Getting ready for Birch Tapping

[addo]

Went for a bimble yesterday in search of the Birch. I was after some nice fat healthy fellas for tapping, and decaying ones for true and false tinder fungi, and a birch polypore for stroping.

This year I thought i'd have a go at making a couple of litres of birch sap wine, rather than just a billy of sap for a nice drink in the morning.

Carved this chap to help gather the sap into a billy with my new carving knife to pop in the hole after drilling.





Going to compare this method with pushing a knife into a tree and placing a small stick to act as a drip , and see which gathers the most. If the stick method is as good as some have said, then hopefully it will be less invasive and time consuming, needing less tools.

I'll stick up the results and the recipie in mid march, if anyones interested.

Addo

 

[Shewie]

Looking forward to hearing the results Addo.

I`m out tomorrow selecting a few trees for the harvest

 

[Ex Member - Sidney Bounty]

I am thinking of using hollowed out mullen stock this year and see how that goes...

 

[MartinK9]

I have several trees already picked out, that I know have never been tapped so I am looking forward to trying some too

 

[addo]

Might try and reduce some down for use as a cordial too.

 

[Arth]

I've been out looking for birch to tap. what size would you recommend?

 

[addo]

Im going for the larger ones. Semi mature and above or around 30cm dia. you could try smaller ones though just consider the size of your drilled hole to the tree. The knife method should be fine on smaller ones.

 

[ForgeCorvus]

Where can I find out more about the knife method, I don't like the idea of drilling holes in live trees if I can avoid it but do want to tap sap this year

 

[littlebiglane]

I am gonna try sycamore this year and see what I get.

 

[BigShot]

ForgeCorvus - a few videos to watch...
The first one shows the knife method, the 2nd and 3rd show the drilling method.

Note, it's Ray Mears doing the drilling, considering he places a pretty strong emphasis on not just bulldozing your way through the wilderness but becoming part of it and respecting it, it's probably safe to assume that drilling is fine when done properly.

Anyway - enjoy the videos and do whatever one you feel comfortable with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5a34lTVAWs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUjjjP30kRA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40vcT6-3ImQ

 

[Tye Possum]

I've got a question about tapping birch trees. I know there are different birch trees so does it matter which one? Like silver birch, paper birch, those are the only ones I know... Also birch trees are pretty easy to spot due to the white bark but are there any other trees that could be mistaken for birch? I've tapped a birch (I hope) tree before using the knife and stick method but I didn't get too much sap before the ants started coming around (it was during summer) and then I dropped the bloody can before I could try it. When exactly is the right time to tap birch trees? I live in Canada so is it different around here?

 

[BigShot]

As for time - when the buds appear on the trees is, I believe, the right time.

In one of the Ray Mears videos I linked to in the post above yours, I seem to remember him saying "Early March". As you point out, Canada could well be different but I image the signs are the same. The leaf buds starting to appear is probably the main sign.

The knife and stick method does seem to be a kinda slow way of doing it compared to using an auger.

 

[addo]

Tye Possum

As the sap is starting to rise is the best time to tap, as the buds swell before the leaves come out, as Bigshot says. You can check by poking the tree with a knife and if it starts to drip almost straight away then your good to go.

Over here when we talk about birch, we normally refer to Silver Birch - Betula pendula. The only other one found here in the wild is Downy Birch - Betula pubesens (I think thats the spelling) which is less comman and grows in damp areas. But ive not heard that there are any problems collecting sap from different types of birch.

Good luck.

 

[Melonfish]

might give this a bash actually we get both types of birch in fair numbers by me. i did read somewhere that drilling then plugging properly afterwards was the done thing here but i'd have to dig that out again.
i believe pine can also be tapped? anybody tried pine? and what kind?