Ants and bees at a hummingbird feeder
Ants and bees come for nectar that drips or spills, so stop the drip first: hang the feeder out of the wind, keep its parts tight and wipe spills. Then hang a water-filled ant moat above it, and use bee guards, which a hummingbird’s long tongue reaches through and a bee’s cannot. Keep oil, petroleum jelly and insecticide off the feeder.
Why they come, and what they do
Ants and bees do not harm hummingbirds, but they cost you nectar and the view. Ants climb down the hanger, crawl into the ports and drown, which clogs the feeder and spoils the nectar. Bees and wasps crowd the ports, can keep hummingbirds away and may sting when you refill.
Most of them come for nectar on the outside of the feeder: a feeder that swings in the wind, a part that is not screwed tight, or a bottle hanging in full sun, where the air inside warms and pushes nectar out of the ports.
Stop the drip first
Fixing leaks does more than any guard: a bee guard cannot help when the sugar is on the outside of the feeder.
- Hang the feeder out of strong wind, and take it in during storms.
- After each refill, check that every part is screwed or clipped tight.
- Hang a bottle feeder in shade, so the sun does not push nectar out of the ports.
- Wipe drips and spills with hot water at least once a week.
- In warm weather, change the nectar twice a week and wash the feeder each time.
Ants: a cup of water above the feeder
An ant moat is a small cup of water between the hook and the feeder. Ants walking down the hanger reach the water and cannot cross it. It works only while it holds water, so top it up each time you change the nectar, and more often in hot, dry weather.
Several feeders have the moat built in, among them the Aspects HummZinger saucers, the More Birds Royal and the Perky-Pet Pinch Waist, in its lid. For a feeder without one, hang a separate moat, such as Nature’s Way’s four-pack, on the hook above it.
If ants are already in the nectar, take the feeder down, pour the nectar out, wash the feeder in hot water and refill it with fresh nectar before you hang it back under the moat. Then check that the feeder touches nothing: ants also walk across from a branch, a wall or an eave it brushes against.
Keep petroleum jelly, cooking oil and sticky trap glue off the feeder and anywhere a bird could touch them: Arkansas Extension warns that grease on the feeder can gum up feathers. Audubon advises against insecticides in the yard, which can harm birds as well as bees.
Bees and wasps: guards, color and a short break
Bee guards are small screens over the ports. A hummingbird reaches through them with its long tongue; a bee’s mouthparts are too short to get to the nectar. Iowa State Extension finds they put off bees more than wasps, which keep trying. Guards come fitted on feeders such as the Perky-Pet Pinch Waist and the Birds Choice Oriolefest.
Choose red parts over yellow: yellow draws bees, as Audubon and Arkansas Extension both note. A saucer feeder, such as the HummZinger, keeps the nectar in a dish below its ports, harder for a bee to reach than the wet tip of a bottle feeder; the University of Georgia Extension suggests saucers or bee guards, and hanging the feeder away from flower beds.
If bees or wasps still swarm, move the feeder a few feet, or take it down for a day or two: bees and wasps give up on a missing feeder sooner than hummingbirds do. For a busy swarm, Colorado State University Extension suggests taking it down after dark and leaving it down for three or four days. Washing the feeder at every refill removes the sweet film they come back for.
Bees may come to the feeder because few flowers are blooming nearby. Flowers bees like, such as the mountain mint, butterfly weed and bee balm that UGA Extension names, give them somewhere else to feed.