HIGHLAND, N.Y. --- Over 170 maple farms are participating in the regions 22nd Annual Maple Syrup Weekend including Corey's Sugar Shack in Highland.
"They don't want store bought syrup anymore, they want the real stuff," said Corey's Sugar Shack owner John Corey.
Producers are welcoming guests to tour their farms to show the syrup making process.
"It's interesting, I didn't know how they do it, it's something to learn," said Diana Martinez.
"It's something you can do in the backyard and something that you can keep simple without breaking the bank," Corey said.
Sugar Shack owner John Corey said he started tapping maple trees as a hobby.
"Once you see it go from sap to syrup and then once you get into the real syrup and not the sugared water in the stores you're going to be hooked on it," Corey said.
Corey said he has over 1,600 taps removing sap from trees. Visitors were able to taste samplings of different treats with maple syrup included in the recipes.
"She likes maple syrup and I heard it was maple syrup weekend. She's always wanted to see how they tap it into the tree so we're just here to check it out," said David Calixto.
Corey said the unpredictable weather pattern in February affected his maple production this year.
"I don’t have a reverse osmosis machine so as soon as I get it I have to boil it and there's times where we just such right down. It just got too warm and we go from too warm to freezing cold," Corey said.
"February was nice it flowed a lot so we got a lot of sap but now it's all frozen and it has been really difficult we're not getting a lot at all," said Debra Corey.
Corey said he expects maple season to run until the beginning of April.