My wife and I were talking about birch syrup yesterday and it got me thinking...
If you are in a survival situation in the spring, tree sap is a nutritious and tasty source of water for you to tap into (a pun!
).
Generally, water is abundant in the spring, but you will still need to treat it for bacteria and other disease causing critters. Tree sap on the other hand should not require any purification.
I have blazed birch (yellow and white), maple (sugar and red), and aspen in the spring and found that they all release large quantities of sap.
You want to “tap” into them when the tree is just swelling it’s buds to sometime into leaf out.
So if you are on the move and need some water in a hurry, it’s something to consider, or if you are in a survival situation and every bit of sugar and nutrients count.