here's a few more tips for you lot, I will either use a cork bung, tube, cork bung , bottle set up to remove sap or I will use a hole, pipe, milk bottle, so starting from the easyiest way lets say we have a 1 gallon demi john, which is what we would ferment wine into so i would use a lengh of clear tube of 1/2" or 3/8" diameter to connect the two together the corks that I use to fit the tube are quite large so a 25 mm hole is drilled using a hand brace and bit and aurger( battery drill and flat bit will do) the hole i drill is 10 mm in from the inside edge of the bark so normaly around 20 in total, this then has the cork and pipe stuffed into it and then into the demi john the whole lot is covered with a lot of greenary to hide it as all my trees are in the public domain the date for this is normal around the 24th of feb, as the sap will rise between then and the 20th of march after that the tree is best left alone till next year, by the way i dont do any angle of dangle with the drill bits just straight in, the other way is to use a clear tube of 13mm diameter and drill the same size hole of 13mm anf them push the pipe in and stuff the other end into a empty milk container and then seal it with duck tape and again cover it up, maximum you want to rob from a tree is a gallon and after wards what i do is I come along with a wooden dowel made from one of the trees brachs of the same size and drive it home with a big hammer, you can use clay or another cork but its very hard to reuse the same hole as it will heal over and seal so you have to drill a larger hole than last time to cut the new fibres
the sap is rising!
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of course there is another option!
take sap from trees that are going to be felled anyway!
speak to volunteer conservation work people,
they are constantly felling birch as it's a bit of a nuisance plant in many places especially heathland areas.
I asked them where I could tap trees, they told me which ones, as they will be cut down soon.
another option go on a volunteer day and find out!
take sap from trees that are going to be felled anyway!
speak to volunteer conservation work people,
they are constantly felling birch as it's a bit of a nuisance plant in many places especially heathland areas.
I asked them where I could tap trees, they told me which ones, as they will be cut down soon.
another option go on a volunteer day and find out!
B pendula and pubescens are both a lot of work on heathland sites. ask your county or NP etc ranger service and they should happily let you take sap (and the timber too if you are licensed and insured).
I used to manage heaths, woods and heath/wood pasture sites and we had so many different people taking products and materials from birch you would not believe it. birch is NOT ENDANGERED folks. it coppices naturally, it rebounds from brief or cool fires and I have treated the same stumps several years running to kill it even with neat glyphosate.
no need to be tree-huggers, people have tapped birch for thousands of years, they have been coppiced, clear-felled, used as nursery crops and just about every imaginable management technique (not seen much pollarding on natives though as short-lived) and they have a ridiculous number of uses including tanning, oil production, wine, soap, horse jumps, clogs, bus floors etc etc etc etc anybody really interested should get hold of "heathland harvest" by ethnobotanist Chris Howkins, it is a v good introduction to the uses of various plants found in heathland ecosystems, a post-industrial, four thousand year old (at least) man-made landscape by the way.
I won't tell you what we used to do to oaks...
I used to manage heaths, woods and heath/wood pasture sites and we had so many different people taking products and materials from birch you would not believe it. birch is NOT ENDANGERED folks. it coppices naturally, it rebounds from brief or cool fires and I have treated the same stumps several years running to kill it even with neat glyphosate.
no need to be tree-huggers, people have tapped birch for thousands of years, they have been coppiced, clear-felled, used as nursery crops and just about every imaginable management technique (not seen much pollarding on natives though as short-lived) and they have a ridiculous number of uses including tanning, oil production, wine, soap, horse jumps, clogs, bus floors etc etc etc etc anybody really interested should get hold of "heathland harvest" by ethnobotanist Chris Howkins, it is a v good introduction to the uses of various plants found in heathland ecosystems, a post-industrial, four thousand year old (at least) man-made landscape by the way.
I won't tell you what we used to do to oaks...
Hah birch and willow all get the chop on the local mossland when we're on there, its invasive! it gets everywhere it really does.
i actually live in an area called "Birchwood" i'll be getting plenty this spring
i actually live in an area called "Birchwood" i'll be getting plenty this spring
I got some sugar maple 'spiles' from ebay to see if they would be any good this year, the same 'taps' they use to collect maple sap which is then reduced to make the syrup.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/25-Maple-Syru...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item56396547c2
I got 6 for about £6, don't need 25 like the ones above! But you can see what they look like. The drill hole is a lot smaller so hopefully less invasion on the tree.
youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwbgwBnRnG8&feature=related
I know bushcraft is about minimal kit... but we all like a curiosity don't we? I've shown them to people and not one has guessed what it could be yet!
Leo
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/25-Maple-Syru...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item56396547c2
I got 6 for about £6, don't need 25 like the ones above! But you can see what they look like. The drill hole is a lot smaller so hopefully less invasion on the tree.
youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwbgwBnRnG8&feature=related
I know bushcraft is about minimal kit... but we all like a curiosity don't we? I've shown them to people and not one has guessed what it could be yet!
Leo
Personally I think bushcraft is......... the study of the art of being comfortable outdoors.....
Some have mastered this on minimal kit, others like myself are still learning...
I use a peice of branch as a drip tube, and a tin can as my collection pot, I cover the pot with a peice of muslin to keep out any dirt (I secure this with an elastic band to the can.
If I cant place the can on the deck I Secure it to the tree with some old wool or twine.
Oaks
"Is this the story about the woodpecker hole you found at waist height?"
no, too small
we had sites we were supposed to be managing for internatinally rare heathland, but the landowner was well-meaninng tree-hugger (eg parish council) they would say
"oh look another beautiful oak tree there," pointing to a stumpy little WEED in the heather!
I would sneak back later (guerilla conservation) - then when they noticed that it was ailing somewhat I'd say "loh yes, what a shame, i think it might be the dogs weeing on it, its very close to the path" or occasionally blame "Sheffield blight"
Top Tip - I also carried out some fantastic pollarding, with a csaw on top of landy roof, back it up tight to trunk and its just the right height.
(very naughty elfin safety, my boss used to wince and look away)
"Is this the story about the woodpecker hole you found at waist height?"
no, too small
we had sites we were supposed to be managing for internatinally rare heathland, but the landowner was well-meaninng tree-hugger (eg parish council) they would say
"oh look another beautiful oak tree there," pointing to a stumpy little WEED in the heather!
I would sneak back later (guerilla conservation) - then when they noticed that it was ailing somewhat I'd say "loh yes, what a shame, i think it might be the dogs weeing on it, its very close to the path" or occasionally blame "Sheffield blight"
Top Tip - I also carried out some fantastic pollarding, with a csaw on top of landy roof, back it up tight to trunk and its just the right height.
(very naughty elfin safety, my boss used to wince and look away)
Top Tip - I also carried out some fantastic pollarding, with a csaw on top of landy roof, back it up tight to trunk and its just the right height.
(very naughty elfin safety, my boss used to wince and look away)
Landys are handy like that
It certainly is rising in sycamores and norway maples in Devon. I used a nearby Elder as the 'tube' as it has a large pith to shape the groove for the sap to run down.
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