The Best hummingbird food recipe to attract hummingbirds
The best hummingbird food recipe consists of adding 1 part white granulated sugar to 4 parts water and stirring until the sugar is dissolved. This recipe, plus a good hummingbird feeder will bring lots of hummingbirds into your yard.
Hummingbirds are one the most popular birds that people try to attract into their yards. One way to attract them is to plant some of their favorite flowers. Honeysuckle vines and trumpet vines, butterfly bushes and weigela bushes, beebalm, tobacco plants, petunias, salvia, coral bells, cardinal flower and penstemon will all attract hummingbirds.
Or if you don’t want to spend the kind of effort that gardening requires, you should be able to attract a few hummingbirds by just hanging a feeder or two in your yard. A feeder is also easy to move so you can bring the birds to a spot where they will be most visible to you. I like to bring them right up to my window with a window feeder that attaches to the window with suction cups.
No matter what type of feeder you use, the most important thing is use the correct hummingbird recipe to fill your feeder and to change you hummingbird food several times a week to keep it fresh. Click the link to read a good article on knowing when it’s time to change your nectar and how to properly clean your feeder. When to change your nectar and clean your feeder.
My favorite choice of hummingbird feeders to use with the hummingbird food recipe is
Aspects 12oz Hummzinger Ultra With Nectar Guard
It’s inexpensive 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 for hummingbirds 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.
Hummingbird food recipe
The standard hummingbird food recipe is to make a solution of 1 part white, granulated table sugar to 4 parts water. To start with you can use 1/4 cup sugar and 1 cup water. This will make enough nectar to put in a small feeder. You don’t want to fill your feeders unless you have lots of hummingbirds because you will be changing the food mix twice a week and if it isn’t all used up by the hummingbirds it will just be wasted.
If you want to make larger batches of the hummingbird food recipe, you can put some in your feeder and store the rest in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Start by boiling the water first. This will make it easy to dissolve the sugar and help to eliminate chlorine and other things in the water and any impurities in the sugar. Once the water is boiling, stir in the sugar until it is dissolved. and boil for about 2 minutes. After the hummingbird mix has cooled you can add it to your feeder and store the rest in the frig until needed.
Don’t add anything else to the hummingbird food.
Don’t use anything but the sugar and water mixture. Some have added honey, but honey ferments quickly and will ruin your nectar. Also there is no need to add red food coloring. If your feeder has red on it that will be enough to attract the hummingbirds. There is some question as to what effects the food coloring might have on the hummingbirds so be on the safe side and leave it out of the hummingbird food. And as stated before it’s not necessary to use red food coloring to attract the hummingbirds.
When to clean your hummingbird feeder
You will need to clean your feeder about once a week. This should be done by rinsing with a solution of one part white vinegar to four parts water.
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If the feeder is dirty, try adding a few grains of dry rice to the vinegar solution to help scrub it clean or use small bottle brushes. Follow the vinegar wash by rinsing three times with clear, warm water before refilling with sugar solution. That’s about all there is to making hummingbird food. Enjoy your hummingbirds and good luck with the hummingbird food recipe. |
You can protect all of your feeders from ants and other insects.
If you already have a hummingbird feeder, and you want to protect it from ants and other crawling insects, the ant moat below will do the job.
Trap-It Ant Moat for Hummingbird Feeders, Red
Product Description
The first and still the best to protect your Hummingbird and Oriole feeder from ants and other crawling insects. Insert between hanger and feeder and fill with water, providing a barrier to crawling pests. Red color to attract hummingbirds. The right nectar recipe and the right hummingbird feeder will give you the right results!
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