You can easily make your own Hummingbird food using white sugar and water.
There's no need to add red food coloring to the Humming bird food recipe to attract Hummingbirds.
Your red feeder will be enough to attract them. There is also controversy about
whether food coloring might be harmful to the Humming birds, so avoiding it
altogether might be the best choice.
The Hummingbird food recipe consists of 1 part
white sugar to 4 parts water. This 1 to 4 ratio will closely match that found in
actual flower nectar.
Start by stirring the sugar into the water while bringing the mixture to a
boil over low heat. Boiling the solution is important as it helps remove
chlorine from the water and kills mold and yeast spores that might be in the
sugar.
Boil the mixture for two minutes and let cool. Do not boil any longer than 2
minutes or you will boil away too much of the water and change the ratio of
sugar to water. I have read that higher sugar concentration resulting from
boiling too long, will be more attractive to insects.
Once the Hummingbird food is cool you can add it to your feeder and store any excess
nectar in the refrigerator (for 7 - 8 days) for use at a later date.
It is not necessary to completely fill your feeder. Only put in as much
Humming bird food as
you need to feed the number of Hummingbirds you have using your feeder. When it
comes time to change the Humming bird nectar you don't want to have a large amount left over
to throw away.
Nothing is more fun, saves money and is better for
your hummingbirds, than making your own Hummingbird food.
Once your nectar is made you will want an easy to
clean feeder that will protect your homemade nectar from ants, bees and wasps.
My favorite Hummingbird nectar feeder is the
HummZinger Ultra
Aspects 12oz Hummzinger Ultra With Nectar Guard
It's only $19.99 and has several features that
makes it well worth the price.
The
HummZinger has patented Nectar guard tips which are flexible membranes attached
to the feed ports that prohibit entry from flying insects, but allow
Hummingbirds to feed as usual. The HummZinger also has a built in ant moat that
will stop crawling insects from getting to the nectar. It also has raised flower
ports that divert rain.
This mid-size nectar feeder has a 12 oz. capacity and
can be hung or post mounted with hardware provided. It has four feeding ports
and is made of unbreakable polycarbonate. Easy to clean.
For ease of cleaning and protection from bees, wasps
and ants, this feeder can't be beat.
Learn how to attract hummingbirds
to your home with: Hummingbird
Secrets Revealed
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"Plus, Discover Tons Of Amazing Hummingbird Facts That'll Have Your
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hummingbirds/ hummingbird nectar/homemade food recipe
