It is later than he usually does it, but Hillside Apples owner Bill Roethle still expects the sap to run strong from his trees in Casco.  Roethle and his son Brad usually begin tapping trees for sap collection in late February, but the cold and the snow prevented them from getting out before early Monday morning. He says some people had some sap flowing over the weekend, but Roethle believes there is still time before his 300 tapped trees really start producing.

Roethle expects his trees will produce at least 1400 gallons of sap so he can produce approximately 35 gallons of syrup. The snow has also made pruning his apple trees more of a chore than usual, but Roethle says the early cover helped protect the root systems over the winter.