Question
Hi,
   I am so excited to have found my way to advise on the propagation of copper beach trees from seed.
    We have an enormous coppre or purple beech tree thst is absolutely enormous.

    For the first time in my recolection the tree is making an encredible amount of seed pods. I would like as much information as you could possible give me about the collection and propagation of these seeds.
    First of all is it possible these seeds are fertile as no other trees are in the area. Perhaps that will be my first and last question!
    Second question what do I do with these seed pods until spring (refrigerate, freeze  dehydrate )?
    To propagate these seeds is truely my passion. I have a vast amount of land on which I can plant them. I have only seen a very few of these trees in our area. They were mostly in ststely areas such as ivy league college campuses and majestic mmunicipal areas.
I would dearly like to see them reintroduced. I beliece our tree came over on the boat with the Chekaslovakian family who built the homestead.
         Appreciatively,
         Joan Crowley

Answer
Hi Joan,
Sorry to take so long in answering your question.  

Here is an answer I gave to someone back in 2008 for growing Copper Beech from seed.

There are two triangular shaped seeds in each pod and you can take them out of the pod and plant them. Sometimes the pod will be a deterrant to germination if it is protecting the seeds from dampness.  The seed requires about 90 days of exposure to temperatures below 40F and some dampness to break dormancy and germinate.  Your seeds should germinate next spring after the last frost.  The copper beech doesn't particularly care for clay soil but if you keep amending it around the seedling with cow manure, grass clippings, leaves, etc., it should survive and do fine.  They do like your climate as historically they are from Northern Europe.  Good luck and I hope this helps.

Here is a good website that gives lots more information.

http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Fagus+sylvatica  

Another thing you can do is wrap the seeds in a damp paper towel, put this package inside a plastic baggie, seal it and leave it in the fridge all winter.  Bring the seed out in the spring and plant in a pot about 1/2 inch deep and keep warm.  Germination will be sporadic so keep track of how many seeds you planted and start looking for germination in the first 30 days.  Gently prick each seedling out as it gets its second pair of true leaves.  Pot in separate pots until ready to go outdoors after the last frost.

I hope this helps.
Tom