Birch tapping - is it damaging to the tree?

[Toadflax]

I tapped a small amount of sap from a silver birch about a week ago using a method that I'd seen RM do in one of his programs - jab the point of my knife into the tree bark to make a small slit, lever it up slightly and push a small bit of twig in to hold it open while you collect the sap. He then showed that once you had finished, you just press the bark back into place and it will heal up. I did this because this seemed to be a little less intrusive than actually drilling a hole in the tree. I've also seen him suggest a sharp axe cut into the bark, which would obviously make a large wound in the tree...

...however, I was back over there a couple of days ago and had a look at the tree, and there was a clear damp patch on the bark where the tree had obviously still been seeping from the (very small) cut I'd made in the bark.

Now I'm a little concerned that either this method isn't a suitable one to use if it continues to seep several days after tapping (and maybe I should drill and plug in future) or that maybe the tree just takes a longer time to heal than I'd have expected.

Any thoughts or comments?


Geoff

 

[JohnL]

I use the same method as you, but when I am finished I tie an ivy withy around the tree so it puts pressure over the flap & holds it down. It will still seep slowly for a while but not as much as leaving it open.

 

[Toddy]

I've used both methods. There is so much pressure of the sap rising that it's very hard to seal the tree unless it's actually plugged. On the other hand, at least if it's seeping it's unlikely to be allowing harmful spores or insects in to cause damage.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[robin wood]

is it damaging the tree? well yes obviously that sap contains sugars stored overwinter we are taking some away which will leave the tree marginally weaker...just like taking some honey from a beehive or you giving blood. The wound will weep as would you if I cut your skin open, and it will heal as you would. Its all a question of degree, a small wound in an otherwise healthy tree is not an issue. A large wound in a tree already under stress would not help it out.

 

[h2o]

why not try wraping some cling film around the tree and leaving it for a week ,better than risking the death of a tree.IMO tapping trees should only be carried out in a survival situation,if everyone started tapping trees we would be spoiling quite a few trees.
I know some people dont do much damage and some people who do tap will disagree with me but when im out i do practise a no trace approach and leaving trees with plugs in is leaving a trace.

 

[Toddy]

If you plug properly, the wound isn't very visible and the slit method does heal. The bark grows over and covers both types of wounds too.

Leave no trace is a very good adage, but I'm part of my world. I use the plants around me; I alter the environment to favour those species I find beneficial to the widest range of flora and fauna; if that means removing Japanese Knotweed or Himalyan Balsam or even the Grey Squirrel, then fair enough. I coppice willow, and I take sap from the silver birches that line the lane, I gather the nettles and the dockens among many others......this all leaves a trace....if someone knows what they're looking at I think the real skill is in taking enough without leaving the wild stuff utterly destroyed or unusable by anyone (man or animal) else.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Toadflax]

is it damaging the tree? well yes

As often happens, the original title of the thread does not always convey well the question that I am asking. I do realise that any tapping does cause some damage to the tree )) - what I think I was trying to establish is whether a tree that is still seeping several days after a wound is noticeably damaged. If that is the case, then I am going to think twice before doing this again. I've tapped a birch, I've tasted the sap, I don't 'need' to do it again.


Geoff

 

[Chainsaw]

Could you cut a little twig then push it through the flap to hold it onto the surface of the tree and then cut it flush?

just a thought,

Alan

 

[rivermom]

I am delighted to see this thread, and also Wayland's thread on 'balance in bushcraft'. I was beginng to get a wee bit worried about an epidemic of knife wielding young men loose among the forest folk. I was especially worried with one chap who was wondering about harvesting birch sap commercially!
Birch sap is actually very good medicine for people who spend most of their lives indoors. One cup at the begining of spring will activate the bodies self cleaning mechanism. But just one cup.
The tree will heal, if you have not cut it too badly. Just don't go cutting young trees, in the same way as we don't get blood transfusions from children. Mind you, I would not use the cling film to seal the wound. It would trap moisture on the wound, and that could encourage the growth of bacterial and fungal infection.

 

[abushcrafter]

on the tree i did the drill method.it is now seeping around/though the plug and is forming a white gunk how bad is this?

 

[match]

on the tree i did the drill method.it is now seeping around/though the plug and is forming a white gunk how bad is this?

Thats exactly what you want - the tree is reacting to the injury by seeping and producing a layer that will seal up round the plug and protect it from getting infected. you'll find that after a few days or a week, the plug will be sealed in and no longer weeping.

 

[abushcrafter]

:You_Rock_ :notworthy ............thank you

 

[usefulnature]

If you are tapping it by cutting a slit in the tree, then close it up afterwards by sharpening a small (inch long) sharp tapered stick and hammering it into the flap (from above) so that the flap in the bark is closed tightly. Once the slit is closed tightly stop hammering and cut off any of the stick that it above the surface. No need for cling film! etc. This is how I was shown how to do it many years ago. FYI a drilled hole with a pipe from it will get a much stronger flow and plug the hole afterwards with a stick cut to a tight fit. The sap in West Sussex is still flowing freely - April 18.Dont expect treacle like sap - it is like very mildly flavoured water. Takes much boiling down to turn into syrup - but tasty then. The tree can die if a big wound is left to run - so seal them up after.

 

[Armleywhite]

MY son loves to go off in the spring and tap the Birch. He keeps on at me to take him next spring for a bigger haul. We usually use the knife slit and twiggs and left overnight, with it dripping to a muslin covered container.

To repair I use an old scout method of sealing by laying the bark back over the wound, tying in place with any type of flexible plant stems, ie ivy, twisted grass etc and then covering in mud. All the tree's Iv'e ever "tapped" have never shown the slightest infection from our actions.

 

[DKW]

Yes it does damage the tree to make any cut or drill a hole in the tree.
The amount bleeding off the tree is minimal though. I have pruned birches very coarsly in the past, and thought they would never survive this, but they did.........for now!!
Fact is they will die in time from this action.

For collecting sap for our uses it does cause numerous problems:

It gives way for infections and fungus.

It will never heal. Trees grow over and enclose, but they do NOT heal.

Hammering in any other material was thought to be good just a few years ago. It isn't.
Foreign material will only cause the tree to have to enclose even more dead material, and thus it WILL provoce an overly large production of acids within the tree to keep infections at bay. This last bit is a trees natural defense, but it can actually make a tree kill itself. (As is the case with Ulmus in DK many years ago up until now. ALL Ulmus are affected in DK, however on other species its rarely the case, but it still can be)

Slapping things over it is yet another way of provocing an overly large production of acids and not only that, it actually makes fungus and infectionsattacks even more likely to occur.

A wound on a tree needs to breathe, as a dry wound will be sealed off and grown over more effectively.

As for wich method to use: If it really is a concern, go with a straight cut, not a hole.
A straight cut makes sealing the wound off more easy for the tree, and gives very little surface of attack on the tree.
A drilled hole will make the tree seal of a much much larger area, and will to add to that make the surface of attack very large, and even larger and less repairable if you stick something in it.

Keep in mind that you will not be able to see any damage done to the tree, from looking at it from the outside.
You would have to slice and dice the tree up to see it.

 

[Armleywhite]

What time line are you talking about though? Tree's die off of their own accord forall sorts of reasons, just any other living thing. I have passed trees that I have tapped years ago, with no apparent damage to the tree what so ever. Does this mean thsat I am responsible for killing the tree prematurely, just like every other person who has tapped a birch? Is it the same as a human who breaks a limb? Everything looks normal, but xrays show increased bone build up along the break? Doesn't kill us off, just evidence of past action etc. Surely thats the same with a tree. Superficial damage healing process I would have thought.

 

[DKW]

with no apparent damage to the tree what so ever.

You won't ever be able to see any damage, unless you cut the tree up in small disks and start looking for evidence. And trust me on this, a small deep cut will be very noticable when you slice up the tree.

Is it the same as a human who breaks a limb? Everything looks normal, but xrays show increased bone build up along the break? Doesn't kill us off, just evidence of past action etc. Surely thats the same with a tree. Superficial damage healing process I would have thought.

You could say that. Yes.
Allthough, as stated earlier: A tree can not heal any wounds. It grows over it and encloses it. It doesn't heal it. And wounds on a tree doesn't make the tree stronger, on the contrary.
A broken leg will be stronger after its healed up, a tree won't

Depending on the nature of a cut, and how much material was damaged, and how much material the tree itself encapsules and excludes (a bit more than what was actually damaged), the tree will die or be "held down".
As for my very heavy pruning wich we still do occasionally, we know that the tree will die, and the evidence is very visible if you know what to look for. Timeframe on this: Anywhere between 5 and 15 years would be my best estimate on those specific trees (species and locality dependent). Now we are on our 6th year on those specific tree, and they do not have many more years in them, yhats for sure.

Any damage done to a tree, how small it may be, will cause the tree to loose some productivity and some vigour.
However sap-tapping has been done many many years, and it is not as troblesome as biology dictates. Trees can withstand a whole lot of punishment, just remember that a damaged tree lives from its collected energyreserves, and will have a reduced productivity-rate. Make the tree consume more from the reserves will cause the tree to be even less productive in the following year, thus the downwards spiral begins. This is why you should allways spread out you tapping, and not tap on the same tree many years in a row.

 

[Armleywhite]

Cheers DKW. What about coppicing though? Coppicers advocate cutting, on a cycle, trees down to a stump, during the winter, after growth has stopped and it will grow back in the spring. Obviously they rotate the coppicing year on year so as not to keep cutting down the same tree. Coppicers state that this action produces superior wood and also a healthier woodland than just leaving the trees to grow out of control. With the tapping of the Birch that me and the lad do, we, i don't think, have ever tapped the same tree.

 

[Aaron]

Did not realise that this was a resurected thread from March so post deleted.

 

[loz.]

Depending on the nature of a cut, and how much material was damaged, and how much material the tree itself encapsules and excludes.

Inclusions in birch are so pretty though ! - please all keep on tapping !!!