How Do I Keep Bees Away From My Hummingbird Feeder?

Fortunately, I haven't had a problem with bees at my hummingbird feeders. But, since I'm often asked how to keep bees away from feeders, I've done some research on the subject and this is what I've found.

• Bees are attracted to the color yellow. -If you have yellow on your feeders and you have a bee problem, you may consider painting over the yellow with red nail polish. Once the polish is dry, you'll need to wash the feeder thoroughly before filling and re-hanging it.
• Try diluting the nectar to a 5:1 solution (5 parts water:1 part sugar). The nectar will be diluted enough for the bees to lose interest, but the hummingbirds will still enjoy it.
• Try setting out a saucer of nectar just for the bees. Mix the solution 2:1 (two parts water, 1 part sugar). Set it out of the way to avoid family and friends getting stung. If the bees have trouble finding it, you can set it near the hummingbird feeder that they were originally invading and just move it away a few feet at a time over the course of a few days.
• You can also try giving the bees their own feeder. Again, mix the nectar 2:1 and hang it in an out of the way location.

If you have any tips or tricks that you've tried and that work, we would love to hear from you!!

How Do Hummingbirds Get Nectar From A Feeder?

I'm often asked how hummingbirds are able to retrieve the nectar from the top feeding hummingbird feeders. Here is the answer: Hummingbirds lap up the nectar with their tongues, much like a dog laps up water... Only at a much faster rate. Some experts say a hummingbird's tongue can flick in and out at about 15X per second. And, their tongues are unusually long. About one and a half to two times the length of its bill. So, they have no difficulty in reaching the nectar from inside the glass flower feeding tubes.

You can see how they use the feeders by watching the video by Parasol. You can view it by clicking here: Watch Parasol Movie . In some of the clips, you can actually see the hummingbird's tongue inside the feeder. Cute little buggers!

Ants in My Garden

My hummingbirds alerted me to the fact that there are ants in their feeder. (When I hung the feeder, I didn't think the ants could possibly find it, so I didn't immediately hang it with an ant moat)...

They let me know by flying around the feeder in a frenzy and chirping louder than usual. At first I couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about, but upon closer inspection, I, too, noticed the pesky, little buggers.

I brought the feeder in, dumped out the old syrup, thoroughly cleaned the feeder with hot water and a little bit of bleach, and refilled it with the fresh, ant-free hummingbird nectar. I hung it back up with the newly added ant moat, and, voila! The ants should not be able to get to it, right?

Well, when I hung it back up, I failed to see a branch from my Cape Mallow touching the feeder which allowed the ants to bypass the ant moat and use this offshoot as a bridge. Of course, I didn't notice this right away. But, my birds did! So, I got to go through the whole process again! This time, though, I demolished the ants' overpass to the feeder.

I should know better than to try to hang a hummingbird feeder and think that the ants will not find it. It's very rare around here. I have to say, though, I haven't had a bee or wasp problem, ...knock on wood!

See our selection of glass hummingbird feeders that are designed with beauty and style in mind!