How to properly collect birch sap? Where and at what time is the best time to do this? The benefits and harms of such a drink. Collecting birch sap correctly: when and how

With the arrival of spring, the collection of birch sap begins - incredible healthy drink, which can improve health and strengthen the immune system. In the villages, this period was considered the most important, because the sap under the bark of a tree does not flow for long, only about a month. During this time, people try to get drunk with juice and recharge themselves with the vigor of this drink. But to get all the beneficial properties, the juice must be collected correctly. In this process, it is important not only to obtain the healing liquid, but also to protect the tree as much as possible.

The benefits of birch sap

In appearance birch sap represents plain water– without any special smell or color. If you leave the juice in a warm place for a while, it will begin to ferment and spoil. This means that the drink contains certain microelements. The taste of birch sap may differ from the area where it was collected, as well as from the size and health of the tree itself. Sometimes the juice is sweet, sometimes tasteless, like water. However, the composition of this drink is not so simple. It contains vitamins, minerals, organic acids, enzymes, and saccharides. Birch sap has a tremendous effect on the body.

  1. Due to its rich composition, the juice has restorative and tonic properties. Patients drink the juice during the recovery period, even after the most serious illnesses.
  2. Birch sap strengthens the immune system, improves the body's ability to fight viruses and infections, and has an anti-inflammatory effect.
  3. Birch sap improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and normalizes stomach acidity.
  4. The drink is able to speed up metabolic processes, improves metabolism, which promotes weight loss. In addition, the juice has very low calorie content.
  5. Regular consumption of juice improves the functioning of the kidneys and genitourinary system.
  6. Birch sap is used externally to heal and treat various wounds, boils, inflammations, pustules and eczema.
  7. Birch sap is actively used in cosmetology. Washing with this life-giving moisture helps get rid of age spots, freckles, and unwanted tanning. In addition, birch sap eliminates excess oily skin and hair. Rinsing with birch sap makes hair silky, strong and shiny.

It's just small dose useful properties birch sap. If nature gives us the opportunity to strengthen the body, we must take advantage of this opportunity. But in such a way as not to harm this nature and not to respond to good with evil.

When to collect birch sap

Exact deadlines for collection healing drink No. After all, in different regions of the country spring comes in different times. Approximately this period can begin from mid-March and lasts until the end of April at most. When the sun begins to get hot, the juices awaken under the bark of the tree, even if there is still snow around. You can determine the readiness of a birch tree to give up life-giving moisture by its buds. If they begin to swell, it’s time to collect the juice.

You need to start collecting sap from the outermost trees. Subsequently, when the sun gets hotter and hotter, you can move deeper into the forest or birch forest, because the trees wake up there later. You should not collect sap from birch trees located along highways and other places with polluted air.

To collect birch sap, you need to choose medium trees with a good trunk. You should not make a hole in a young tree. Firstly, it will not provide much life-giving coolness. Secondly, the tree may die after such a harvest.

To collect birch sap you will need a drill, dishes and a straw.

  1. First, we choose a birch tree from which we will take sap. Its diameter should not be less than 20 centimeters. It is better to choose a tree with a slight slope so that the flowing sap is easier to collect.
  2. You need to make a hole on the sunny side of the forest. The sun heats the tree bark, and the sap flows in this place much more intensely.
  3. Do not use an ax to extract juice. After all, if such a wound does not heal, the tree will bleed out life-giving moisture, dry out and simply die.
  4. Take a drill and make a small hole in the tree trunk. The diameter of the hole should not exceed one centimeter, preferably 4-6 mm. If you don’t have a drill, you can simply drive a nail into the barrel, loosening it slightly and enlarging the hole. The hole should not be too deep. You need to understand that birch sap flows mainly between the bark and wood. Therefore, you should not drive the nail too deep.
  5. After this, a small tube is inserted into the hole. You can use drinking straws with a corrugated part. In some stores you can buy a special tube for collecting birch sap. If such devices are not at hand, use natural materials - ordinary grass. Several stems and leaves need to be washed and a bunch inserted into the hole. The greens have a unique capillary system, and very soon birch sap will drip from the other end of the grass.
  6. Place a plastic bottle or bag under the straw or grass. There is no need to leave a container with a wide neck - a can or pan. The fact is that the sap drips for quite a long time and the dishes will have to be left near the tree for more than one hour. During this time, it can be attacked by foliage and debris. And if the juice is sweet, insects will certainly encroach on it.
  7. It is better to collect juice 2-3 times a day. If juice stops flowing from the hole, there is no need to deepen it, go make another well. Just change the tree.
  8. A birch tree can give up to five liters of sap, but never take all the life-giving moisture from one tree, otherwise it will die. It is better to collect one liter from five birch trees than to squeeze everything out of one.
  9. After collecting the sap, help the tree heal its wound. You need to drive a piece of a branch into the hole, cover it with clay or plug it with moss. Next year you won’t even find where you made the hole.
  10. The sap flows down the birch tree best in the afternoon; it is at this time that it is best to collect.

These simple tips will help you get a life-giving drink, without harm to the tree.

The most beneficial use birch sap - drinking it in fresh. The juice can be stored in the refrigerator or cellar for a month, no more. After this time, all healing power the product is lost, the drink becomes useless.

Some housewives can preserve birch sap, but this is a rather dubious activity. The fact is that when boiled and even pasteurized, all the beneficial properties of the juice are lost, the product becomes no healthier than ordinary sweet water. And putting fresh juice into jars is very dangerous - the jar can explode from an unsterile product. After all, small specks probably got into the juice during the collection process.

The most optimal way to store birch sap long time– this is its freezing. During the freezing process everything nutritional properties products are stored. Birch sap can be stored in this form for up to a year. To preserve all the vitamins and minerals, you need to defrost the juice properly. The temperature difference should be minimal. First, the container is placed in a refrigerator, and then in room temperature. If you are going to use birch sap in for cosmetic purposes, it can be frozen in the form of cubes. Birch ice cubes are always at hand; wipe your face with them to tone and invigorate the skin and tighten pores.

Birch sap produces very tasty and rich kvass. To prepare it, you need to take 10 liters of birch sap and heat it to 30-40 degrees. Add the juice of five medium lemons, 50 grams of yeast and a couple of tablespoons of natural liquid honey to the liquid. Mix everything thoroughly and pour into glass bottles. Throw 3-4 raisins into each bottle and leave the container in a warm place. When the kvass begins to ferment (after about 5 days), it will need to be refrigerated. This kvass can be stored for several months. However, it is unlikely that it will last that long - the drink turns out to be very tasty and deep.

Birch sap is a treasure trove natural vitamins And useful elements, thanks to which you can quickly and effectively improve your health. Stop taking medications, at least for a while. Understand that nature has all the substances we need that can cure almost any disease. And most importantly, natural medicines are absolutely free. Just reach out and take them.

Video: how to collect birch sap

Mother Nature made sure that after a long winter “hibernation” and spring vitamin deficiency, we could replenish the supply of vitamins and microelements in the body. Natural birch sap is unique vitamin drink regulating activities gastrointestinal tract and output system. It is rich in mineral salts and microelements and different periods sap flow has a different composition.

Spring has come. Let's go to the forest for juice

If you know when to collect birch sap, you can accurately select its time. maximum benefit. Birch sap has long been unique properties called a cure for all diseases. Indeed, it perfectly “cleanses” sand from the kidneys, is indicated for gastritis, normalizes the acidity of the stomach, has a beneficial effect on the general condition of the body, being a multivitamin, and improves immunity.

The time when you can collect birch sap falls in different years from the end of February to the middle (end) of April, depending on the region and how early spring came. But as soon as the last snow melts, nature wakes up and its life, still hidden from the human eye, begins. There aren’t even the first leaves yet, but sap flow has begun, which means it’s time to collect birch sap.

How to collect birch sap

Knowing when to collect birch sap, you can prepare for this event in advance, especially if you plan to make preparations for the whole year. After all, you can not only drink birch sap regularly all spring, while birch trees provide this opportunity, but also prepare it for future use. Of course, fresh juice brings maximum benefits to the body, but also prepared, for example, in the form of a decoction with dried fruits or mint, it perfectly quenches thirst and has an excellent taste and smell.

Residents of rural areas know better than others when to collect birch sap, and most importantly, how to do it with minimal harm to the tree. To prevent damage to the birch tree, it is not recommended to take more than a liter of sap per day from one tree. This golden rule must be strictly followed if you want to benefit from the gifts of the forest year after year. A hole for collecting juice is made using a screwdriver with a diameter of 6 to 10 mm. In this case, the drill should enter the tree trunk at an angle from bottom to top no more than 3 cm. Plastic bottles, buckets can serve as containers for collecting sap, and sometimes large plastic bags tied to a birch tree are used.

Birch sap for health and beauty

If you are a supporter of a healthy lifestyle, you, of course, will not miss the time when the collection of birch sap in the forest begins on an industrial scale, that is, when the sap flow has gained full strength. After all, in addition to the fact that the juice can be drunk fresh for a month, or even more, it can be prepared for future use. Sterilized, it will last until spring, replacing your fruit and berry compotes. Kvass made from birch sap has a number of medicinal properties and can also be used for a long time as a vitamin and strengthening agent. Ice cubes made from birch sap are excellent cosmetic product. As you can see, birch sap is not only delicious drink, but also powerful therapeutic natural remedy.

Many people love birch sap. The taste of the drink often brings back a lot of pleasant memories of childhood. Birch sap is recommended for everyone to drink in the spring, because it contains huge amount minerals, and also cleanses the blood and removes kidney and liver stones. How and when to collect birch sap this year? How to do this correctly so as not to damage the tree?

The time to collect birch sap is at the end of March, April

Birch sap: how and when to collect correctly?

Scientists have long noticed that the biological substances that make up the natural drink not only improve brain function, but also have antiseptic properties, strengthen the immune system, and have a positive effect on the functioning of the endocrine glands. Birch sap has always been valued in Russia, and every spring it was actively collected and consumed as a health-improving drink.

How and when to collect birch sap so that the human body receives greatest benefit? The time to collect the valuable drink falls on the end of March and April. In regions with cold climates it is harvested in May. Each area has its own timing and the air temperature should reach +5 degrees. The tree itself helps determine the exact time. When the buds of the birch tree are swollen, it’s time to go for sap.

It is in mid-spring that all vegetation awakens after winter, and a period of active sap flow begins. Tree roots suck from the soil nutrients. They are delivered through vessels in the tree trunk to all parts of the plant, saturating it with biologically active components.

It is in April that birch sap contains greatest number moisture, glucose, fructose, other bioactive components and their concentration is simply ideal. Birch sap in April is not only healthy, but also tasty. How to properly collect liquid? Here are some tips:

  1. The greatest value is the sap obtained from perennial birch trees with a thick trunk. The root system of young trees is too weak and has not had time to grow sufficiently, so it does not absorb many components from the soil. At a young birch chemical composition sap is different from old wood and contains more water than valuable substances. However, old trees are also not suitable.
  2. It is worth choosing those trees that grow in environmentally friendly areas, away from highways, factories, factories and other potentially dangerous sources of pollution. Ideal option- go to the countryside, to the forest.
  3. To collect enough juice you need to go to birch grove. According to reviews, it is possible to collect about 1-2 liters of liquid from one tree per day. This amount is only enough for one person. To collect more birch sap, you need to simultaneously install containers for collecting the drink on several trees.

How to collect birch sap correctly so as not to damage the tree?

Lovers of birch sap return every year to the places where the healing drink is collected. It is for this reason that when collecting liquid, it is important not to damage the tree. It is a serious mistake to remove the bark and cause deep damage to the birch tree using an axe. The tree will suffer from such wounds for many years or even die.

We suggest using a safe method for collecting birch sap:

  • To extract valuable contents, you should use a brace with a drill or a screwdriver with a self-tapping screw, the diameter of which is equal to the diameter of the drain tube. The optimal diameter is 5 mm, but not more than 10 mm;
  • It is recommended to collect no more than 1-1.5 liters of sap per day from one birch tree. It is very important to leave enough liquid for the plant, which will become very weak and may die;
  • After receiving a sufficient amount of drink, it is important to close the hole made in the barrel. To do this, use garden pitch, resin or wooden cork.

According to the observations of experienced birch nectar collectors, the most active sap flow is observed during the day, from approximately 10-11 to 17-18 hours.

How and when to collect birch sap, video:

Love natural drinks, good for health and want to know how and when to collect birch sap? There is nothing complicated in this matter, but some nuances are still worth considering. The main thing when collecting liquid is to think not only about the amount of substance collected, but also about nature. There is no need to use barbaric methods to extract juice. After all, you will have to return to the grove again and it will be good if by that time the tree remains undamaged.

Birch sap: how to collect it correctly?

Birch sap is a valuable mixture of beneficial elements. It is classified as a food forest resource. In the old days, they soldered babies and sick people with it. IN Soviet era The juice was extracted on an industrial scale, it was sold in every grocery store and was very popular. Now they have forgotten about him, but in vain. This is an excellent natural remedy for improving metabolism. Find this one organic product Now it’s more difficult - real birch sap is extremely rare on sale, and the only way to try it and store it for future use is to get it yourself. Mid-spring is the right time to go into the forest for it.

Birch sap: beneficial properties

Birch sap is rich in vitamins and other useful substances. It contains:

Biological stimulants that strengthen the immune system;

Tannins that relieve inflammatory processes in the body;

Potassium and magnesium, which help the heart work properly;

Glucose, sucrose and fructose, necessary to stimulate brain activity;

Phytoncides with antimicrobial effects;

Mineral elements that help fight vitamin deficiency.

The juice also cleanses the blood and removes toxins, has a diuretic effect, and is dietary product, has a tonic effect. A glass of birch sap relieves fatigue and strengthens the body. If you have a lung or skin disease, it is recommended to drink an infusion of birch sap. Intoxication, infection, joint and headaches, sore throat, swelling, low stomach acidity - this is a small list of what it helps with daily use birch sap.

Washing with birch water improves complexion, gets rid of age spots and acne, and washing your hair strengthens hair follicles. Cosmetologists recommend freezing birch sap in the form of ice for wiping your face.

People suffering from allergies will have to drink the juice with caution. If the body reacts poorly to birch pollen, then the drink will only cause harm. Those who have diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and urinary system also need to be careful.

Birch sap: how to collect

Sap is a liquid that flows from damaged trunks under root pressure. Sap flow occurs in the spring - at the beginning of the thaw - and until the buds open, that is, from April to May. So what is the best and correct way to collect birch sap without causing damage to yourself and the forest?

Selecting a location

Drinking juice from plantings along roads and industrial zones is fraught with health consequences. Heavy metals accumulate in plants and soil near highways, which, when entering our body, cause dangerous reactions. Therefore, it is better to choose forests away from any enterprises and highways.

Tree selection

A large birch tree produces about 7 liters of drink per day. As a rule, medium-sized trees give off half as much of their life-giving moisture. The sap collected from young birch trees does not have all the beneficial properties, and the tree itself does not tolerate this procedure well. In order not to destroy the young animals, it is better to take a closer look at the adults. Moreover, the older the tree, the sweeter the sap.

Juicing technique

The sap comes most abundantly from the south side of the tree. If you can determine this side of the world in the desired place, then it is there that you can begin work on obtaining birch sap. An incision is made in the tree at a height of half a meter from the ground at an acute angle of 45 degrees. The most humane method is drilling with a screwdriver, but if this is not available, a knife or awl is used. Since sap flow takes place in the surface layer, the hole should be shallow - 2-4 centimeters. A tube is inserted into it, which can easily be made from a medical system, pens, etc. It is possible to make a device in the form of a groove from birch bark. The tip should fit tightly into the barrel. A container is placed under the improvised channel - plastic or glass bottle. In one day, you can collect at least two liters of juice in this way.

Caring for the tree

The tree cannot be used as an endless source of sap. You should distill the drink from birch only a couple of times a season, then you need to take care of it. After the juice is obtained, the devices are removed from the trunk and the hole must be closed. It is covered with garden pitch, wax, clay, or covered with clean moss, a dry branch, which will swell and close the wound.

Juice storage

Freshly extracted birch sap is stored for no more than three days. But the drink can be preserved - there is nothing complicated about it. It should be heated, but not brought to a boil, poured into sterilized bottles and rolled up. To prepare birch concentrate, the sap is boiled several times and also preserved in glass containers. When used, this concentrate is diluted with water. If the juice is being stored for a long time, then for greater preservation during preparation it is possible to add a few grams of citric acid.

There is also a recipe birch kvass, which was so loved in the old days: heat the drink to 30-40 degrees, add 10 grams of yeast, a couple of raisins, a spoonful of honey; The jar is sealed and left for one to two weeks. This kvass quenches thirst well in hot weather.

Herbal lovers infuse birch sap with mint, thyme, lemon balm, sage, rose hips and others medicinal plants. Birch buds, which are collected almost at the same time as the sap, also have no less useful properties. As soon as the buds have swollen, but their scales have not yet opened, it’s time to pick them.

Birch sap will surprise everyone who tries it for the first time. After all, it gives not only a feeling of pleasure from the taste, but is also a real natural healer and cosmetologist.

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In addition to the fact that birch sap tastes good, it is also full of substances necessary for the body. Fresh juice birch can normalize microflora in the intestines, break down kidney stones, and help the immune system in the fight against lung diseases. It is also used for cosmetic purposes. Most healthy juice is the sap you directly collect from the tree. Simple rules This procedure will help you get this tasty and healing drink easily and without consequences for the birch tree.

We choose the time to collect the juice. Immediately after the spring equinox on March 20, you can begin monitoring sap flow in trees. To make sure that the sap has flowed, find a young birch tree whose thickness does not exceed 10 cm in diameter. Make a thin puncture and observe. A drop of liquid that appears will tell you that you can start collecting juice. And don’t be embarrassed if there is still snow around the tree. Birch trees “come to life” very early in the spring, as soon as the first sun appears. We choose birch. Do not look for sap in thin birch trees, as punctures will only injure it. And the sap in young trees will not have the taste you are familiar with. Also, do not get hung up on one tree, but rather select several trunks for your purposes. The birch tree will give you about a liter of sap without any consequences for its vital functions. Therefore, it is better to collect 5 liters from five trees than the same amount from one. Remember that urban birch trees do not have even a fraction of the beneficial properties that you will find in forest trunks. Trees are excellent at accumulating dirt, dust, exhaust fumes, and fumes from factories. Their juice will be completely harmful to you.


We make a puncture. To avoid damaging the wood, avoid cutting holes with an axe. Use a drill with a thin bit. Birch sap circulates in the surface layer of wood, closer to the bark. Therefore, there is no need to make an overly deep hole.


Collecting juice. To collect juice, choose a container with a narrow neck. This way you will protect the juice from grass, dirt, and debris getting into it. Best fit plastic bottle, which is also easy to tie to the trunk just under the hole. Now you need to build a conductor for the juice. A well-washed bunch of grass or a flagellum of gauze will perfectly collect the juice from the trunk and transfer it into the bottle by capillary method. Insert the “conductor” into the hole in the barrel and lower it into the neck of the container. We control the collection of juice. Check the filling of containers several times a day. If the sap slows down, do not try to deepen the hole or otherwise speed up its collection. Better move on to the next barrel. By not draining the birch trees completely, you will keep them alive.


We treat birch. When the sap collection is complete, be sure to seal the hole you made. Drive a wooden block into the hole and plug it with moss or wax. This way the sap will no longer flow out and will begin to flow to the branches. The birch itself will quickly heal the wound. Next year you will not find a trace of the puncture.

By following simple rules, you can enjoy healthy drink, and protect the birch from death.

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