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From the moment when the first spring sun is just beginning to warm, many experienced birch sap hunters rush to the forests to stock up on a healing and very tasty drink for the whole year. It seems that collecting birch sap is not difficult at all. Although in this case, as in many others, there are laws, features and mysteries.
When to collect birch sap this year
This question is of most concern to beginners, those who have never been involved in this exciting sacrament – the collection of birch sap. But in nature, everything is arranged quite simply. With the onset of real heat, when the sun begins to bake not in a winter way, the snows give up their positions, and during the day stable positive temperatures remain, a new spring life wakes up in the trees, including birch trees. The roots begin to revive after hibernation and drive tree sap along with nutrients up to transfer life-giving energy to the branches and awaken hitherto dormant buds on them. Therefore, the swelling of birch buds is one of the main criteria by which it is judged that it is time. It’s time to start collecting juice.
When this happens specifically by date, no one can accurately predict. Especially in recent years and decades, when the weather in each season can change so much that after real, almost summer heat in March, everything suddenly stops and in April severe winter weather returns again with 10-15 degree frosts.
In general, in Our Country, for a long time, the time for collecting birch sap began approximately from the beginning of March and lasted until the beginning, middle, or even the end of May. Although in one particular region, the period of collecting sap from birches rarely lasts more than two weeks, and under adverse conditions it can generally last only a week. But Our Country is a huge country, and if in the south the juice has long since departed, then in the north or in Siberia they have not even begun to collect it.
From time immemorial, the Slavs had a special day – April 11, which was considered the day of veneration of the birch. On this day, a holiday called Bereshchenye was celebrated and various rituals were performed related to the glorification of the birch and its gifts. It was believed that birch sap, collected in the spring, on this day, has a particularly powerful healing power. It was always given especially to the weak and sick, children, pregnant and lactating women. Most likely, this date was calculated for the middle zone of Our Country, which, however, is confirmed by averaged climatic data. And if we assume that April 11 is a date according to the new calendar, then it turns out that the ancestors began to collect sap from birches from the end of March.
For the Moscow region and adjacent regions, these data are very close to the truth. Indeed, depending on the weather conditions in the Moscow region, birch sap is collected starting from March 20, and finished closer to the middle, end of April, and 2022 is unlikely to be an exception to this rule. Often, the date of the vernal equinox, March 19/21, is called as the starting point for birch trees to wake up in the middle lane.
In the Leningrad region, the deadlines are shifted a few weeks ahead. It is rare that local juice lovers go to stock up on it before mid-April, and usually finish after the May holidays.
In the Urals, especially the southern one, there is approximately the same picture as in the Leningrad region. But in the middle and northern Urals, the deadlines can be shifted by a few more weeks. And birches wake up and begin to give juice not earlier than the beginning, or even the middle of May.
The same terms are typical for Siberia. Usually birch sap is harvested in this region from the May holidays to the beginning of summer. Although in recent years, due to climate warming, the dates may be shifted to April.
Finally, in the Chernozem region and in southern Our Country, birch sap can be collected from the beginning of March, and sometimes even in February.
There are main signs in order to approximately understand that the process has begun and it is necessary to go to the forest to extract a life-giving drink:
- The average daily temperature exceeds zero, and the sun begins to bake like spring.
- The snow begins to melt intensively and on the southernmost edges it is no longer in sight.
- The buds on the birch begin to increase in size – to swell.
Sometimes, even with abundant snow cover, the juice begins to circulate intensively through the tree. You can try to observe the flood of rivers and streams. If their level has risen a lot, then it’s time to go into the forest and try to collect juice.
The very first liters of collected birch elixir are the most valuable, so it’s best to come to the forest a little early than to be late. The most reliable test for the presence of circulating sap in a birch is to pierce the bark of the tree with a thin but sharp awl. If after that liquid appears in the hole, then you can start collecting it.
Is it possible to collect birch sap in May
If we are talking about the northern regions or Siberia, where only in the last month of the calendar spring one can observe massive snowmelt and stable positive temperatures during the day, then May is the main period for collecting birch sap. In other regions, at the very beginning of May or even earlier, young fresh leaves are already actively opening on birch trees, which means that the period for collecting juice is over.
Until what time can you collect birch sap
As already noted, the blooming of leaves on a birch is the main indicator that it is pointless to collect juice from it further. Not only will it be incomparably small, it will be thick, dark, cloudy and completely tasteless. Already at the first signs of bud break (bursting of the adhesive membrane and the appearance of the first rudiments of leaves), it is recommended to turn off the sap collection procedure if it is still happening near birches.
Is it harmful for a birch to collect birch sap
If you collect birch sap correctly, using reasonable technologies, suitable tools and terms, do not be greedy, follow the measure, then collecting it will not bring any tangible harm to the tree. Trees are known from which juice was collected every spring for decades, and they continued to grow and develop successfully and only increase their rate of return of a healthy drink.
The tree will not be particularly harmed if no more than 1-3 liters of birch sap are extracted from it in one season. The exact amount is difficult to determine, but there is a clear correlation between the age and size of a tree trunk and the amount of sap it can give. If from medium trees with a diameter of 25-30 cm you should not take more than 1-1,5 liters at a time, then old, mighty birches may well give up to 3-5 liters per season without much harm to themselves. Thus, in order to get a large amount of birch sap, it is better to use several full-fledged healthy adult trees for this at once.
Which birches are best for collecting sap
As noted earlier, not every birch is suitable for collecting sap. Very young trees do not make sense to touch. Yes, and birches with a trunk diameter of less than 15 cm are not suitable for collection – they may not be able to endure this procedure, and the juice from them is not particularly sweet and transparent.
If a birch grove is located near a river or other water body, then it is advisable to choose trees that are on a hill, away from the river, to collect sap. It is in such trees that the sugar content of the extracted drink will be maximum.
Do not use diseased trees to collect juice or those that have significant damage to the bark, including traces from the barbaric collection of the drink in previous seasons.
It is best to find out in the nearest forestry about the places that will soon be cut down, and go there immediately to collect healing nectar. If you want to take advantage of the maximum opportunities for collecting juice, then you should start with sunny edges. And as the trees warm and thaw in the depths of the forest, move to collect in the thicket.
How to collect birch sap
The most intense sap flow occurs during the warmest time of the day. Therefore, the most fruitful period for collecting juice from birches is from 11 am to 18 pm. By night, the juice sometimes ceases to stand out altogether. This is due to a decrease in temperature, sometimes to a negative level, and the lack of solar heat at night.
In what weather is birch sap collected?
For the same reason, experienced birch sap collectors advise going to the forest only in clear and warm weather. Even in the old days there was a belief that the juice collected in gloomy and rainy weather lost its strength and did not bring any benefit. It may be so, but the main thing is that in rainy and cold weather, the intensity of juice release is significantly reduced.
How to make holes
The sap mostly circulates in the birch at the junction of the bark with the wood, so there is no need to drill too deep holes. Even for an old mighty birch, it is quite enough to make a hole of 4-5 cm. And on average, a hole depth of 2-3 cm is enough to collect birch sap.
There are differences of opinion as to what height is best for making holes. Most agree that it is most convenient to do this about a meter from the ground. Some, on the contrary, make holes very low, at a height of literally 20-30 cm, in order to collect the drink in containers standing on the ground.
Perhaps this is not too important, but it is important to make holes on the side of the trunk that faces south. This side is better warmed by the sun, and therefore the sap flow on it is much more active.
There is a basic rule for how many holes can be made on one tree. With a trunk diameter of 20 to 25 cm, it is allowed to make only one hole on a birch. If the diameter of the birch is 25-35 cm, then it is permissible to make 2 holes, and if 35-40 cm, then 3.
But even on the oldest thick and mighty birch, it is not recommended to make more than 4 holes.
Various tools can be used to make a hole. A small hand or cordless drill works best. In this case, the diameter of the drill used can be from 4 to 8 cm, no more.
An angular chisel or even an ordinary thick nail may work. They will also need a hammer (to hammer) and pliers (to pull out). In extreme cases, you can get by with a small penknife.
You should not just use an ax to extract juice, much less a chainsaw! After all, the wounds inflicted by them can damage the tree so much that it will not be able to heal them and will soon be doomed to death.
Devices for collecting birch sap
Next, one of the devices for direct collection or, more precisely, the flow of juice should be inserted into the resulting hole.
With the help of a dropper
To collect birch sap, the easiest way is to use the help of a medical dropper, which can be freely purchased at any pharmacy.
The adapter that fits onto the hose has an inlet diameter of about 4 mm, so that a drill of the appropriate size can be easily matched to it. Its very tip has an expanding base, so that it is easy to insert it tightly into a hole made in a birch. The other end of the transparent tube from the dropper is lowered into a container standing on the ground or screwed with a rope or tape to a tree trunk. At the same time, the juice from the birch runs freely and without any loss falls immediately into the prepared container. To protect the juice from debris and all kinds of insects, you can pre-drill a hole in the lid of the container, where the other end of the tube is inserted.
If several holes are drilled in a tree, then an adapter from a dropper is inserted into each of them, and the other ends are lowered into the same container.
Thus, up to 3-4 liters of healing nectar from one tree can be collected per day.
The video below shows in detail how to collect birch sap with your own hands using the above method:
With the help of a tube
If a dropper with hoses could not be found, then any other tubes will do to collect the juice. At its simplest, these can be plastic cocktail straws. Or transparent hoses from windshield washers or other car accessories. Some craftsmen manage to adapt even electric cables for these purposes, having previously removed all the stuffing from them.
And the principle of operation itself remains the same as when using a dropper.
With the help of a chute
The most traditional way to collect birch sap is to use a birch bark groove, one narrow end of which is inserted into the hole made, and from the other the sap flows into the prepared container. By the same principle, you can use almost anything, and a piece of plastic corner, and even the body of a ballpoint pen cut in half, so long as not a single drop of the extracted precious nectar would be wasted. And obediently would flow into the container below.
With bags
There is another rather ancient way of collecting sap from birches. It is the most gentle for the condition of the birch and causes minimal damage to the tree.
To do this, you need to find a birch with lower branches located at an accessible height. From one of these branches, the end is sawn off so that the cut diameter is at least 1 cm. Then it is tilted down, placed in a tight plastic bag, which is carefully tied. And the branch itself is tied to the trunk in such a way that the juice from it flows down.
For a day of such a collection, you can quite collect about 1-1,5 liters of birch drink.
How to cover a birch after collecting sap
Those who have been collecting sap from birches for more than a year know that in the first hours it can flow very intensively, and then the rate of its release slows down significantly. Birch, as it were, begins to “lick” the wound, to contribute to its overgrowth. It is not worth at this moment, as many ignorant people do, to try to deepen or expand the hole. It won’t lead to anything good. If the collected juice is not enough, then it is better to move to another tree and do all the above manipulations with it. But the treated tree must be helped, you can’t leave it with “open wounds”. After all, through them an infection can get into the tree and this will have a bad effect on its future fate.
Holes are best sealed with small cork pins made of wood, cut on the spot. If you lubricate their inner surface with garden pitch, then soon the hole will overgrow itself and not even a trace of it will remain. In extreme cases, in the absence of a garden pitch, you can use wax, plasticine, or even moss with clay or earth. They can always be found nearby, right here in the forest.
Where not to collect birch sap
Birch sap is usually collected at a considerable distance from cities, especially large ones. It is best to do this in forests, moreover, separated from large and medium-sized main roads. Do not do this near industrial areas and other objects that pollute the atmosphere.
Of course, trees that grow directly in the city are not used for collection.
In general, according to the law, it is forbidden to collect birch sap in dendrological parks and botanical gardens, in memorial or historical and cultural reserves, in places of mass recreation and in other specially protected areas. In addition, the collection is prohibited in the territories of hospitals, sanatoriums, rest homes and other healthcare facilities.
When you can not collect birch sap
It makes sense to collect birch sap only at the beginning of spring, when it actively begins to circulate through the tree. In winter, trees sleep, and in summer and autumn, life-giving moisture is necessary for them to ensure normal life. It is impossible to collect sap from birches during these periods of the year, as this can lead to the death of trees.
Responsibility for collecting birch sap
If the collection of birch sap is carried out in accordance with the basic rules, which were described in detail above, and in places where it is not forbidden by law to engage in such an activity, then no responsibility for these actions is provided. It is not in vain that in the spring sometimes thousands of citizens, and even rural residents, rush to the forests to collect the most healing elixir in order to improve their health and the health of their families. But in the case of collecting birch sap from trees growing in any of the protected areas listed above, a considerable fine is provided for such actions in Our Country. Therefore, it is better not to be lazy and find a suitable birch grove, away from protected areas, especially since it is still not at all difficult to do in Our Country.
Conclusion
Learning how to properly collect birch sap and every year to please your family with an invaluable drink, especially in spring, is not so difficult. But how much joy and benefit you can bring into your life, thanks to this simple procedure.