Tapping Birch Sap
The oak builds thick bark around itself to obstruct pathogenic attack. The silver birch cannot spare the time for that. It is a fast living tree and will be dead before it’s oak neighbour has become adult. Instead of growing structural barriers, it invests in biochemistry, producing oils and resins that dissuade fungal or insect attack. The resinous bark and twigs flare on contact with a flame and are envied as tinder or kindling. The fine net of purple twigs are also gathered into a bundle, bound with willow and forced onto a hazel stick to make a broom to sweep away cobwebs or fly to the Sabbat as you choose. Birch twigs were exchanged by young Welsh couples as love tokens. In times unkinder in some ways, a springy bit was kept specifically for the purpose of assaulting children. In the picture you can see me collecting the rising sap. I have snipped off the end of a small branch, attached a bottle and angled it down. This can be collected on March as the buds break. It can be boiled into syrup or fermented into wine. I’ll just be drinking it as a refreshing spring tonic. Some people will advise you to drill a hole in the bole and stick in a tube but ignore them. The birch is a special and sacred tree and we won’t do it any harm.
https://ndnr.com/botanical-medicine/the-medicine-of-the-birch-tree-beyond-depurative/