"My oak tree is oozing beer!" Homeowners follow noses to base of oak to find puddle of yeasty-smelling liquid. Ooze usually surrounded by insects, some seemingly inebriated!
Common on large oaks, poplars, maples. Happens on any tree planted too deeply, burying lower trunk.
Oozing called "slime flux" caused by bacterial infection inside trunk. Two types: "alcoholic" (yeasty) and "acidic" (vinegar smell).
Infection can be in trunk surface wound or deeper inside. Bacteria ferment tree's sap; seeps out and down. Sweet-eating insects (wasps, bees, yellow jackets) attracted.
No treatment. Best: wash off trunk to discourage bugs. Mix 1/8 cup chlorine bleach in gallon water for final rinse. Sap flow periodic; may disappear or reoccur yearly.
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