Tapping Scotts Pine

[Bear Stone]

Hi fellas,
I've got access to about 30 Scotts Pine trees and I want to tap them to obtain resin. What would be the best time to do this without damaging the trees. Also, what would be the best method of tap?
I have tried several methods of tap (mainly in spring time) but got very little return (a few pea sized drips at best). Short of ripping large areas of bark or felling (unacceptable) I'm not sure how to get a better harvest. I estimate I need about a 1/4 pint of resin per season.

Thanks,

Bear

 

[qweeg500]

I'm not sure about Scots Pine but traditionally birch is supposed to be tapped in the middle 2 weeks in March. I expect the way our seasons are these days the sap is probably rising now. :-?

 

[larry the spark]

I could do with a bit of advice about this too as Scots Pine is plentiful in 'my back yard'.

 

[larry the spark]

http://www.rfs.org.uk/thirdlevel.asp?ThirdLevel=177&SecondLevel=33

This link gives a little info though doesn't specifically give a time to do it.

 

[Bear Stone]

Larry,
Thanks for the post. I have tried the angled slit in the bark but very little resin came forth; certainly not enough to fill a small container. A few drips at best - this is after a week! I did it in spring time when sap should be good and really there should be plenty. I just can't figure what I'm doing wrong.

Bear

 

[Wendi]

Hello Bear,

Not sure if this will help you or not as I've never tried to get sap out of a Scot's Pine but perhaps the method used for sugar maple would work with pine as well? With that method, you drill an 11 mm hole approximately 7 cm into the trunk of the tree, a spile is then inserted to direct the sap into a bucket. It may not be necessary to obtain a spile as I've seen maple sap starting to drip before the spile is even inserted. Maple trees can be used from year to year with no harmful effects.

Wendi

 

[Bear Stone]

Hi Wendi,
Thanks for that. I've tried drilling a hole but not 11mm diameter - mine was much narrower - perhaps too narrow for the job. I'll give it a try in the spring.

Bear

 

[Jack]

Dear Bearstone.

I think you may struggle with this one. As pine resin is a lot different than the normal sap we see in our hardwoods. Sap is very thin and resin is very thick and very much like glue. The ancients used to roast pine logs over a fire to extract the resins, which they then used to water proof their boats!

What are you using it for...........

Cheers.

Jack.

 

[larry the spark]

'resin is very thick and very much like glue.'

Think you answered your own question there Jack :-D

Thats what I want to use it for anyway for various projects I've got brewing in my head!

 

[Bear Stone]

Hi Jack,
I'm just getting started in unplugged blade smithing (making custom knives with laminated blades using the old traditional styles). The resin will be what I use to fix the handles on to the knife tangs.
Modern adhesives (from what my research has shown; but if anyone can correct me please do) go brittle after many years - certainly within a lifetime. However, resin combined with bees wax does not go through the kind of chemical changes that would weaken a bond.
When we consider that ancient knives and arrows have been discovered with their handles and heads still fixed firmly in place after many hundreds of years; this is the kind of bonding I want to use.

Is there another way of getting the resin from the tree? I can't fell them. I know if I remove large areas of bark the resin will seep out but this would disfigure the tree...there must be an other way?

Bear

 

[Roving Rich]

I'm in a simular situation. I got pointed to a damaged pine and harvested all we could, but soon used it up without much success. The folks around here gave me some great advice. But now i cant find any resin to try it!!
So i'm still on the look out for another wounded pine
Good hunting
Rich

 

[Bear Stone]

I've got it sussed!
Yesterday I went to some trees (Scots Pine) that I had cut through the bark of in early spring last year. At the time I checked there were only a few drips of golden resin. Now, nearly a year later the area of exposed wood was covered in an opaque goo. I don't know how long the resin took to build up initialy; but I shall be keeping an eye on the SMALL AND SENSIBLE wounds on the trees. After boiling down I got about a cubic inch of resin - not much, but now I know how to get it from the tree I've go it sussed. :-D

Bear

 

[Stew]

Ray Mears has a sketch of a pine tree being tapped in the Outdoor Survival Handbook.

It shows quite a large section of bark removed, with 2 sticks on the side of the cleared area that are to help funnel the resin into a container that has been suspended below the wound.

I always thought this looked like quite a brutal technique, especially since in the text he says, "We can take advantage of this gift, searching for and finding all the resin we need without having to slash the tree."

 

[ragamuffin]

i went to a country park where there are loads of big pine trees next to a well used camp site. naturaly there were stab marks an gouges where people had thrown axes at the trees for years and the trees were all covered in resin. i collected about 6 tea light candle holder's full. they say it helps bronchitis. bo**ocks. my lungs are knackered after heating it up and forming it. lol

 

[BIGWOLFY]

its not Scott's Pine but here is a vid on Resin extraction,in France http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEhyGe4kZNM


hope it helps bigwolfy

 

[John Fenna]

I get most of my resin from trees in a plantation that was partially felled...the unfelled trees are so bashed and battered that I got about 1/2 pint in no time at all!

 

[rancid badger]

There should be no need to damage the tree at all. Indeed, messing about hacking or drilling into the tree's to collect resin might well lose you your access to the resource.

Some of the photo's below might help to keep you right:

(These happen not to be Scots pine but the principal is the same.)

This one has obviously been damaged during felling operations in the past but it illustrates the sort of thing you can find as a source for resin.

This is a similar tree but the damage has occurred at a higher level, the resin continues to ooze and dribble down the tree. Eventually, it either falls to the ground or solidifies.

This shows how resin often collects at the bottom of trees, making it very easy to collect.

And finally; this one shows the resin nodules, which often form around branches. They are usually brown or green, by this time and are very brittle and easily knocked off with a stick, to be collected from the ground.
These are similar to what Ray Mears, is seen collecting, in his Swedish episode.

One more source, is from resin 'wells'. These occasionally form, on the stumps of conifers that have been cut when they were only maybe 10-15 years old. The resin continues to ooze and the stump actually begins to heal over, leading to new bark trying to close the wound and a pool of resin forming inside, on the stump surface. These are more scarce but well worth looking for, as the resin will need less straining when you come to use it.

The main point here, is that you can scrape off resin from existing wounds and as long as the tree is alive, it will go on producing more resin than it actually needs, to repair the damage every year. Eventually, the wound does heal over and new wood forms underneath.
Really, the resin is very like a conifers blood; its bleeds from wounds and then clots, forming a scab. The tree heals itself, growing new bark beneath the resin scab.


I hope this helps and if you get stuck rolleyes: no pun intended) give me a shout

atb

R.B.

 

[rancid badger]

its not Scott's Pine but here is a vid on Resin extraction,in France http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEhyGe4kZNM


hope it helps bigwolfy

Yeah, do it that way and you'll soon be kicked off the land you have access to!
Traditional methods like this are great but not understood, by modern Forestry managers, at least not round here anyway
Find trees with existing damage and gather from them.

Very interesting little film though none the less, love the 'allo allo' costumes

 

[BIGWOLFY]

Yeah, do it that way and you'll soon be kicked off the land you have access to!
Traditional methods like this are great but not understood, by modern Forestry managers, at least not round here anyway
Find trees with existing damage and gather from them.

Very interesting little film though none the less, love the 'allo allo' costumes

I did not say that i agreed with it or that i would do it that way my self,
BEAR STONE wanted to know how it was dun so i posted the link to the vid for him.

I personally go to a clear fell about a year or two after and get my resin, And Maya Sticks or as we call it rosen from the abundance of resin in the wood I.e. the stump's of the tree's. And not many if any Forestry managers have a problem with letting you remove the stumps, I hope this clears up any misunderstanding .