Hummingbird Feeders And Pesky Bees

Kinda makes you wonder what all the red dye does to people and their systems as well, doesn't it.

Well I'll be! You may not have learned something new but because of you, I learned something new! LOL I knew the dye wasn't good for the birds but didn't know why! Wow, that's really interesting! I'll have to tell my mom about this. I've been making my own batch for years now and never knew why the dye was bad for them, just knew it was. Thanks Grandmaof2!

Really? You really should get a couple of feeders because they're so neat to watch and not only that, they fight like crazy over the feeders so having more than one is better so they don't fight as bad. The bees were (I think) yellow jackets. They had black and yellow stripes so I think yellow jackets but can't say for sure. They were insistant little devils but they found out that I meant OFF my mom's feeder and not on! lol Also, I found out that the reason the red dye is bad for them is because it does something to their reproduction system. I didn't know that till Grandmaof2 told me just above your response. Interesting, eh?

I never have bees near my hummingbird feeder as I hang my regular bird feeder next to my hummingbird feeder as recommended in another discussion: " I do not intend or want the bees hurt as I know they are necessary for pollination, but yipppee , the bees started disappearing, so if you too have trouble with bees, dig out your big bird feeders,fill them with seeds and sunflower seeds and even scatter seeds on the ground and position big bird feeders around the humming bird feeders and you'll find that the bees will make a trail elsewhere............and let you and me enjoy the antics of hummingbirds" http://www.mylot.com/w/discussions/2548500.aspx

Really? Well, I did let it boil one time and the hummingbirds would not drink the liquid! I'm serious! They wouldn't eat it so I had to dump the whole batch out and make a new one and didn't boil it this time but got it really hot so that the sugar would melt. One other time I wanted to cool the mixture quicker and put ice in it and they wouldn't drink from it either! So that's how I've come to know this, from experience or trying this and/or this out. Now I just put a hot plate in my fridge and put the whole pot on the hot plate and wait about a half hour for it to cool instead of having to wait hours for it to cool. We don't live in the city so we don't have city water, we have well water so maybe that's where the difference is? It's either that or you have better luck than I do!! Just remember about the cooking spray though in case you have problems with bees hoarding the hummingbird feeder.

Well, I can't have my regular bird feeder close to my hummingbird feeders because two of my hummingbird feeders are hung on my porch, one out front and the other to the side and then another is hung out back in my kitchen window. I have my regular bird feeder out front in my yard high up on poles and beside the bird condo on it's own pole so the cats can't reach them. The reason I can't have them so close is because I love to watch the hummingbirds feed and being that the feeders are on my porch, I can't have the regular bird feeders on my porch too because it would make such a huge mess which I don't want or need. My mom has a bird feeder too and her hummingbird feeder is nearby but the bees still come and take over so I had to come up with a solution so her hummingbirds could feed so I looked it up on the internet and found that cooking spray does deter the bees from the hummingbird feeders after trying it out myself. If I infringed on someone else's discussion, I certainly didn't mean to. I saw that I did respond to it as well but totally forgot about it being there. Being a caregiver to my parents and everything else, I just didn't remember that discussion.

Hi Marti! Girl, if it's not my parents who're sick, it's me. Geeze. I'm either up at their place helping them or I'm at home stuck in the bathroom. Lovely scene, eh? NOT! But that's the lovely life of one with lupus.... meaning, no immune system. *sigh Anyways, ants are determined little #@$&%!! Especially the fire (red) ants! ARG!! That is why we use Eliminator on ants, so they can't and won't bother the things we love most such as our animals and bird feeders. Maybe you should try that too? I don't know if the cooking spray will work but hey, you could try that first if you want. If you do, let me know if it works or not. It'll be an interesting experiement for sure! We have one of our feeders on our porch right in front of the picture window and where our rocking chairs are and in the later part of the summer, we're able to sit on our rocking chairs and watch them fly in and sit on the feeder and drink away but dare we move then they're gone in a flash! We've had them BUZZ right by our heads too and shocked the hell out of us too! All the while they're chit chit chitting at us to get out of there or we'll beat you up!! LOL They're so funny!

You need a vacation! I'm sorry to hear that you're sick, too. Geez! I am glad to hear that your mom is feeling better, though. At least that's some good news. I sure hope you're feeling better REAL SOON! P.S. I've been packing more and plan another trip down to Halifax once I have enough to fill a U-haul trailer. I did some math and realized that it costs me around $75.00 in gas for the round-trip and it's not worth it to just bring down a carload. I can rent the trailer for around $100.00 and it will hold maybe 5 or 6 carloads, maybe even more, so I'll save quite a lot of money doing it that way. I may be down next weekend or the following weekend. I'll keep in touch and let you know when I know for sure that I'll be going down there again.

quita dear, I might have infringed on your discussion that you made a couple of weeks ago and I'm so sorry! I did not mean to! I really didn't. I didn't remember it being there but it's quite obvious that I did respond to it but I didn't remember doing so before doing mine. So please accept my apology! I don't blame you for being tired of fighting the bees. I'd be tired too for it is a chore and a half and still not get very far. The kind of cooking spray that I used on my mom's was Food Lion store brand, not anything special but since I don't live with her, I don't know how long it lasted for her but it did work while it was on when I was there. I use hot water to disolve the sugar because sugar doesn't disolve very well in cold. I always find sugar at the bottom of my glass when I sweeten my tea at my parents. My dad's a diabetic so they don't sweeten their tea, understandably so, however, we do here at my own home so the sugar disolves good because we put it in while it's still hot. I don't lower the amount of sugar at all, the birds will disappear when the fall weather arrives. We always know when they're gone because we don't see anymore for a couple of weeks. We always use the same formula of 4 to 1 no matter what. Good luck to you!

Awwwww, come here. I wanna give you a big ole hug! Thanks for being so understanding! LOL I agree, though, we should be able to share with each other on the same subject although different in other ways. I mean, that's how conversation is, talk between two or more friends and is how we learn something new. You know, you've got me thinking, maybe different areas work differently meaning, you have bigger birds in your area so that's what works for you and maybe cooking spray works in my area? Or maybe certain types of bees? Who knows. If I were to be stung by a bee, I'd be in the ER swelled up like nobody's business! If I see a bee, you can betcha that I'd be running like some nut case because I'm alergic to them. I remember when I was just a kid and got stung, it hurt like crazy and I'd swell up like a balloon so I can't be around them at all. What about putting some bug spray "OFF!" on yourself? Would that keep the bees from stinging you? Or maybe some rubberbands around your pant legs? Another thing, sorry for taking so long to get back to you. With me being sick and then my dad and then my mom and now it's me again, mom is still sick but is getting better. I think the kidney infection that I had months ago is back again. Hubby called the doctor this morning and being it's the weekend, they transfered their calls to another place and they can't prescribe me any antibiotics because they don't have my file so I have to wait till Monday or go to the ER which I don't want to do so I'm hoping I can wait till Monday. Thanks quita! Glad we're on the good side of things cause I love having you for a friend too! Hugs!!

LOL, don't be silly ! You didn't infringe on my discussion at all. You were only trying to help. I appreciate that ! Truly tho, I've done everything I know, including the cooking spray and still bees. I live by a lake and it 's really hot here and has been for weeks. They think the water has turned bad in this lake and the bees are looking for food. I have found tho that putting out WINTER BIRD SEED AND BRINGING IN THE LARGER BIRDS HELPS ! THEY EAT THE BEES ............. I had to do some deep thinking and figured, well, dah? what eats bees? TA DA!!! BIRDS ! NOT ALL BIRDS THO.. I have these large birds called grackles and cow birds coming in in herds/droves too and when they showed up to eat the seeds I put out, the bees started disappearing. Some bees still come in and I've found that they also go straight to water ......not with sugar in it either, but they drown..........I put water in buckets and waterers for the dogs and cats and the bees hung around those. I put out an empty butter dish, country crock if that matters.....with just water and the bees are going to those and tho I hate it, the bees do drown..........I can't stop that , but my bee population is much less. The bees do a routine type of come and go. I do not know why but during the heat of the day, they disappear only to show up again close to sundown, then POOF, they are gone til mid morning :) that gives my hummers time to eat in the wee hours of the morning and that makes me happy ! I can see them in darkness as the sun comes up just sipping away LOL Our water is usually always warm and sugar just dissolves really fast and I use the same recipe you do except when the hummers first show up, I do a 3 to 1 ratio and that helps them get themselves started. Then I lower that amount to 4 to 1. I too sweeten tea, but since my scare with possible diabetes, I have been using Splenda which I dare not use for hummers! But, we all do things differently and right now, I do have a few bees and a few hummers left. It's my wish that it would rain and start the blooming process of the crops around here ......... But, you don't worry ! you didn't hurt me at all. I think with time we all can learn to share with each other our day to day problems. I thank you for your advice and maybe it will help another member. I hope mine does too. The only regrets I have is the bees came in such large numbers, that they had to die in order to find food. That is sad, but all the same the bees had begun to "resent" me LOL, and I've been stung three times now and I have to wear long pants and long sleeves as well as shoes outside. I found bees crawling up my shoes into my pants yesterday ! YIKES! So, as you can see I have scads of bees. More than most think. Ok, thanks and never worry bout me !! I just love having you for a friend... hugs, quita

Do you really believe that? Seriously? I do not trust everything that's in anything unless I grow or make it myself because ingredients are made up of so many different words that we're not to understand unless we look it up and then we find out that this or that causes cancer or other ailments? Our government doesn't care about us much less the wild. Anyway, I did learn why the red dye is bad for hummingbirds. It affects their reproduction system. They either can't or have a harder time reproducing so it's up to you and I to not have that mixture with the dye hanging outside for them to drink if we want them to reproduce. Besides, making it at home is so easy.

Guess that did sound naive. After all look at the unsafe stuff they put in our food and in our pet food. Scary.

Hi KrauseHome. Glad you enjoyed my discussion! Well, thanks to Grandmaof2, I learned something new! The red dye isn't good for the hummingbirds because it has a side effect that affects their ability to reproduce. I never knew that and I've been making my own batch for years. I love learning new things! lol So not only did I teach you all something new but I learned something new too! Cool! lol

I have another tib bit to tell! I learned something new too and that is the reason that the dye isn't good for the hummingbirds is because it affects their reproduction system. I've been making my own mixture for years and never knew why the dye was bad for them so it's been interesting to find that out and now you can pass that on over at Gather too!

It's so much cheaper to make it yourself and the dye isn't good for the little birds. I don't know why that is but that's what I've been told plus I read it somewhere. As for the deg gone ants, get yourself some Eliminator from Walmart and sprinkle it around your hummingbird feeder, not in but around it and you won't see them pesky ants anymore! Try cooking spray on your feeder to rid of the bees. It might be a temporary fix but hey, it works for the day at least.

I probably won't I can't even keep up with a regular bird feeder - in fact, the ONLY reason the cats get fed is because they NAG!

Awwww poor bird!! I've never seen that happen but there again, my feeders are on the edge of my porch away from our windows, thank God but I can imagine it happening to the poor things because they're such fierce fighters. Very territorial. As for the bees, now you know what to do if YOU ever decide to get a hummingbird feeder! Cooking spray! lol

Thanks Cats, and yeah, I have tried all that, my latest one was not removing the bulbs from the pot, but moving the pot onto the back porch where it is cool, but not freezing and I watered it once a month and they still didn't come back... I think where cana lilies are concerned, I have a black thumb...

Oh yeah, hummingbirds love flowers because of the pollen that's inside. It must be sweet for them to like it. I don't know what you're doing wrong in why they won't grow back however, I did find a site for you to read in hopes you'll find the cause. Here's the site address. http://www.easytogrowbulbs.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=63 Hope it helps! I don't mind bees either as long as they're not nesting on my house because I'm alergic to the stings. We have to kill them if they're on the porch or bothering our pets but other than that, they can live peacefully as long as they're away from us humans and our companion pets.

Oh dear you! Flies.... they are so gross! You need a fly swatter or some fly spray to get rid of them pesky nasty things! We have these bag like things with an attracter in them that we fill with water and the flies go in and are trapped inside. Those are good for only outside though. If we didn't have them, we'd be overwhelmed with flies like the first year we moved here! I ain't letting that happen again! No way! They carry so many diseases because of what they land on. Anything and everything. (shivering) About the feed for the hummingbirds, it's so easy to do and is much better than the store bought type.

I have tried fly swatters and I can never get the pesky things! I tried to spray my room a week or so ago and it said to ventilate the room before going back in and the only way to do that was to leave the door open so the flies came back in (probably different ones). I just hope they weren't contributing to my health problems while I was in chemo. Probably not since the culprits were UTIs and related problems. Have a great week!!!

Awwwww shoot! Pigeons can be a pain in the butt and turn one off to all birds but still, he should know that not all birds are the same. Besides, it would give you so much pleasure to watch them come and feed on your feeder. They come back every year and hover at window to let us know that they're here and want something to eat! LOL It's true! They did that at my parents old place and will again once they figure out that she'll be putting her feeders out every year too. They're so neat to watch and then to hear them chit chit chit.....

Is it a regular wild bird feeder or a hummingbird feeder? I'm assuming it is hummingbird feeder that you're talking about. (put me in a box and hide me for asking! lol) Bees are a pain in the butt, aren't they? We have to kill them around our house because they get into the siding and build a nest full of eggs. I'm alergic to bees stings so they can't be around my home so they're killed with bee spray however, we can't use bee spray on our hummingbird feeders for it'll kill the birds too and we don't want that. But yeah, cooking spray will keep the bees from the hummingbird feeder! It's amazing! Something so simple that does the trick! Anyway, hope you two have a safe and happy trip! Are you going to get online while there?

There is no internet up in the mountains where she lives. Though this is my boyfriends home, she never cared to pay the fee the others did. We may be moving there towards the end of year, if her daughter can't stay longer, so this trip will also include to get the internet set up in the event we do move there. So hopefully for a little while each day while I am there. If I move there then yes internet is a must. lol Oh yes it is a hummingbird feeder.

Awwwww you're very welcome jillhill!! What part did you learn?

Really?! Wow!! That's awesome!! I'm so glad to be of help!! Let me tell you, red is hummingbirds favorite color and is why they're attracted to it and is why almost all the feeders are red in color. If I'm not mistaken, all the stores sell formula with the red dye which is bad for the hummingbirds so it's best to make it yourself which is really easy. Now it's best to have more than one feeder and far apart because the hummingbirds are very territorial. The fight something awful! So if you have two, then they'll all have a place to come to to feed. I have three feeders and still they fight. They're pretty amazing birds to watch whether their fighting or feeding. When they come near, you can hear them chirping too. They'll eventually get used to you being around the feeders too and you'll get to hear them "chit chit". Good luck to you!!