A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 CHANGE YOUR NECTAR

It is time to replace your Hummer Nectar! Please, remember to replace any old nectar 3-4 days after putting it out. (This has been a Pubic Service Announcement from Thorns for Better Hummingbirds - TBH)

Must replace mine tomorrow....thanks Thorny!

Is there any way at all to keep bees away, I don't think there is but figured I'd ask....I like to hang one feeder on the backporch but then I risk being swarmed and stung to death!

Not that I know of. My problem isn't bees and wasps, it's ants!

Grease the pole with some vaseline about 1" or 2"
wide, so they can't travel up the pole....

Bees:
Make a strong h-bird nectar and put it in a bee and wasp jar trap. Remove the hummer feeder for a day or so, so the bees will transfer to the trap. If your feeder has yellow flowers this is what originally attracts the bees/wasps.
Some feeders have tips that can be added on the inside to keep bees from feeding.
Ants:
Vaseline works, have to reapply when it gets dirty.Wont work if its hanging in a tree. There are commercially available ant moats you hang above the feeder & fill with water, bell shaped ones you smear the inside with vaseline, and a premethrine disk one you just open.

I had read about a cheap and easy way to make a bee trap (ahem, loz!!! )!

You take a 2 liter plastic soda bottle.
Cut the top off at the top of the label - the top then looks like a funnel.
Take the label off.
Insert the top upside down into the bottom part - I then staple the 2 pieces together so they stay.
Pour some sweet liquid into the bottle - it can be some of the hummer nectar, some soda works well, sweetened ice tea - you get the idea.
Be sure to leave a couple of inches below the bottle top - if you fill it too high, the bees will be able to get back out.

The bees go into the bottle but cannot fly back out!
It's amazing how well this free trap works!!!

(I haven't had a bee problem on my feeders this year, or I'd take a picture of a trap - haven't needed one... yet!)

Way cool Lynne! You know me---cheap, cheap, cheap!!!

I'll have to get a 2 liter of something so I can try this one out --we only ever have cans!

Loz, Walmart has 2 liter Sam's Cola for 50 cents.