Vermont sugarmakers to discuss insect problem at annual meeting Thursday

Vermont sugarmakers to gather Thursday

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. — Vermont sugarmakers say their industry’s enjoying good times in general, but there are still some worries: Insects.

About 20 maple sugar producers meeting at the Windham County Sugarmakers annual meeting Thursday said last year was one of the strongest sugarmaking years in recent history.

But the Brattleboro Reformer reports the sugarmakers are concerned about the emergence of the Asian Longhorned Beetle and the Emerald Ash Borer, nonnative species that damage trees in North America.

Windham County Forester Bill Guenther said the Asian Longhorned Beetle is of particular concern because it has a taste for every species of maple. He said it wiped out 15,000 maples in the Worcester, Mass., area, just 45 miles south of the Vermont border.