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From the moment the first spring sun begins to warm up, many experienced birch sap hunters rush into the forests to stock up on this healing and very tasty drink for the whole year. It seems that collecting birch sap is not at all difficult. Although this matter, like many others, has its own laws, peculiarities and mysteries.
When to collect birch sap this year
This question worries most beginners, those who have never been involved in this exciting sacrament - collecting birch sap. But in nature everything is arranged quite simply.With the onset of real warmth, when the sun begins to heat up in an unwinter-like manner, the snow loses its position, and during the day stable positive temperatures remain, a new spring life awakens in the trees, including birches. The roots begin to come to life after hibernation and drive tree sap, along with nutrients, upward 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 one judges that it is time. It's time to start collecting juice.
No one can accurately predict when this happens based on specific dates. Especially in recent years and decades, when the weather in each season can change so much that after real, almost summer warmth in March, everything suddenly ends unexpectedly and in April harsh winter weather returns again with 10-15 degree frosts.
In Russia as a whole, for a long time the time for collecting birch sap began approximately at 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 birch trees rarely lasts more than two weeks, and under unfavorable conditions it can generally last only a week. But Russia is a huge country, and while in the south the sap has long since dried up, in the north or Siberia they haven’t even started collecting it yet.
For a long time, the Slavs had a special day - April 11, which was considered the day of veneration of the birch tree. On this day, a holiday called Bereshchenye was celebrated and various rituals were performed related to the glorification of the birch tree and its gifts. It was believed that birch sap, collected in the spring on this day, has especially powerful healing powers.It was necessarily given to especially the weak and sick, children, pregnant and lactating women. Most likely, this date was calculated for central Russia, which, however, is confirmed by averaged climatic data. And if we assume that April 11 is the date according to the new calendar, then it turns out that the ancestors began collecting sap from birch trees from the end of March.
For the Moscow region and adjacent regions, these data are very close to the truth. Indeed, depending on weather conditions in the Moscow region, birch sap is collected starting from March 20, and ends closer to the middle, end of April, and 2024 is unlikely to be an exception to this rule. The date of the spring equinox - March 19/21 - is often cited as the starting point for the awakening of birches in the middle zone.
In the Leningrad region, the deadlines are shifted forward by several weeks. It’s rare that local juice lovers go to stock up on it before mid-April, and they usually run out after the May holidays.
In the Urals, especially the southern ones, approximately the same picture is observed as in the Leningrad region. But in the middle and northern Urals, the deadlines may be shifted by several more weeks. And the birches wake up and begin to give out sap no earlier than the beginning, or even mid-May.
The same periods are typical for Siberia. Typically, birch sap is collected in this region from the May holidays until the beginning of summer. Although in recent years, due to climate warming, the dates may shift to April.
Finally, in the Black Earth Region and southern Russia it is possible to collect sap from birch trees as early as the beginning of March, and sometimes even in February.
There are basic signs to approximately understand that the process has begun and it is necessary to go into the forest to obtain a life-giving drink:
- The average daily temperature exceeds zero, and the sun begins to heat up like spring.
- The snow begins to melt rapidly and on the southernmost edges there is no trace of it anymore.
- The buds on the birch begin to increase in size - to swell.
Sometimes, even with abundant snow cover, the sap begins to circulate intensively throughout the tree. You can try to observe the flooding of rivers and streams. If their level has risen significantly, then it’s time to go into the forest and try to collect sap.
The very first liters of collected birch elixir turn out to be the most valuable, so it is best to come to the forest a little early rather than 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 this 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 you can observe massive snow melting 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 of collecting sap is over.
Until what time can you collect birch sap?
As already noted, the blossoming of leaves on a birch tree is the main indicator that it is pointless to further collect sap from it. Not only will there be incomparably little of it, it will be thick, dark, cloudy and completely tasteless.Already at the first signs of bud opening (bursting of the adhesive membrane and the appearance of the first rudiments of leaves), it is recommended to curtail the procedure for collecting sap if it is still happening near birches.
Is it harmful for birch trees to collect birch sap?
If you collect birch sap correctly, using reasonable technologies, suitable tools and timing, do not be greedy, and observe moderation, then collecting it will not cause any tangible harm to the tree. There are known trees from which the juice was collected every spring for decades, and they continued to successfully grow and develop and only increase their rate of return of the 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's trunk and the amount of sap it can produce. If you shouldn’t take more than 1-1.5 liters at a time from medium trees with a diameter of 25-30 cm, then old, mighty birches can easily give up to 3-5 liters per season without much harm to themselves. Thus, in order to obtain a large amount of birch sap, it is better to use several healthy adult trees at once.
Which birch trees are best to collect sap from?
As noted earlier, not every birch tree is suitable for collecting sap. There is no point in touching very young trees. And birch trees with a trunk diameter of less than 15 cm are not suitable for harvesting - they may not tolerate this procedure, and the sap from them is not particularly sweet and transparent.
If a birch grove is located near a river or other body of water, then it is advisable to choose trees located at an elevation, away from the river, to collect sap. It is from such trees that the sugar content of the extracted drink will be maximum.
You should not use diseased trees or those with significant damage to the bark to collect sap, including traces of 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 straight there to collect healing nectar. If you want to take advantage of the maximum opportunities for collecting sap, then you should start from the sunny edges. And as the temperatures warm and the trees in the depths of the forest thaw, move to the very thicket for collection.
How to properly collect birch sap
The most intense sap flow occurs during the warmest time of day. Therefore, the most fruitful period for collecting sap from birch trees is from 11 to 18 o’clock in the afternoon. By nightfall, the juice sometimes stops coming out altogether. This is due to the temperature dropping, sometimes to negative levels, 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 into the forest only in clear and warm weather. Even in the old days, there was a belief that juice collected in gloomy and rainy weather lost its strength and did not bring any benefit. This may be so, but the main thing is that in rainy and cold weather the intensity of juice secretion decreases significantly.
How to make holes correctly
The sap mainly circulates in the birch at the junction of the bark and wood, so there is no need to make too deep holes. Even for an old mighty birch, making a hole of 4-5 cm is enough. On average, a hole depth of 2-3 cm is enough to collect birch sap.
There is a difference of opinion as to what height is best to make the holes. Most people 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.
This may not be 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 sap flow on it is much more active.
There is a basic rule about how many holes can be made on one tree. With a trunk diameter of 20 to 25 cm, only one hole is allowed to be made in the birch tree. If the diameter of the birch is 25-35 cm, then it is permissible to make 2 holes, and if it is 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 is best. In this case, the diameter of the drill used can be from 4 to 8 cm, no more.
An angled chisel or even an ordinary thick nail may work. They will also require a hammer (to hammer in) and pliers (to pull out).In extreme cases, you can get by with a small penknife.
You just shouldn’t use an ax or, especially, a chainsaw to extract juice! 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 should be inserted into the resulting hole to directly collect, or rather drain, the juice.
Using a dropper
To collect birch sap, the easiest way is to use 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 you can easily select a drill of the appropriate size for it. Its very tip has a flared base, so that it can be easily inserted tightly into the hole made in the birch. The other end of the transparent tube from the dropper is lowered into a container standing on the ground or screwed with rope or tape to a tree trunk. In this case, the sap from the birch runs freely and without any loss goes straight 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 into which 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 can be collected from one tree per day.
The video below demonstrates in detail how to collect birch sap with your own hands using the method described above:
Using a straw
If you couldn’t find a dropper with hoses, then any other tubes will be suitable for collecting juice. In the simplest version, these can be plastic cocktail straws. Or clear windshield washer hoses or other car accessories. Some craftsmen manage to adapt even electrical cables for these purposes, having first removed all the filling from them.
And the principle of operation remains the same as when using a dropper.
Using a gutter
The most traditional way of collecting 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 a prepared container. By the same principle, you can use almost anything, a piece of plastic corner, and even the body of a ballpoint pen cut in half, so that not a single drop of the extracted precious nectar is wasted. And it would obediently flow into the container below.
Using bags
There is another rather ancient way of collecting sap from birch trees. 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 tree with lower branches located at an accessible height. The end is sawn off from one of these branches so that the cut diameter is at least 1 cm. Then it is tilted down and placed in a thick plastic bag, which is carefully tied. And the branch itself is tied to the trunk in such a way that the juice flows down from it.
In one day of such collection, you can easily collect about 1-1.5 liters of birch drink.
How to coat a birch tree after collecting sap
Those who have been collecting sap from birch trees for several years now know that in the first hours it can flow very intensely, and then the rate of its release slows down significantly. Birch, as it were, begins to “lick” the wound and promote its healing. At this moment, you should not, as many ignorant people do, try to deepen or widen the hole. This will not lead to anything good. If the collected sap is not enough, then it is better to move to another tree and do all the manipulations described above with it. But the treated tree must definitely be helped; it cannot be left with “open wounds.” After all, through them an infection can enter the tree and this will have a bad effect on its future fate.
The holes are best sealed with small wood plugs, planed on site. If you smear their inner surface with garden varnish, the hole will soon close up on its own and not even a trace of it will remain. As a last resort, in the absence of garden varnish, you can use wax, plasticine or even moss with clay or earth. They can always be found nearby, right here in the forest.
Where should you not 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, and located away from large and medium-sized highways. You should not do this near industrial areas and other objects that pollute the atmosphere.
Of course, trees growing directly within the city limits are not used for harvesting.
In general, by law it is prohibited to collect birch sap in dendrological parks and botanical gardens, in memorial or historical and cultural reserves, in places of public recreation and in other specially protected areas.In addition, collection is prohibited in the territories of hospitals, sanatoriums, rest homes and other health care institutions.
When not to collect birch sap
It makes sense to collect birch sap only in early spring, when it actively begins to circulate through the tree. In winter, trees sleep, and in summer and autumn, they themselves need life-giving moisture to ensure normal life. It is impossible to collect sap from birch trees during these periods of the year, as this can lead to the death of the 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 the law does not prohibit engaging in this type of activity, then no liability is provided for these actions. It’s not for nothing that in the spring, thousands of city dwellers, and even rural residents, flock 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, the fine for such actions in Russia is considerable. Therefore, it is better not to be lazy and find a suitable birch grove, away from protected areas, especially since this is not at all difficult to do in Russia.
Conclusion
Learning how to properly collect birch sap and delight your family with this priceless drink every year, especially in the spring, is not so difficult. But how much joy and benefit you can bring into your life thanks to this simple procedure.
