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!
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!
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