, evaporating and bottling equipment is absolutely clean and in good condition before the beginning of the season. When the sap is collected it is boiled down into syrup. In the beginning the sap is 98% water and 2% sugar. The finished product is 33% water and 67% sugar.
Bibliography:
"www.massmaple.org" Massachusetts. 11/14/05.
http://www.massmaple.org/how.html