{{Short description|Process of collecting sap or resin from pine trees}}{{More citations needed|date=March 2026}}{{Expand German|Pecherei|date=September 2010}}
[[Image:Gemmage1.JPG|thumb|Tapped pine in the Pays de Buch]]
'''Resin extraction''' consists of incising the outer layers of a pine tree in order to collect the sap or resin.
==Summary== Resin circulates throughout a coniferous tree and a few others, and serves to seal damage to the tree.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Langenheim |first=Jean |title=Plant resins: Chemistry, evolution, ecology, and ethnobotany |publisher=Portland, OR: Timber Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-88192-574-8}}</ref> Harvesting pine resin dates back at least to Gallo-Roman times in Gascony, Europe, and possibly earlier in North America.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Keffer |first=Ken |date=2020-03-16 |title=Tree Tapping Isn’t Just for Maples |url=https://blog.nature.org/2020/03/16/tree-tapping-isnt-just-for-maples/ |access-date=2026-03-09 |website=Cool Green Science |language=en-US}}</ref>
Tapping pines may either be done so as to sustain the life of the tree, or exhaustively in the years before the tree is cut down.
==Traditional tapping== In Gascony, and to a lesser extent in Provence, pine-tapping was practised as a form of sharecropping, although uncertain status of the workers sometimes led to labour disputes.{{Citation needed|date=March 2026}}
Although almost abandoned during the 20th century, in Spain it has experienced something of a resurgence.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Girón |first=Susana |title=Spain's untapped 'liquid gold' |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20211014-spains-untapped-liquid-gold |access-date=2026-03-09 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en}}</ref>
==Procedure== Resin is usually collected by causing minor damage to the tree by making a hole far enough into the trunk to puncture the vacuoles, to let sap exit the tree, known as tapping, and then letting the tree repair its damage by filling the wound with resin. This usually takes a few days. Then, excess resin is collected.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bulletin #7036, How to Tap Maple Trees and Make Maple Syrup - Cooperative Extension Publications - University of Maine Cooperative Extension |url=https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/7036e/ |access-date=2026-03-09 |website=Cooperative Extension Publications |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hyman |first=Frank |date=2018-01-08 |title=How to Tap Trees for Syrup |url=https://modernfarmer.com/2018/01/tap-trees-syrup/ |access-date=2026-03-09 |website=Modern Farmer |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed"> File:Resin extraction near Irkutsk.jpg|Lithuanian deportees into Russia extract resin near Irkutsk. File:Resin extraction in Cortegaça (Mortágua).jpg File:Kombornia zywicowanie.jpg File:Getah hars Pinus Panji DSC 0622-.JPG|Resin </gallery>
==See also== {{commons}} * Maple syrup * Naval stores industry * Rosin * Rubber tapping * Turpentine
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Forestry}} {{Non-timber forest products}}
Category:Tree tapping Category:Conifers
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