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Nova Scotia · maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Kings, Nova Scotia

Kings is a county in Nova Scotia. Statistics Canada's 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 18 farms reporting maple taps and 61,068 taps here, number 2 in Nova Scotia. Around Kentville, sap usually runs from March 13 to April 16. Here's the long-run pattern, 35 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 157 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 13
weather estimate
Season ends
Apr 16
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
41.5
1991–2025 average
Taps, 2021
61,068
#2 of 2 in NS

Sap-flow outlook at Kentville right now

Full Nova Scotia forecast →

Forecast for Kentville, NS

Updated Oct 7, 10:00 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Kings's season usually opens around March 13, which is 157 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 0 °C

  1. ThuOct 8
    9° / 20°
    No refreeze forecast
  2. FriOct 9
    8° / 18°
    No refreeze forecast
  3. SatOct 10
    7° / 13°
    No refreeze forecast
  4. SunOct 11
    4° / 16°
    No refreeze forecast
  5. MonOct 12
    11° / 15°
    No refreeze forecast
  6. TueOct 13
    9° / 14°
    No refreeze forecast

Data: Environment and Climate Change Canada. Verdicts use freeze-thaw thresholds from maple field research; your woods may run a little differently.

When the sap runs

The sugaring calendar at Kentville

Freeze-thaw weather at Kentville peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 13, which hold about 45% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month. Typical dates are a weather estimate (no official season record for this province): the median of this division's own weather signals.
Typical season: Mar 13 – Apr 160246Week of Dec 1: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 13
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Kentville, 1991–2025 (Daymet temperatures). A sap day is an overnight low under −1 °C (30.2 °F) followed by an afternoon high over +3 °C (37.4 °F). The shaded band is the typical season.

Year-to-year spread

Opening signal
Median Mar 13; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 6 and Mar 17. Earliest Feb 23 (1999), latest Mar 30 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Apr 16; middle half between Apr 5 and Apr 20. Earliest Mar 26 (1998), latest Apr 30 (1992).
Sap days by month
Dec19%Jan13%Feb14%Mar29%Apr23%May2%

35 seasons of sap weather

Kings seasons, 1991–2025

The best sap year at Kentville was 2020 with 56 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 1998 with 29. Seasons that start early tend to end early too: the trees run on the swing between freezing nights and mild days, and heat ends it.
JanFebMarAprMaysap days20252025: Mar 10 – Apr 12, 37 sap days3720242024: Mar 3 – Apr 3, 49 sap days4920232023: Mar 11 – Apr 10, 48 sap days4820222022: Mar 3 – Apr 7, 41 sap days4120212021: Mar 4 – Mar 30, 31 sap days3120202020: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 56 sap days5620192019: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 43 sap days4320182018: Mar 14 – Apr 16, 51 sap days5120172017: Mar 10 – Apr 10, 42 sap days4220162016: Mar 9 – Apr 12, 53 sap days5320152015: Mar 30 – Apr 26, 37 sap days3720142014: Mar 11 – Apr 10, 29 sap days2920132013: Mar 14 – Apr 18, 45 sap days4520122012: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 51 sap days5120112011: Mar 17 – Apr 16, 37 sap days3720102010: Feb 27 – Mar 26, 32 sap days3220092009: Mar 19 – Apr 21, 48 sap days4820082008: Mar 14 – Apr 18, 35 sap days3520072007: Mar 18 – Apr 22, 51 sap days5120062006: Mar 5 – Mar 29, 30 sap days3020052005: Mar 15 – Apr 19, 43 sap days4320042004: Mar 23 – Apr 27, 36 sap days3620032003: Mar 21 – Apr 20, 34 sap days3420022002: Mar 7 – Apr 8, 35 sap days3520012001: Mar 24 – Apr 20, 39 sap days3920002000: Feb 24 – Mar 29, 41 sap days4119991999: Feb 23 – Mar 28, 54 sap days5419981998: Mar 3 – Mar 26, 29 sap days2919971997: Mar 27 – Apr 28, 43 sap days4319961996: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 42 sap days4219951995: Mar 13 – Apr 16, 48 sap days4819941994: Mar 9 – Apr 3, 30 sap days3019931993: Mar 16 – Apr 16, 38 sap days3819921992: Mar 26 – Apr 30, 42 sap days4219911991: Mar 17 – Apr 20, 53 sap days53
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily Daymet temperatures at Kentville. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Kings in the Census of Agriculture

Statistics Canada counts the farms that report maple taps in its Census of Agriculture every five years. In 2021 it counted 18 in Kings, with 61,068 taps; in 2016, 26 farms. Among Nova Scotia's 2 census divisions with a published tap count, Kings ranks 2nd, and 67th of the 94 in this atlas.

Over the five years the farm count changed −31%. Statistics Canada cautions that 2021 and 2016 are not strictly comparable: the census-farm definition changed in 2021, and farms were assigned to their main location more strictly.

Statistics Canada doesn't publish syrup volume by census division, so the Canadian pages show farms and taps, not gallons or litres.

Kings maple production, 2016 and 2021 (Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarms reporting tapsTaps
20211861,068E
201626withheld by Statistics Canada
  • E Statistics Canada quality grade: use with caution.
  • "Withheld by Statistics Canada": Statistics Canada suppressed the value to protect confidentiality (x). The farm count is still published.

Nearby

Neighboring maple divisions

Distances are between reference towns; typical dates are each division's own estimate.

About these numbers

The season dates are estimated from 35 seasons of daily high and low temperatures for the Daymet 1-km grid cell at Kentville, the division's largest population centre in the 2021 Census; the cell sits at 27 m (89 ft). Each day is scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast: a sap day is an overnight low under −1 °C (30.2 °F) followed by an afternoon high over +3 °C (37.4 °F). A season's closing signal is the last sap day before accumulated warmth reaches a threshold, and the opening signal sits 35 days before that, never earlier than the first real freeze-thaw week. The rule was calibrated on 117 state-seasons of USDA-reported dates in the US and is applied here unchanged. Nova Scotia has no official season record, so the typical dates are a weather estimate. Production figures are copied from Statistics Canada as published. Full method, the Daymet checks and the Quebec validation → Run a sugarhouse here? Put this sap forecast on your own website →

Sources · 7

  1. 1.Maple taps, Census of Agriculture, 2021 (Table 32-10-0362-01) · Statistics Canada
  2. 2.Maple taps, Census of Agriculture, 2011 and 2016 (Table 32-10-0423-01) · Statistics Canada
  3. 3.Daymet: Daily Surface Weather Data on a 1-km Grid for North America, Version 4 R1 · ORNL DAAC
  4. 4.Sap flow in sugar maple: timing and weather drivers (Frontiers in Agronomy, 2025) · de Lima Santos et al.
  5. 5.2021 Census cartographic boundary files (census divisions, population centres) · Statistics Canada
  6. 6.Population and dwelling counts, 2021 Census (Tables 98-10-0002-01 and 98-10-0011-01) · Statistics Canada
Show 1 more
  1. 7.GeoNames geographical database (CA) · GeoNames

Licences and attribution

  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture 2021 and 2016 (Tables 32-10-0362-01 and 32-10-0423-01), 2021 Census population and dwelling counts (Tables 98-10-0002-01 and 98-10-0011-01) and 2021 Census cartographic boundary files. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
  • Thornton, M.M., R. Shrestha, Y. Wei, P.E. Thornton, S-C. Kao, and B.E. Wilson. 2022. Daymet: Daily Surface Weather Data on a 1-km Grid for North America, Version 4 R1. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/2129
  • Place coordinates: GeoNames (geonames.org), CC BY 4.0.

FAQ

Kings sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Kings, Nova Scotia?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 13 near Kentville and the season winds down around April 16. Have your taps in a day or two before the first forecast string of nights below −1 °C and days above +3 °C. In the past 35 seasons the weather signal came as early as Feb 23 and as late as Mar 30.
How much maple syrup does Kings produce?
Statistics Canada doesn't publish syrup volume by census division. Its 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 18 farms reporting 61,068 maple taps in Kings, number 2 of 2 Nova Scotia divisions with a published count.
How many sap days does Kings get in a season?
On average 41.5 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Kentville, of which about 16.7 are textbook days with a night between about −7 and −2 °C and a day between 4 and 9 °C. The best season since 1991 was 2020 (56 sap days); the leanest was 1998 (29).
Where do these dates come from?
From 35 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Kentville (Daymet 1-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast. Nova Scotia has no official season record, so they are a weather estimate. They describe a typical year at one point in the division; your sugarbush, slope and elevation can shift them by days.

Nova Scotia

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