augers

[boubindica]

How do i decide what diameter auger i need for tapping birch? It's just for me, not a commercial affair. Having said that, it would be nice some time to collect enough to make a bottle of syrup. Does a bigger hole equate with more sap? The one i was looking at is 16" in length and 3/8" in diameter. Will that do for my purposes do you think? Or should i go for one with a larger diameter? (I think the other one was about 12mm in diameter). Or, should i be thinking even larger in diameter?

 

[Mesquite]

Personally I wouldn't drill a hole in a birch tree.

You're opening up the tree to disease and you can't seal the wound properly long term.

Have a read of this thread about it. I know a lt of the pictures are gone but the info is still there.

If you still insist on doing it then the smallest hole you can make is best.

 

[Janne]

No need for an auger. Use a knife, and use the tip to ’press cut’ a hole less than 0.5 x 0.5 cm.
Do only cut through the bark, stop just as you reach the wood.
Unless the British grown Birch trees ate more sensitive than the Finno-Scandinavian ones, the tree will be fine.

If a small cut increases the damage and deatch of a tree, then loss of branches, deer damage etc would do too.

Do not tap young trees, the trunk should be large.

 

[Kepis]

This is all you need

DSCF0048 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

 

[baggins]

The Birch trees in the UK are, generally, a lot more prone to infection than their Canadian and Scandi cousins. Due to the milder climate we enjoy, the bark is thinner and pathogens aren't killed off by the extreme cold.
I know a lot of folk do it over here, but i would be cautious unless you have a good number of trees (and, of course, permission to do so, if they aren't your trees).

 

[boubindica]

This is all you need

DSCF0048 by Mark D Emery, on Flickr

i actually tried it with a knife on a huge Birch i found in a local park, but gave up because i couldn't get the cup positioned to collect the sap right, and ended up with two thimblesfull of bitter brownish yuk, despite it leaving the tree as a clear liquid... i sealed the small wound by pressing with my finger for about two minutes and left, determined to try again another day in another way... it was youtube that made me think about getting an auger, but if i'd thought to slip a stick in there, it would have been successful...

is that just a little stick you found?

 

[boubindica]

just want to thank you all for being so helpful

 

[Kepis]

is that just a little stick you found?

yup, just whittled from a stick

 

[WealdenWoodsman]

Personally I wouldn't drill a hole in a birch tree.

You're opening up the tree to disease and you can't seal the wound properly long term.

Have a read of this thread about it. I know a lt of the pictures are gone but the info is still there.

If you still insist on doing it then the smallest hole you can make is best.

I did some work on an estate last year and the gamekeeper showed me a patch of woodland closest to the village. The local scout group (with good intentions I might add) had used the land with the permission of the landowner for shelter building etc a few years before. Anyway, rather than just tapping one tree with one hole they had a go with at least 10-15 birch trees, all of which had at least 5 auger holes (some excessively large)

Only two of the trees was in a good way, the rest were either completely dead or well on there way. I personally cannot justify tapping, in a survival situation yes but not on an afternoons bimble. Not saying those that do are in anyway irresponsible, rather suggesting thinking twice before tapping.

PS. I might be heading over that way in the next few weeks so will try and get some pics to show the extent of the damage.

 

[Nice65]

Personally I wouldn't drill a hole in a birch tree.

You're opening up the tree to disease and you can't seal the wound properly long term.

Have a read of this thread about it. I know a lt of the pictures are gone but the info is still there.

If you still insist on doing it then the smallest hole you can make is best.

I agree, but only to a certain extent. Birch are fast growing, often the first species of tree to populate open ground, they have a thin crown to allow slower species such as Oak to germinate beneath them. Their lifespan is 40-60 years, so a very young lived species that stabilise and drain wet soil, protect the more important species, and break down quickly enriching poor soil. So, I'm not too precious about them. I wouldn't tap one because the sap tastes awful.

 

[Janne]

Yep. Coke is nicer!

I have only tapped birch when I was experimenting doing birch syrup, birch wine, birch beer and birch sweets in my young days. In those days, 3 decades past, you could not buy stuff like that.
Taste? Ok if you had nothing else.
There is a reason nobody except some New Age Hippy Vegan Greens use and promote that stuff.
Birch Juice is the New Coconut Water?
Gimme a Pepsi any day!

I have been pruning birch since though. No damage, even if fairly large branches were cut.

Must be the British climate that makes for weaklings!

 

[Paulm]

Even less invasive for the tree, just break a twig or small branch



I did it this way too at the same time and no noticeable difference in volume over a short period, couple of hours maybe

 

[Tengu]

Yes, why tap birches?

its just sugar water, after all. Has no real nutrient value and probably stuff you should not eat.

 

[Paulm]

Yes, why tap birches?

its just sugar water, after all. Has no real nutrient value and probably stuff you should not eat.

I was underwhelmed by the birch sap to be honest, nice to have tried it but no great desire to bother again

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[Janne]

It is goid to try everything at least ince, and make your own opinion.

Now, imagine being one of those food fashionistas, and spending good money on processed and bottled ( in plastic bottles) Birch Water.
Organic of course. Wild caught too, I guess....

 

[Janne]

Did I mention I fermented the sap and made Birch Wine?
Disgusting. Even worse than Dandelion Wine!