...tapping Kenai birch trees

Richard measures the birch tree our group selected to tap for sap.

Measuring the canopy of the tree.

Starting to drill the 7/16 inch tap hole at a downward angle so the sap will drip out of the tree.

More drilling.

Almost to a depth of two inches into the tree.

The set-up: tap, tube, and bucket. Another view of the tapping operation.

After 16 hours we went back and collected our bucket of sap.

Richard carries our bucket of sap out of the woods.

When we put the bucket on level ground we had 1.25 gallons of sap.

Using a refractometer to measure the sugar content of our sap. It was 1.4% sugar.

A blurry photo of what it inside of the refractometer looked like.

Richard clowns around with the refractometer and puts it on his nose.

Richard pretends to drink 1.25 gallons of birch sap. Very funny.

I attended a workshop on tapping birch trees for sap this past weekend at the Kenai Watershed Forum. It was great fun and I learned a lot about tapping Kenai birch trees. I was amazed that we were able to collect 1.25 gallons of sap in just over 16 hours. We all got to taste it and everyone thought it pretty much tasted like water with a hint of sweetness. All-in-all it was a good way to spend a weekend and I was happy to learn how I could be...tapping Kenai birch trees.