"Birdman" Should Know

Attracting and Feeding Hummingbirds: A Comprehensive Guide

Attracting and Feeding Hummingbirds: A Comprehensive Guide

Feeding Hummingbirds: Honey or Sugar Water? Can Food Coloring Be Used?

When feeding hummingbirds, opt for sugar water and avoid honey and food coloring. Although honey is often perceived as more natural and nutritious, it promotes the rapid growth of bacteria and fungi, which can harm hummingbirds. Always use refined white sugar for their feeders.
Hummingbirds are attracted to red, leading some to add food coloring to the sugar water. However, food coloring offers no nutritional benefits and can be harmful to the birds. Instead, use feeders with bright red decorations to attract them safely.

How to Prepare Sugar Water for Hummingbirds

In hot weather, mix 1/4 cup of white sugar with 1 cup of water to create an ideal hummingbird nectar. During the cool, damp migration seasons of spring and fall, you can increase the sugar concentration to 1/3 cup per cup of water. If using clean containers, there’s no need to boil the water; simply prepare fresh nectar and replace it every 2-3 days. For larger batches stored in the fridge, boiling to sterilize the mixture is recommended.

How to Prevent Ants and Bees from Visiting Bird Feeder

A birder’s wife, who from Oklahoma, discovered a method to attract bees away from hummingbird feeders without harming them. She filled another feeder with a higher concentration of sugar water and sprayed the same concentration on its exterior. Then, she hung this feeder at a distance from the original hummingbird feeder. Next, she would capture a few bees swarming the hummingbird feeder and transfer them to the new feeder. This process was repeated until the bees began communicating with each other and started migrating to the new feeder. She continued to replenish this “bee decoy” with sugar water and sprayed the same solution on its surface. Afterward, the bees only went to the new feeder for food, and the problem was solved! Additionally, the presence of bees around the feeder filled with concentrated sugar water naturally deterred hummingbirds from visiting. 

 

Original Article

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