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Hummingbird feeders
bullshot
Member Posts: 14,682 ✭✭✭✭
I have three feeders in my back yard and all three are covered with honey bees every morning, the poor hummingbirds have a hell of a time trying to even get close. I've tried relocating a couple of the "bee feeders" to other areas so that the birds have a chance .......... no buano
The little boogers seem to have the feeders marked on their GPS because they will return to the spot like clockwork even though there is no longer a feeder there.
We have three different types of hummingbirds and as hard as they try to get to the feeders, they eventually just give up and leave. I don't mind feeding the bees too but they just take over. By early afternoon there isn't a bee to be found ....... until the next morning.
"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you"
Comments
This must be a picture of an empty feeder! 😁
Looks like it got lost in the snowstorm!😁 Bob
Don't know what happened to the body of my original post but I fixed it.
I wonder if you put bee feeders out somewhere else that they prefer that it might make them leave the hummingbird feeders .....a tub of water with tennis balls floating in it or sponges floating around are good for bees.
I tried a saucer of sugar water and they love it BUT they still won't abandon the Hummingbird feeders.
Even with the saucer and the removal of the feeders, they still just swarm where the Hummingbird feeders were hanging and they will stay there for hours just flying around the shepherds hook (probably waiting for me to put the feeder back).
The Hummingbirds hover and try to fan the bees away but those little buggers are pretty stubborn and give up their stake.
Appears that you need more feeders. 😆 Isn't that the government way of doing things, just provide more of what doesn't work.
Plant bee balm flowers to give them something else to enjoy.
I'm going to guess that your feeders have those little yellow flowers. That's what attracted the bees in the first place, and now their location is permanently marked in the bees' memory banks.
First, get rid of feeders with any yellow on them. I highly recommend Best-1 brand because they're, well...the best ones. (You can also try prying off the flowers or painting them red with spray paint designed for plastic.)
https://www.hummingbirdsplus.org/feeders/best-1/
I have never had bees come to my Best-1 feeders, and they last for years. There's a groove in the top of the feeder, and if I see wasps feeding, I fill that groove with liquid dish soap. Wasps hate it, and the hummies don't seem to care.
Actually the flowers are red but there are little dome shaped covers in the center which are of course yellow, they do come off however. The yellow domes actually seem to keep the bees from getting to the actual hole that supplies the liquid be some how they are still able to score.
The bees may have scent marked it, so it's likely you will need to wash it and move it again. No guarantee that will keep them away, but I don't recommend feeding birds anyway.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
I have washed the feeders, I wash them every time I refill them have also moved them and removed them .......... no joy.
Our breakfast table looks out over the back yard and we love watching the birds, being in a major migration flyway in Florida gives us the opportunity to see many non native species of birds and as they come here or pass through on their way farther south.
This year particularly, with two hurricanes back to back and two extreme hard freezes back to back,, the normal food sources are just gone. Everything will renew of course over the summer but for now there is a lack of flowers and even the plants that produce flowers so I feel really good about feeding them, besides, everything has to eat and they can't go to Mickey D's.
In addition to the little birds, we have a colony of turkeys (13) that visit at least once or twice a day and a small herd of deer that visit almost daily and a mated pair of Pileated Woodpeckers that live in the neighborhood and frequent our yard.
Didnt know bees ate tennis balls and sponges?
African Killer Bees ............... they do what they want.
thats what puts a little bounce in their step.........
I just read an article on the use of Tabasco to repel yellow jackets, and it states that insects in general find the chemical capsaicin repulsive. Could be worth a try.
If they are truly pollen moving lil honey bees, you ard doing a great service by feeding them -vs- the birds. Just saying.
I know, that doesn't help feed the birds tho. Sorry.
Speaking of Hummingbirds, what's wrong with this picture?
We have 10 or more feeders, and we use these to keep the bees out, and they work VERY well:
https://smile.amazon.com/Aspects-Bird-Feeders-Hummzinger-Hummingbird/dp/B013MAUH98
Merc
Nothing, we have woodpeckers at our feeders. The bee guards do work. The yellow flowers are not the problem, bees map the locations of nectar and "dance" the route in the hive to communicate to other bees in the hive where to find the nectar. Bees will crowd totally red, metal, or other colors of feeders just as readily.