Hummingbirds Arriving Early

[OZZIEOHIO]

Ill try this evening when the bees are gone.

[Philly]

My mother has 4-5 humming birds flying around her feeder most of the time! One got in her house, ans she caught it. She said it stayed very calm, while she petted it. Then she let it go. She took pictures of it in her hand!

Also, remember you have to go out and tip your feed alittle, because it gets air bubbles in it.

[OZZIEOHIO]

Cant get near it, theres about 2 hundred bees out there. Im going to try ONB"s trick when they go in tonight.

[OZZIEOHIO]

Feeder Pests

Here are some ways of dealing with uninvited guests to your hummingbird feeders:

Bees, wasps: the simple solution--which does not have a good track record but is easy enough to try--is to use a feeder with "bee guards" over the feeder ports, and to coat them with petroleum jelly. A better solution is to have at least two feeders, one filled with a rich 2:1 or 3:1 ratio of water:sugar, and one filled with 5:1 ratio. The bees and wasps will almost immediately prefer the richer mixture, leaving the other one nearly free for the hummers.

Ants: A commercial ant trap (such as AntGuard) work superbly. You can also fashion one by hand by creating a moat to place between feeder and hanging hook and filling it with water or coating the inside with petroleum jelly. Be sure your feeder design is not one that attracts ants, but design alone will not prevent the ingenious ants from finding any feeder.

Bats: In parts of the American Southwest, nectar-loving nighttime bats can completely empty a feeder in one night (See video here).

Other birds: Only feeder design can deter birds. Start by removing any feeder perches, but this alone may not be sufficient. Talk to your local bird store about what they find to work in your area.

I found this on another link.

[orange-n-brown 365]

I don't have much of a problem with ants or bees but when I wash out the bottom it
has little winged bugs in it.. I just watched a hummer drinking and I was talking and it'd take a drink and watch me and then go back to business... I never mention that they are birds I call them hummers because the labbie don't like those birds!

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

the dryer sheets have actually helped here. mine are all on chains, deco chains. i have 14 feeders. i clip the dryer sheet to the chain , directly over the hummer feeder. the are under the roof of the decks, so won't get rained on. but still having a few stray bees. i'm using snuggle dryer sheets. don't know that that may matter. it's possible you have some bees or yellow jackets nesting someplace. if you are cleaning out birdhouses now, and find wasps. use vasoline on the inside roof, of the house. and insert a moth ball. won't harm the wasp. but will make them leave. the vasoline will keep them out. about the dryer sheets, i'm clipping them directly above the feeder. with a bag of wooden clothes pins , from the dollar store.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

also , be careful. if your feeder looks empty. i took down a couple to refill the other day, and a live yellow jacket, got me in the ear 3 times. swelled up like a new potato.

[OZZIEOHIO]

YTB wrote

also , be careful. if your feeder looks empty. i took down a couple to refill the other day, and a live yellow jacket, got me in the ear 3 times. swelled up like a new potato.

Darn I wish I could have seen that. I put a dryer sheet on one and it was covered the next morning.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

you may have a nest somewhere, are they yellow jackets or bees.

[OZZIEOHIO]

Petroleum jelly works real good, the bees would start to land and move around the feeder looking for a place to land then just fly off. I put it on two feeders no bees The other one is loaded with bees right now but ill fix it tonight. Dint try the cooking oil but it prob... would do the same as the PJ.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

i'll try a lil pj tonight, but not really having a problem, just some scattered bees, here and there. but if it works, i'll try it. so ozz do you know if they are bees or yellow jackets. if you don't know try to pick one up. if you get stung repeatedly, and the culprit flies away , it's a yellow jacket. bad choice. if it's a yj. you probably have a nest somewhere you don't know about.

[OZZIEOHIO]

dummy wrote

i'll try a lil pj tonight, but not really having a problem, just some scattered bees, here and there. but if it works, i'll try it. so ozz do you know if they are bees or yellow jackets. if you don't know try to pick one up. if you get stung repeatedly, and the culprit flies away , it's a yellow jacket. bad choice. if it's a yj. you probably have a nest somewhere you don't know about

Why dont you come over and give me a hands on class then ill know hot to find out next time.

There was wasp, honey bees, and yellow jackets all three.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

follow the bouncing ball. you just identified 2 out of 3 problems. you have a yellow jacket and wasp nest somewhere, CLOSE. you are getting warmer,
dummy.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

I HAD A MALE RUBY THROATED HUMMER DIE IN MY HANDS YESTERDAY. I TRYED TO REVIVE HIM, HE HUNG ON QUITE A WHILE. HE TRYED TO DRINK THE SUGAR WATER, AS I MASSAGED HIS HEART. BUT I THINK HE INJURED HIS NECK, WHEN HE FELL. HE GOT IN THE GARAGE. AND IT WAS REAL HOT. THE GARAGE DOOR , AND ENTRANCE DOORS WERE BOTH OPEN, BUT IT GOT DISORIENTED AND FELL. LIKE 12 FEET TO THE CONCRETE. HE WAS ALIVE WHEN I GOT TO HIM. BUT DIED AFTER ABOUT 5 MINUTES.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

IF YOU ARE A BIG HUMMINGBIRD FAN.

i hope you are coming out to the party saturday anyway. but if you come out here to take some pictures, me and mrs. bait got amazingly up close and personal with the hummers tonight . we simply got some amazing photos tonight. to rival anything seen in any birdbook. they flock in here about 7:30pm. and stay till dark. i'm going to try tomm. to hand feed some. i'll let you know how it goes. if it works out, try to bring something small and red to put nectar in, we could get some shots of up close , or even hand-feeding pictures. one very nearly thought about landing on my finger tonight. it was within a 1/2 inch. then a cardinal spooked it. i'll let you know. bring a coke cap. or some kind of red tube, or something clear, with a red bow, ribbon, or red pipe cleaners, something red for the tube if youhave a tube type holder.

[orange-n-brown 365]

IF YOU ARE A BIG HUMMINGBIRD FAN.

i hope you are coming out to the party saturday anyway. but if you come out here to take some pictures, me and mrs. bait got amazingly up close and personal with the hummers tonight . we simply got some amazing photos tonight. to rival anything seen in any birdbook. they flock in here about 7:30pm. and stay till dark. i'm going to try tomm. to hand feed some. i'll let you know how it goes. if it works out, try to bring something small and red to put nectar in, we could get some shots of up close , or even hand-feeding pictures. one very nearly thought about landing on my finger tonight. it was within a 1/2 inch. then a cardinal spooked it. i'll let you know. bring a coke cap. or some kind of red tube, or something clear, with a red bow, ribbon, or red pipe cleaners, something red for the tube if youhave a tube type holder.

what would work is those little tubes they use for flowers clean them well and put red nectar in them... that'd be a fun project.. hope it works have fun.. my little ole hummers rest in my tree and dummy me never thinks to get the camera and take a pic while they are sitting still...
I've got my 8 year watching for them to land on the feeder.. he was mad last week when the bumble bees drained it! He told me to go get the bee killer (aka flyswatter) and kill all of them

[OZZIEOHIO]

Im not seeing alot this year, Hows everyone else doing with there hummingbirds?

[BubbleGumTiger]

Im not seeing alot this year, Hows everyone else doing with there hummingbirds?

Hundreds of em in the trailer park.........in every tree and on every limb.........

[Vladd]

This is the earliest I have ever had these beautiful little creatures arrive at my feeders. How can something so small bring so much joy to ones life? I have my feeders set up so we can look out of our living room window and watch them. I can watch them for hours. They are truly amazing animals. I am not expert on them by no means, but we seem to have a couple of them that are feeder pigs, lol. They try to chase the other hummers off. So I added two more feeders and have more coming in to feed. Could anyone tell me what else to do to keep them coming in other than using more feeders? Like some other plants, flowers etc., that I could could use for my little friends benefit? Thanks for any help......

[WhiteWhiskers]

I'v had hummers for at least a month and they seem to be doing just great here at the corner.