Tapping Birch Trees in March for Birch Sap - Clean Water

[aDevillage]

how much holes for juice can you make on one tree with no later tree damage and with no lowering its potency for relasing its juice, if that even happen?

[funkyprepper]

One of the best survival tips i've seen - thanks soooo much

I will never forget this one.

Does it work with other trees?

Will it work all year round?

Cheers lads ;)

[NaturalBushcraft]

@funkyprepper It will work on a select few trees - Sycamore or Maple etc. but these don't flow as well as the Birch tree. If you want to tap a Sycamore tree I'd recommend finding one by a stream or river etc. and unfortunately you can't do this year'round, it has to be when the sap is rising in spring, this can change depending on your local area and weather at the time but usually the first few weeks of March is a good time for me down here in SW UK.

- Ashley Cawley.

[BoeMech]

Great video! This is the first time I have ever seen this done. Very helpful!

[gurdy1993x]

dont like the way your doing it and wasteing half of it but good vid

[NaturalBushcraft]

@gurdy1993x Half of it? lol, are you even aware how much a tree is capable of producing? It's easy to sit there and criticise but I doubt you'll upload a video showing us all how to do it better though will you?

[gurdy1993x]

@NaturalBushcraft lol yer maybe i should think before opening my mouth mate sorry ;)

[TexStarJim]

Skip the piece of wood for a tap and just use the knife....... it runs down the blade and then the handle with ease........ will drip right into your container from the knife.

[videogames451]

how do i make the tap?

[videogames451]

how can i tell if a tree is a birch? i want to get some sap but i dont know what they look like

[Dunderkladden]

@videogames451 dude, google "birch"... you can't really get it wrong.. It's got leaves, not needles, and the bark is quite unique :)

[GoldenTrout4]

what knife was that?

[tahtunka08]

How long can you wait to tap trees? I tried tapping some hardwoods yesterday but I read that you can only tap those during early spring. So I guess my question is what is the earliest and latest date to tap trees. Thank you!

[karamelles98]

@tahtunka08 You can tap birch trees in spring, in our continent we usually tap birch trees in spring the middle of april you can tap them some 2 weeks, also you can try to tap maple tree which has sweeter juice. Recomend to try out it is very healthy.

[frozendusk11]

would this work for an Australian gum tree or any other Australian trees?

[VonLeachim]

it's that time again ...

[NZealandKiwi]

one of the best drinks of all time

[ExpertSurvival]

I tasted some of the sap and it just tastes like suggary water

[NaturalBushcraft]

@ExpertSurvival That's what it's meant to taste of. It is clean & contains natural sugars.

[ydnarnosfatsug]

Looks pretty green where you are. March in Northern Wis is still pretty cold, would new spring buds appearing on the branches be a good indicator ya think? we still got ice on the lakes in march

[NaturalBushcraft]

@ydnarnosfatsug Yeah, your literally watching for everything starting to spring into life; when the sap starts rising in the trees as it gets warmer and they prepare to start producing and growing.

[cianw10]

sap is clean water? i thought it was thick sticky sweet liquid?

[Kosinuss]

@cianw10 depends on the tree

[Kosinuss]

@cianw10 depends on the tree, i guess

[sebaspasco]

I'd tap that

[gaiagale]

when I clicked on "Tapping Birch Trees in March for Birch Sap - Clean Water" I expected to see at the very least a Birch tree ...the initial images shocked me moreover I felt assaulted ...I did watch your awesome video which exuded a quiet respect for natural wholesome life choices ...the ad at the beginning was so outside of choice and quiet respect

...I will think twice when I see the name 'NaturalBushcraft' attached to a youtube video

respectfully,

a potential (albeit hesitant) viewer

[son8god8damn]

what birch tree taste like wintergreen

[generotti]

can you tap trees in the fall?

[PaganGlade]

Great videos you have here, so informative! Thanks for sharing all your knowledge through your channel :) I was wondering how long you can leave a tap in a birch before it becomes a detriment to the tree? I presume there is a limit as to how much it is fair to take and i just wondered what that was out of pure interest. Again thanks so much for the dedication to your channel and your craft. Many blessings ~PaganGlade~

[NaturalBushcraft]

@PaganGlade That is a very good question. It doesn't appear to damage the tree even after long periods, it's not like your draining the tree of it's sap, if it needs more it simply pulls more from the ground. Depending on how you tap the tree you might find the flow stops itself, for example the method is I use in this video might stop after an hour or two. If you bore a hole it will flow for longer. I would say no more than 6-8 hours and then make sure you bung it up properly.

[PaganGlade]

@NaturalBushcraft Thank you for your prompt and informed answer. Heddwch (peace) and many blessings Brother ~PaganGlade~

[gaiagale]

@PaganGlade it is a pleasure(on so many levels) to read your comment ...our photosynthesizing companions are gifts that keep on giving ...perhaps our using the offering is also a gift ...and perhaps the stopping point is when the 'using' goes beyond mutual benefit ...tapping in the manner described in this video then observing how the tree responds is one way of answering the ? of how much

thank-you for your comment ...it is/was inspired and offered 'food for thought'

[NaturalBushcraft]

@gaiagale Please elaborate, I don't understand your comment some of it seems contradictory. I don't know what you mean by "the ad at the beginning was so outside of choice and quiet respect" either.

- Ashley Cawley.

[gaiagale]

@NaturalBushcraft ...thank-you for replying ...this time when I clicked on this video it was ad free : )

[gaiagale]

@NaturalBushcraft I click on this video again ~once again ad free ...the first time I clicked on this video there was a loud (in terms of volume) ad for hair products or something equally outside of the concept of tapping birch trees ...perhaps the ad thing was a random one time event/a glitch ...I've watched the video tree times now and appreciated the quiet articulate delivery of information in terms of a respectful (method of tapping a tree) partnering with nature

[NaturalBushcraft]

@gaiagale RE the Ad, that is concerning, as numerous times YouTube have contacted me offering to pay me to become a partner, upon looking into I found that basically it meant they would plaster ads all over & around your videos, I have choosen to ignore their partnership offer and not cash-in as I don't want to bombard people with ads I just want to share knowledge & skills freely.

RE Taping the Birch, most do bore a big hole in the tree, but I prefer this lower impact way.

[dudec007]

so u can dring that straight out the bottle?

[NaturalBushcraft]

@dudec007 Yep, it's good for you.

[dudec007]

@NaturalBushcraft cool thanx

[harpsealer]

Great video! thnkx 4 posting! This is my first year tapping birch trees & i was wondering why some sap is a golden color like apple juice ? is it still drinkable?

[TheMrsVolfie]

can you use this method for maple?

[223gunner]

thnkxs for posting the video, but can all types of birch trees be tapped? if so which has the best sap?

[95jamesm]

is that a silver birch

[jorguno]

easier and more tasteful if you harvest from the branches! fakt

[NaturalBushcraft]

Really? How do you figure that? I've never seen anyone harvesting from the branches instead. Not only would it be more awkward to setup but the flow wouldn't be as good, meaning you would have to leave setup longer.

[jorguno]

if the branches is high i guess it would be a problem, cut of a branch and tie a plastic bag around it..i had to tie the branch si that it pointed downwards!

i dont know why its sweeter but i guess its because it has traveled trough the whole tree..

[NaturalBushcraft]

oh, when you said tasteful I thought you meant in terms of offending people! lol.

[jorguno]

oh...haha

ill try to make a video when its season for tapping!

[elligilmozzi]

@jorguno please email me the video when done thank for such a great idea to hang bottles on the branches, one questio, during the night you take all bottles off?

[jorguno]

@elligilmozzi

just subscribe to my channel and you wil get notified immediately.... take the bottles of when their full, i think one cut branch only work for about 2 days, the tree heals itself and the sap stop dripping....thanx

[NewAmericanOrder]

Is this resource seasonal, or year round?

[NaturalBushcraft]

In the video I say " it's the second weekend in March...you don't want to be doing it too long after this" and then in the description I give more detail. Learn to listen and read, instead of being lazy and just asking questions.

[NewAmericanOrder]

Not for nothing but I did read it and it does not say only in March can you do this. I was asking in a survival mode if I was lost or something can you still do this at any given time if needed. So before you assume me of being lazy maybe you should state that it is just in March instead of just a (March). Besides that loved the video.

[NaturalBushcraft]

Sorry, im used to so many asking questions that have been answered, I thought I made it clear enough but your right I didn't say just in march. Im pretty sure you wont get anything of substance the rest of the year, but it's something I've not tried. Thanks for watching & let us know if you find out the info your after.

[NaturalBushcraft]

It is a good clean source of water, it taste's like water just slightly sweet (as it contains natural sugars & vitamins). If you gathered lots it could be reduced down to a syrup, but you would boil off and waste a lot to do so.

[survivescotland2009]

ii u left te bung end more rounded with a notch carved at the top it traps the tap but also forces it out the cut notch,good job though (percievere nd improvise) gd advice,respect tintin.

[Mofafreund]

I must try that next year. I hopeI can do that with every birch tree

[RewindExtreme]

very good tutorial. I am very lucky to live right next to a very big common and have only recently discovered bushcraft from TV and your videos, and I must say visiting the common is so much more interesting now. cheers mate :)

[NaturalBushcraft]

Thats really nice to hear Matt, im glad your getting into it. Checkout my website NaturalBushcraft, I've produced tons of articles and videos there sharing knowledge and skills of bushcraft freely.

[strat2206]

nice vid man i like this idea better than the rest it looks a bit easier and doesnt harm the tree as much

[chrissept21]

this doest hurt the tree at all?

[NaturalBushcraft]

Good question; I don't believe it does. Many others drill/bore a big hole into the tree and then plug it up after. My method using the knife is lower-impact but it might be a little more tricky (in terms of watching the flow), but after your finished simply push down the slit and the tree will flush out the wound with sap and will heal up. I have checked trees that I have used over a couple of years now, they have a very small scar but no signs of developing damage from it.

[NaturalBushcraft]

As always thanks for your comments & ratings one & all.

[Zatopek64]

excellent great

[atsilnadv]

most excellent,,,,thanx

[wildlifeed]

Absolute spectacular!! Like how your method is low impact!! Also, this method is much more quick and simple, allowing more trees to be tapped at one time!! 5/5 Thanks for your careful and through explanation, ED

[NaturalBushcraft]

Thanks a lot for your kind comments folks, inspires me to do more :)

[SkogKniv]

Brilliant tutorial mate! 10/5!

[KonstantinKuehn]

nice video great content!