The president of the St. Pierre Museum is expecting the maple harvest to begin Tuesday. 

After a lengthy period of below average temperatures, Rolly Gagne says things are finally about to get rolling. 

“The tapping is done, we did the tapping before the Sugaring Off Festival for the marketing but also to get ourselves ready. Mother Nature is catching up now and we need at least two or three days of prep time for the sugar water to start flowing.” 

For the maple water to run, Gagne says we need positive temperatures during the day and freezing temperatures at night. The current forecast does not look particularly encouraging. 

“It is going to be a short one from what I understand. It will depend if we can get a couple of negative nights, we should be okay but I figure we are only going to get four or five days' worth.” 

Normally, Gagne says they would hope for somewhere between 10 and 15 days of collecting sugar water, however, the weather seems like it is going to warm up too quickly, noting “when spring hits here in Manitoba, it hits! That is exactly what is happening now.” 

That said, Environment Canada says the freeze-thaw cycle will likely be with us for a while yet and Gagne hopes they are correct. 

Gagne says they will take whatever they can get. 

“We have to expect that sometimes we may not even harvest at all so whatever we get is going to be a bonus and it is going to be much appreciated.” 

There are approximately 375 maple trees that have been tapped in the community of St. Pierre.